I acquired the SwimConnection website which has provided the USA Swimming community in Northern California with a times database, online meet entry, and online swimmer registration service for more than a decade.The software is undergoing extensive revision now and will re-emerge as the best swimming website available for competitive swimmers, their families, coaches, clubs, and LSC officials.Did I mention I love software?

Paxio is by far the fastest internet provider in the San Francisco Bay Area with footprint in Emeryville, San Leandro, Oakland, Berkeley, San Jose, Santa Clara, and other Bay Area cities.Phillip Clark (President) and I started Paxio in 2004 to serve a growing need for bandwidth and excellent internet connections provided over fiber-optic connections. Fiber-to-the-home (and business), or as I call it, "real" fiber, is the gold standard by which all others are measured. It provides 1G connections to homes and 10G to businesses today. The same fiber carries up to a TERAbit of data traffic in R&D labs. There seems to be no limit to the bandwidth a single-mode fiber can handle.The company continues to expand under Phil's expert hand.

Except for this brief period, my role in Paxio has been behind-the-scenes. (See "board member of Paxio" entry)

I started at Roos Instruments when the company was formed, when we were still developing our unique IP that makes the RI tester such a standout in RF and mixed-signal testing. Mark Roos and I collaborated on the architecture of the system. We came up with ideas such as the testplan optimizer and "virtual instruments" concept, as well as the graphical testplan editor which makes the tester so fast and easy to use. We also chose the Smalltalk language to implement our ideas because of its extremely high programmer efficiency. Another innovation was to use PCs as controllers instead of the ubiquitous (at the time) UNIX computer or HP Basic controller -- the first ATE system of my knowledge to do so.I developed numerous RF calibration and measurement methods to make RF measurements much quicker and more accurate than with other methods. For example, a five-point measurement and math technique that establishs the optimum DC offset for minimizing error in IQ modulator measurements.More recently I provided key insights into the architecture of the Guru networked object storage system -- essentially a peer-to-peer networked object database system for testplans, calibration data, and all other working files in the system. It provides replication, disconnected and connected operation, file backup and change management, and robust security with encryption and signing.My last focus at Roos Instruments was the emerging RITDB data storage and transfer standard for test data, currently being discussed under the guidance of the SEMI consortium. It promises a revolution in test data by replacing the aging STDF format with a new container that can act as both device-independent file format and active SQLite database. I helped Mark Roos behind the scenes with the development of the "narrow table" schema and key insights on how to "self join" efficiently to make the data easier to use.

After leaving HP, Wayne Cannon and I formed EE Design Works to develop and market CAD tools for RF engineers. I easily persuaded Wayne to use the Smalltalk language to develop our wares and found a market for our first product -- a graphical Smith Chart program we called EEZ Match.Les Besser of Besser Associates chose the program to use in his RF engineering classes. The software animated the operation of a Smith Chart so the student could easily add matching components and tune the value of each using a mouse and direct manipulation of the chart.It gained some popularity but we dissolved the company because my partner needed personal time and could not continue.

I joined the Product Marketing group at the Network Measurements Div. of HP in Santa Rosa straight from school. In the months that followed I learned more about RF measurements and testing than in my previous four years. I was also surprised to find I really enjoyed Marketing and had an aptitude for it. In the years that followed I created application notes and data sheets for network analyzers, wrote custom software to automate scalar measurements and improve accuracy, and traveled all over the world teaching the basics of scalar and vector accuracy enhancement using HP products.I left Santa Rosa for a year to pursue a MSEE degree from Berkeley and on my return became Product Manager of the Microwave CAD group at HP. I introduced the Microwave Design System with its schematic capture, linear and harmonic-balance simulators, and back-annotating layout engines. I also introduced the High-Frequency Structure Simulator from Ansoft which HP integrated into its product line. (I always loved saying "delaunay optimized tessellation".) Eventually I moved into the R&D lab for CAE products where my team produced a library of passive RF components (resistors, capacitors, inductors) modeled from actual measured devices. It was by far the most accurate set of device models produced up to that time and helped designers predict the behavior of their circuits including the resonances of their passive components.

I ported the UNIX workstation version of Objective-C to OS/2 and DOS for Stepstone Corporation.