Resume of Smittie

smittie @ smittie dot com

Summary

I am an experienced software engineering professional with 20 years experience shipping commercial software. I have worked at a professional level with the three major operating systems; Windows, Mac OS X and Linux. I have done development, project management and quality assurance.

I have had a passion for livestock and ranching all my life. As a young man they told me there were no cowboys left in the world. Chris LeDoux had it right. The cowboy is still out there, you just can't see him from the road. I am Beef Quality Assurance certified. I have a reasonable understanding of low stress cattle movement techniques. I am a confident and capable horseman who believes that cowboy and horse work best as a team.

I am looking for an opportunity to apply my knowledge and experience in computers, software and internet technology to help ranching operations improve efficency and production while reducing costs.

Career History

Clover Network, Inc. Senior Software Test Engineer
Sunnyvale, CA August 2015 — Present
  • Platform Firmware QA lead ensuring platform level quality on Android based hardware systems using Qualcomm and Broadcom chipsets.
  • Managing testing and release of firmware for ad hoc and scheduled release cycles.
  • Create, improve and maintain bash shell scripts for managing installation of firmware on devices.
Roku, LLC Senior Software Test Engineer
Saratoga, CA January 2011 — August 2015
  • Grey/Black box QA engineer for an embedded linux driven home entertainment device.
  • Highly respected by developers for providing detailed information and concise steps to reproduce complex, difficult to isolate problems to developers.
  • Primarily focusing on networking, bluetooth, and user interface; Wifi, Bluetooth, DHCP, TCP/IP.
  • Strong advocate of a great user experience.
ZING (acquired by Dell Inc.) Software Test Engineer
Sunnyvale, CA April 2006 — January 2011
  • Developed, maintained, executed and tracked test plans for a number of test areas including Wi-Fi, Device Settings & Acceptance.
  • Assumed overall responsibility for Wi-Fi testing for all products coordinating usability and interoperability; included working closely with Wi-Fi development engineers to fully understand relevant code paths, areas of possible conflicts and incompatibility.
  • Built test plan structure that validated each component from the bottom of the architecture up; devised blackbox tests that isolate kernel and core component level code paths, as well as middleware and application layer components.
  • Created, executed and maintained test plans to ensure compatibility with Wi-Fi access points (WAPs); developed TCP/IP and Wi-Fi infrastructure for conducting compatibility testing, including the incorporation of Ethereal packet sniffing software; developed an effective matrix for determining priority of WAP device testing based on market share, customer service inquiries, and legacy issues; coordinated with Whitebox Test to develop server based scripts to conduct ramp, saturation and uptime testing.
  • Advocated SQA team's abilities to assist other parts of the organization to drive the quality of the user experience; coordinated with customer support to move common call issues to bugs; provided documented procedures for correcting or working around known issues; coordinated with user documentation to verify user manuals and improve trouble shooting tips and instructions.
Tako Productions Principal
Santa Cruz, CA Mar 2005 — Mar 2006
  • Audio and Video production for the emerging new media market; YouTube, Vimeo, and podcasts.
  • Post-production using Final Cut Studio; video editing in Final Cut Pro; sound editing and enhancement using SoundTrack Pro, Peak Pro and Audacity.
  • Release of final content through multiple venues; DVD authoring using DVD Studio Pro, iTunes and RSS podcast using XML; upload to YouTube, Vimeo.
  • Graphic and illustration design for web site content, DVD menus, and video elements.
  • Developed web sites, RSS feeds, and iTunes podcast feeds using XML, html, CSS.
Apple, Inc. Software Localization Support Engineer
Cupertino, CA Jun 1999 — Dec 2004
  • Primary point of triage for all localization and most internationalization bugs on supported products; ensured the quality of the bug report with best possible reproduction case; advised multiple software product development teams regarding localization issues and bugs, improving user experience in supported regional markets.
  • Redesigned the process by which software was posted to the web delivery system resulting in a drastic reduction in the amount of time required; from more than six months to less than two weeks.
  • Revised the process of localizing one software product so that the cost of localization was reduced by approximately $10,000 per cycle.
  • Formalized and documented the iPod software development process, defining milestones and exit gates for each phase of development.
Microsoft Inc. Software Test Lead
Redmond, WA Mar 1998 — Jun 1999
  • Windows 2000 Application Compatibility Test Lead for Japanese, Middle East and Thai languages responsible for the planning and execution of application compatibility testing for assigned languages with 10 test engineers reporting to me; planned and initiated coordinated cross-team testing.
  • Worked with international subsidiaries and OEM partners to coordinate test efforts; including development of test planning to cover international features, bug tracking and regression from multiple testers and test centers, overall bug management, and coordination of bug resolution with the US team.
  • Windows NT 4.0 Terminal Server Edition — testing multi-lingual capabilities; developed test plans and associated test cases; educated other engineers and teams in Terminal Services technology; assisted in the management of the overall test process.
Enfour Incorporated Lead Programmer
Tokyo, Japan Mar 1994 — Feb 1998
  • Designed, developed and maintained a complete Japanese localization for Apple's Newton operating system; annual sales of $3 million were based largely on this product.
  • Managed the procurement and continued development of a Newton based email client; adding a profitable product to the company portfolio.
Kawasaki Steel IT Systems Management
Chiba, Japan Jan 1993 — Feb 1994
  • Member of a team that managed a network covering a 10 square kilometer steel manufacturing facility; 1500 computers, printers and other network devices.
  • Designed and implemented a system to automate data collection, software distribution and license compliance which drastically reduced software related expenditures and the number of man hours required to manage network resources.
  • Established Operating System software version standards and procedures for compliance which resulted in improved network performance and reduced the number of man hours lost to troubleshooting and user support.

Military

Four years active duty; 13 years Reserves; two combat deployments.
United States Army Reserves Civil Affairs Team Sergeant
Mountain View, CA Nov 2006 — Present
  • Operation Iraqi Freedom: Aug 2008 — Oct 2009.
  • Coordinated Civil Affairs activities in the province between two combat units; negotiating objectives and resources between two commands.
  • Led a Civil Affairs team of 5 soldiers, filling the role of an Officer.
  • Managed a total of approximately 30 public works projects in support of the mission to rebuild infrastructure and capacity throughout the province of Maysan.
  • Provided guidance to Iraqi civil leadership in improving governance and bureaucratic process within the province.
United States Navy Reserves Information Systems Technician Second Class
San Jose, CA Jun 2002 — Nov 2006
  • Operation Iraqi Freedom: Dec 2003 — Oct 2004.
  • Establish and maintain radio networks used to facilitate all forms of communication used by the tactical command center for both voice and data communications.
  • Responsible for the security of sensitive cryptologic communication equipment and the associated key material. This includes the acquisition and destruction of key material in accordance with strict security regulations.
United States Navy
San Diego, CA Oct 1981 — Oct 1985

Education

California State University, Long Beach
Long Beach, CA
  • Bachelor of Arts Degree: Asian Studies

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