Though my background is engineering, most of my work in recent years has consisted of writing of one sort or another, including engineering design documentation, product development documentation, and end-user documentation for various products and systems.

Most recently my work has consisted of the creation of high-level strategic documents, where a sophisticated engineering and/or business concept must be expressed with great clarity. Samples are referenced at the end of my writing resume below. My writing resume is also available in PDF, HTML, and PS formats.

I am always interested in hearing about writing projects that are a good fit with my skills and experience. Please contact me to discuss your project.

Summary

• Skilled and experienced technical communications professional
• Strong technical background—Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering, plus broad background knowledge of electrical engineering and computer technology
• Superlative communications skills, written and verbal
• Over 14 years experience creating complex engineering, business and strategic documentation

Experience

Senior Engineer/Writer

Neda Communications Inc., Bellevue, WA, 1999–2009

Responsible for all technical, business and strategic communications for an industry-leading Internet services company.

• Libre Services. The intellectual co-originator and visionary behind Libre Services, a radically new, non-proprietary model for delivery of Internet services. Created a series of ground-breaking industry white papers to describe the Libre model and articulate the company strategic vision [1] [2] [3] [4].
• Open Business Plan. Formulated and articulated the Libre business model in the form of a unique Open Business Plan [3].
• Free Protocols Foundation. Co-founded the Free Protocols Foundation (FPF), an organization dedicated to the promotion of free protocols, software, and services. Wrote the Free Protocols Foundation Policies & Procedures [5], and numerous FPF articles and position papers, including the highly influential industry papers The WAP Trap [6] and Operation WhiteBerry [7].
• Website Content. Created all website content for Neda Communications, the FPF, and multiple other website domains.

Engineering Writer/Consultant

Seattle, WA, 1991–1999

Provided technical writing and contract engineering services for numerous clients and projects.

• Engineering design documentation. Created technical design documentation for a variety of hardware products and subsystems, including functional specifications and hardware design specifications at system level, board level, and chip level.
• Product development documentation. Planned and created product specifications and user interface specifications. Created hardware, software and system test plans. Created other engineering-related documents such as product approval submissions and technical bulletins.
• User documentation. Planned and created comprehensive end-user documentation such as operations manuals, reference manuals, and user manuals.
• Engineering services. Carried out hardware design and verification at chip level and board level. Implemented user interfaces for sophisticated medical patient care systems.
• Systems analysis services. Assisted clients in defining project scope and system requirements; created detailed functional specifications. Carried out project feasibility studies; analyzed alternative system configurations; generated estimates of project times and costs.

Owner

IMAGEsystems, Inc., Renton, WA, 1988–1991

Involved in all aspects of a high-technology start-up company developing advanced image processing hardware and software systems.

• Created the company Business Plan. Did market research and analysis; defined target markets; established sales and marketing strategies. Formulated plans for all company operations, such as R&D, manufacturing, distribution, sales, service. Determined personnel needs; established a recruitment schedule. Constructed detailed financial projections.
• Created all engineering documentation, including functional and design specifications for both hardware and software. Planned and created all user documentation: tutorials, hardware and software reference manuals, programmer’s manuals, user manuals.
• Created all sales/marketing materials: wrote product brochures, fliers, data sheets, press releases. Carried out all sales activities: generated and followed up on sales leads, generated first customer sales.

Design Engineer

TransCanada Pipelines, Toronto, Canada, 1979–1981

Implemented various modifications and enhancements to natural gas compressor stations, to improve plant performance, efficiency, or safety. Designed installation of computer hardware and developed software for automatic plant process control.

Education

• Ph.D. in Electrical engineering, 1988

  University of Washington, Seattle, 1981–1988

  Doctoral research: Designed and implemented a hardware/software system for automatic computer analysis of medical ultrasound images.

• M.S. in Electrical Engineering, 1978

  University of Toronto, Canada, 1974–1978

  Master’s research: Designed and implemented a system for real-time process control of a mineral ore processing plant.

• B.A. (Honors) in Engineering

  M.A. in Engineering

  University of Cambridge, England, 1970–1973

Awards and Honors

• University of Washington Graduate Tuition Scholarship, 1988.
• University of Washington Teaching Assistant Award, 1985.
• Physio-Control Graduate Teaching Fellowship, 1982–85.
• University of Toronto Teaching Assistant Award, 1977.
• First year undergraduate design award, 1971.
• Open scholarship to King’s College, Cambridge, 1970–72.

Work Samples

The following are a few samples of my recent work. All are available for review at the indicated URLs.

1. Libre Services: A non-proprietary model for delivery of Internet services. Free Protocols Foundation, 2006. Provides a complete description of the Libre Services conceptual model.

   http://www.freeprotocols.org/PLPC/100101

2. The By* Concept: A Unified Model for Internet Services. Neda Communications, Inc., 2007. Describes the By* unified services model, a specific implementation of the Libre model.

   http://www.neda.com/PLPC/110001

3. The By* Family of Libre Services: The future of the Internet Services industry. Neda Communications, Inc., 2008. This unique document is both the Neda company business plan, and a general Open Business Plan, open to readership by anyone. Provides a detailed description of the business dimension of the Libre model, making the case for deployment of Libre Services in a commercial context.

   http://www.neda.com/StrategicVision/BusinessPlan

4. Neda’s By* family of Libre Services: An Instance Example for Non-Material Capitalism. Neda Communications, Inc., 2008. A comprehensive set of documents, describing every dimension necessary for real-world adoption of the Libre Services model—technical, engineering, business, societal—and presenting a complete blueprint for this to become the new model for delivery of Internet services, worldwide. It includes the above three documents, and multiple other supporting documents.

   http://www.neda.com/PLPC/110004

5. Free Protocols Foundation Policies & Procedures. Free Protocols Foundation, 2000. The principal defining document for the FPF, and the definition of a set of formal procedures for the creation and maintenance of patent-free protocols.

   http://www.freeprotocols.org/PLPC/100201

6. The WAP Trap: An Expose of the Wireless Application Protocol. Free Protocols Foundation, 2000. This widely-read and influential paper cogently exposes the fraudulence of the Wireless Application Protocol (WAP), and the WAP Forum.

   http://www.freeprotocols.org/PLPC/100014

7. Operation WhiteBerry: Creation of a Truly Open Mobile Messaging Solution. Free Protocols Foundation, 2001. Describes an open model for the mobile messaging industry.

   http://www.freeprotocols.org/PLPC/100006