Managing the development of a new Web-based service, to debut in Summer 2008.

Developered Partner Portal for leading Linux server management company. Portal administrator can create, update, activate or deactivate partner accounts. Partners can log in, change account settings, access restricted content, register sales opportunities etc. System built with Ruby on Rails, using the Acts as Authenticated plugin.

Acted as initial technical advisor for Web startup. Developed functional requirements with founder, prepared use cases and development plan, interviewed and hired developers, reviewed technical progress.

Led the development of a production management system for animated commercials, television shows and films. Elicited system requirements, created product roadmap, project charter and plan. Selected technical platform. Acted as project manager and developer. Used Extreme Programming methodology throughout. Pair programmed most features with one other developer. System developed in Python, using the TurboGears web development framework.

Developed a factory automation system for use in manufacturing "mass-customized" athletic shoes. This system manages logistics and fulfillment for the Webby-nominated RBKCustom service. Orders are received from the consumer Web site as XML messages. Items are queued for manufacture at one or more factories. Operators can initiate, suspend and resume manufacturing workflows, record completed manufacturing steps, annotate items, request shipping authorization from FedEx, print packing slips and ship orders. The system is localized for Chinese and English speakers in different time zones and supports multiple vendors, factories, and product lines. Built with PHP, PEAR::DB_DataObject and Smarty.

This software was a major component in the acquisition of Confego, the Reekbok subcontractor for whom it was built, by Zazzle in April 2007.

Reviewed site operations procedures, recommended automated monitoring and backup processes, prepared Administrative Manual outline for this e-commerce vendor.

Assisted advertising film/video production company with evaluation of digital asset management solutions. Researched commercial software packages, arranged vendor presentations, organized software trials.

Evaluated vendors, commercially available solutions and custom development options for an assessment authoring tool and run-time engine for Riverdeep's second-generation Learning Management System.

Prepared requirements matrix, participated in Request for Proposal process, attended vendor presentations, graded solutions, audited for compliance with e-learning standards (QTI, SCORM), summarized and presented options. A vendor was selected based on my final report.

Managed and assisted development for Version 3 of the Weed music service. Prepared requirements specification, use cases; helped with information design and user interface; tested prototype. Hired a developer; researched technical issues; reviewed designs and code; led development meetings. Created staged release plan.

Designed and built Web application for computer graphics staffing agency using PHP & mySQL. Applicants create profiles online, upload resumes; agents can search, review and annotate profiles, accept or reject candidates etc.

Project management, system architecture and design for online music retailer specializing in electronic/dance genres. Designed sophisticated catalog data model, supporting arbitrary playlists as products, multiple download formats and territory licensing restrictions, with extensible semantic associations between artists, tracks and genres. Designed content integration system for importing and associating metadata and audio, encoding downloadable tracks and inserting into catalog. Staffed and managed development of this project. Helped to establish development infrastructure for Extreme Programming in both Java and PHP, using XPlanner and Tikiwiki.

Built gateway to Dictionary Server Protocol (RFC 2229) using Perl.

Improved development tools and productivity on the SONY Super Audio CD project: fixed dependency generation bug in unsupported third-party interactive development environment; created and documented a process and template for using the IDE in conjunction with Microsoft Visual SourceSafe to manage multiple development projects; created wrapper scripts for querying IDE workspace and project data from the UNIX shell, in support of build automation.

Helped Site Operations department gain increased control over the process of deploying software to CNET's numerous Web sites. Conducted an assessment of software testing, delivery and maintenance activities; compiled and prioritized findings; produced recommendations. Presented tutorial on software configuration management. Prepared a Request for Proposal for a software deployment tool and organized vendor meetings.

Organized and managed the software development effort for the world's first person-to-person on-line betting service. In the first 9 months, I established the technical infrastructure (source code control, Development and QA server environments); hired 6 developers; created standards for data modeling and software design documentation; established design review, release and maintenance procedures; launched the initial site; directly managed development of the first major site revision and worked with Technical Leads to deliver 6 subsequent feature releases. Challenges included: unclear division of responsibilities between the Vice President of Engineering, CTO, Chief Architect and myself; geographical separation of the development team from the Product Managers and unstable product requirements.

In the second 9 months, I helped move our SF-based development team to London, retaining almost all development staff; hired 3 more developers; trained Product Managers in Use Case-based methodology for documenting requirements, introduced Extreme Programming practices ("stories," refactoring, some pair programming, unit testing, continuous integration and automated nightly builds) and led the development of an entirely new service, which increased revenues by 40% in its first week of operation. Challenges included: distraction of transatlantic move and loss of our QA department, integration of SF and UK teams; complete revision of business model and concomitant urgent necessity to overtake competitor that had already built a product; lack of domain expertise within the company.

Worked with Project Managers to staff and schedule development projects. Held project postmortem reviews, incorporated findings for continuous process improvement. Conducted performance appraisals and worked with staff to set objectives and personal development goals. Attended executive meetings, worked with VPs and Directors to define management strategy and company policy.

Developed basic content management system for sports betting Web site. Created database schema; built XML-based loader for news and other content supplied by third parties; created administrative and publishing tools for third-party and editorial content using Java Server Pages.

Developed and documented the Flash Deployment Kit under contract to Macromedia, Inc. This is a comprehensive solution for detecting the Flash Player on a Web client and controlling the user experience when it has not been installed or is out of date.

Worked on several projects for Internet music data service provider. Established multi-platform source code management for distributed development team on virtual private network; improved memory management and error handling in CDDB server; wrote interactive client application implementing CDDB data exchange protocol; developed testing language/interpreter with iteration, periodic and random test execution features, used for monitoring the service.

Helped transform this animation studio into a full-service digital visual effects company, producing VFX shots for feature films including Starship Troopers, Armageddon and The Haunting. Responsible for digital asset management, production tracking tools and automation of the production pipeline.

Defined procedures for setup of new productions and shots, protocol for scanning and processing live-action plates. Established standard file system layout for production. Supervised backup, archival, and organization of production data stored on two terabyte file servers and DLT tape library.

Developed an object-oriented framework in Perl for production management tools. Data are stored in the UNIX file system, metadata in a relational database. Programs communicate with the database through a persistent object interface. Classes represent key artifacts of the production process (3D scenes, photographic or rendered image sequences, rendering control files, etc.). Applications include: a system for publishing, browsing and retrieval of work products; a Web-based browser, selector and manager for photographic elements used in compositing; on-line film output and dailies screening request forms; rendering setup tools and script generators.

Created Shot Navigator and Shot Manager tools for simplifying access to shot data, setup and maintenance of workspaces, and managing multiple "takes" (revisions).

Operated a small company providing World Wide Web-related services. Revamped the Computer & Information Sciences Web site for Addison-Wesley's Benjamin-Cummings imprint. Designed, specified and prototyped an on-line merchandising system, tied to existing retail store inventory/point-of-sales system, for Reckless Records. Pro bono site creation and hosting for San Francisco arts organizations.

Produced music for Web-based presentations and ads, including a merchandising spot for the film Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me.

Sole UNIX systems administrator and programmer contracted by this firm with no previous Web experience, to help launch the Ford Motor Company's Web site. Set up the development server at SoftAd, established protocol for upload to Ford, mapped out site architecture, coordinated work of copy editors, artists, and HTML formatters. The initial site went live in just six weeks.

Wrote CGI programs in Perl: Ford Dealer locator, budget planner, Lease vs. Finance Calculator, and dynamic page generator for "virtual showroom."

Working to specifications from the Wunderman Cato Johnson agency, developed the "Mercury Sable Virtual Giveaway," one of the first on-line sweepstakes promotions on the Web.

Managed four-person staff testing and validating graphics software on UNIX, Macintosh and PC platforms: Pandemonium & nTitle (visual effects and titling packages for Silicon Graphics workstations); Paint Alchemy & Terrazzo (Adobe Photoshop plug-ins) and Pennello (3D Studio filter).

Our group produced test plans; wrote testing tools; audited source code changes and performed white-box testing; performed hardware configuration testing; wrote release notes; created installers & master media and performed first article inspections.

Designed and implemented a framework (loosely based on PCTE) and tool set supporting configuration management, change control, project tracking, process automation, and tool integration. Built a software manufacturing system using this framework.

Established software life-cycle procedures for initial product specification, project baseline creation, software change inspection and approval, remote development integration, Engineering release to QA and product manufacturing. Designed processes for software configuration management in compliance with ISO 9000-3 and ANSI/IEEE 828-1990 standards, and level 2 of the SEI Capability Maturity Model. Drafted ISO 9001-compliant procedures for document control for company-wide use. The company subsequently received ISO 9001 certification.

Helped create standard target support package and host development environment for the VxWorks real-time operating system. Instituted configuration management, build techniques to support a multitude of host, target and compiler combinations. Integrated GNU compilation tools with product.

Designed and helped implement a software change control and configuration management system. Improvements over previous systems include: a client-server architecture supporting distributed operation in a heterogeneous environment; view-based configuration management and a transactional model of revision control in which the software change, not an individual file revision, is the semantic unit. This work is described in Rohrbach, R. & Seiwald, C. "Galileo: A Software Maintenance Environment," Proc. International Workshop on Software Version & Configuration Control, Grassau, FRG, 1988 (B.G. Teubner, Stuttgart). My co-author subsequently founded Perforce Software, which markets a commercial product incorporating many of these innovations.

Ported the Ingres relational database management system to various UNIX platforms. Helped develop an automated software porting toolkit (hailed as ground-breaking by Geoffrey Moore in his book Crossing the Chasm). Designed a driver and language for regression testing, based on "send/expect" I/O sequences, anticipating the popular testing tool Expect.