PORTFOLIO   (Click for detailed descriptions, pictures & video)

Ziggy - Sonar-Guided Autonomous Hexapod   (http://www.gotrobots.com/ziggy/)
	Ziggy is a fully autonomous walking and dancing robot that I designed, hand-milled and built from scratch. He incorporates innovative leg linkages allowing for versatile locomotion and a realistic 'bug' look, and uses sonar sensors to 'see' and avoid objects while roaming.
Giant Animatronic Halloween Spider   (http://www.gotrobots.com/spider/)
	Built as a 50' robotic octopus for Burning Man 2002 and converted into a giant black hairy spider with moving legs for Halloween 2002, this animatronic bug scared and wowed the kids, who had to walk beneath his legs to get their candy.
Zag - Full-size Autonomous Sumo Robot   (http://www.gotrobots.com/sumo/)
	Placed Second in U.S. Championship, 2002. Due to budget issues, this Sumo robot was assembled from spare parts from my other robots, and yet with its advanced sonar tracking algorithm it was able to reach the final, losing to the reigning champion.
Flik - Lego MindStorms Walking Hexapod   (http://www.gotrobots.com/flik/)
	The fore-runner to Ziggy, Flik is a six-legged walker built entirely from Lego and runs off two RCX 'brains' which communicate with each other via infrared signals. Nominated for the Lego Hall of Fame.
Space Elevator Ribbon Climbing Robot   (http://www.gotrobots.com/space_elevator/)
	This robot was built to answer the Space Elevator Challenge for the Robotics Society of America's Holiday Robot Games 2002. It is apparently the first working Space Ribbon climber to be built.

SKILLS

Mechanical Design	Programming	Miscellaneous
Pro/Engineer SolidWorks Cadkey MasterCam Manual Machining NC Machining Some Welding	Java Perl SQL Actionscript (Flash) Javascript Some C	3D Studio Max Adobe Photoshop Adobe Illustrator Adobe Premiere Macromedia Flash Linux, FreeBSD, Solaris, Win2k Apache, BIND, QMail, RADIUS Oracle, SQL Server, MySQL

RELEVANT WORK HISTORY

Computer Consultant   6/1995 - present   - www.dedicatedconsulting.com I have earned my living in the past 7 years building Internet Systems for a variety of clients on many different projects. While not directly related to the field of robotics, I have gained a lot of experience working on short-term, high workload projects where long hours and attention to detail are essential for success. The programming skills I now possess are also useful in designing the control systems for robots. I also administer and maintain a private Linux network hosting 48 domains for non-profits and friends. For more background on my skills and experience as a computer consultant, please refer to my Consultant Resumé.

Aerometrics, Inc.   1/1992 - 5/1995   - www.aerometrics.com (from archive) I completed a Special Design Project sponsored by Aerometrics in my final year at The University of Bath, and after graduation they offered me a position in their design department. I designed laser optics devices, taking a product from initial conception and visualization, through 3D design and detailing, to prototyping and assembly, before passing off a finished product to manufacturing. This involved a great deal of precision work with optical components and consequently required attention to very tight tolerance design.

British Aerospace PLC   7/1989 - 6/1990, 7/1991 - 12/1991   - www.baesystems.com I joined British Aerospace for an industrial placement year during college, and spent 6 months working there after graduating before my move to California. While with BAe, I worked on varied disciplines including wafer-scale integrated chip design in a cleanroom lab, development of hypersonic missile ablative shielding, designing and testing algorithms for guided missiles and a stint apprenticing in the BAe machine shop where I learnt milling, lathing and welding.

EDUCATION

• The University of Bath, UK
  
  

  BEng Honours Degree in Mechanical Engineering, Graduated 17th June 1991
  Selected for Two-Man Design Project, Final Year.
  Special prize for 3D CAD Design on Laser Velocimeter Design Project.

REFERENCES

• Daniel Gregory, Head of Engineering, Slingshot Communications, Inc.
        djgmisc@earthlink.net
  Daniel was in charge of hardware and deployment at Slingshot, for whom I designed and wrote a custom prepaid dialup internet access system. Slingshot has now ceased operating but you can contact Daniel at his personal email address above.
   
• Ari Newman, Director of Customer Service, CreekPath Systems.
        anewman@creekpath.com
  I worked with Ari during the initial software design phase of Juston.com, subsequently acquired by Novell, Inc. and spun off as Volera, Inc. He has since moved to CreekPath Systems.

PERSONAL INTERESTS

• Robotic Competitions: I am constantly working on new robots for competitions, my latest Sumo robot placed 2nd at the RSA Championships, and my main goal right now is to build the omnidirectional drive system for the BattleBot that I have designed...
• LiteBrite: I cofounded LiteBrite Camp and designed and built a giant LiteBrite (8' x 6' with blacklight flourescent pegs) for Burning Man and other art shows. I also built a 50' robotic octopus for BM in 2002 together with working on many of the elements in our camp.
• Robotics Society of America: I am a member of the Executive Committee of the RSA and enjoy planning, meeting and broadening the reach of robots to school children and adults alike. I have taken my robots into several schools and the response from the kids has always been very personally rewarding.