Thomas G. Digby
bubbles@well.com
bubbles@well.sf.ca.us
Creative problem-solving in areas of electronics or computers.
The joy of creating something and making it work.
Helping turn a vague idea into something tangible and useful.
Brainstorming the implications of new ideas and concepts.
Ability to take a small project from vague concept through to working prototype with minimal supervision, either alone or as part of a small team.
Ability to write understandable operator instructions, test procedures, explanations of theory, and related documents. Ability to communicate with designers in other fields.
Good analytical trouble-shooting ability.
Ability to read electronic and electrical schematics. "Hands on" experience with hardware breadboards and prototypes.
Ability to apply new devices and work with new computer systems, new test equipment, etc., with little or no assistance, using such sources as manuals and data sheets.
Advanced Electronics Engineering degree plus experience in analog circuit design, digital logic design, embedded processor programming, application programming. Experience in Turbo C and C++, Expect, HTML, Java, Turbo Pascal, 68xx assembler, BASIC, others.
Devised a Test Plan and wrote host software to verify operation of an evaluation board prior to availability of the chip the board was to evaluate.
Wrote board-level software to work with chip-level diagnostic code written by others.
Wrote and debugged EPROM code for embedded processors in voice logging recorders.
Redesigned tape recording system hardware to eliminate relay logic in favor of microprocessor control. Developed production test procedures for recording system and various modules, and assisted production in startup phase. Assisted in creation of documentation.
Designed and built working prototypes of announcing machines using hard disk drives and bubble memory to store digitized voice.
Developed a computer program to accept TV station program log files, recognize entries specifying commercials, and feed them to an automated videotape machine as commands to play tapes.
Developed a computer program to allow technicians at a central site to monitor radio equipment at remote locations, and assisted in design of special hardware to display site status on operators' consoles.
Assisted in design of electrical facilities for California Aqueduct.
May 1998 to July 2001: Did board-level bringup for Silicon Spice (bought by Broadcom during this period so titles varied) for two generations of designs. Participated in planning a new engineering lab and choosing test equipment. Wrote board-level Test Plans and PC software to exercise various functions on evaluation boards prior to availability of the chip the board was to evaluate. Physically tested the first few boards before handing testing off to others. Assisted in chip bringup using the board as an evaluation platform. Assisted others in running their tests on this platform. Wrote and documented scripts and software for others to use for various tests.
Feb. 1991 to May 1998: Consulting and contract work.
1995 through 1996: Assisted a startup venture with planning for computer, database, and Web needs. Wrote a PC-based program to demonstrate what online Web-based product searches might look like to the user.
Late 1996: Created a set of Web pages for a body-piercing shop and jewelry factory.
1991 through early 1996: Various projects for Stancil Corporation, Santa Ana CA.
Mid-1995: Assisted Federal Aviation Administration in modifying a Stancil machine to record and read time data in industry-standard IRIG format as well as Stancil's proprietary format.
Mid-1995: Wrote PC programs to translate movie captions from one format to another, and to combine multiple split-up caption files into one complete file.
Mid 1991 through early 1992: Wrote a menu-driven program to enable switching of remote radio transmitters from a PC. Designed hardware to allow the PC to control status lights on operator consoles.
Nov. 1987 to Feb. 1991: "The" Engineer for Audio Magnetics, Inc., Sun Valley CA. Reported directly to owner of company. Acted as one-man electronic engineering department, sometimes with assistance, sometimes without. Responsible for all analog and digital circuit design and processor EPROM code programming for voice logging tape systems and digital voice storage devices.
Aug. 1986 to Oct. 1987: Consulting.
Nov. 1972 to Jul. 1986: Director of Research and Development for Stancil Corp., Santa Ana CA. Reported directly to owner of company. Acted as one-man electronic engineering department, sometimes with assistance, sometimes without. Responsible for all analog and digital circuit design and processor EPROM code programming for voice logging tape systems and digital voice storage devices.
July 1970 to Oct. 1972: Consulting.
July 1964 to June 1970: "Associate Electrical Engineer, Hydraulic Structures" for Los Angeles office of State of California Department of Water Resources. Assisted in design of electrical components of Los Angeles area portion of State Water Project.
Sep. 1963 to Feb. 1964: Design Engineer for General Dynamics Pomona. Assisted in reliability calculations for electronic circuitry.
Prior to Aug. 1963: Student. Bachelor of Electrical Engineering degree from Univ. of Florida 1962, Master of Engineering Univ. of Florida 1963. High school diploma (Fernandina Beach, FL) 1958.
Email = bubbles@well.sf.ca.us
Home Page = http://www.well.com/user/bubbles/