I joined the team as a senior embedded systems programmer, and was asked to manage the software team about a year later. Coordinated, architected and managed the interdisciplinary team to create the first 250kW wireless charger currently in deployment in the US. Also responsible for design of several WAVE controller and interface boards and low-level, real-time firmware.

Analyzed suitability of electronic components and assemblies for the HZO coating process. Involved in DOE (design of experiments), acquiring analysis equipment and performed process auditing. Submitted numerous patent proposals resulting in patents in process. I very much enjoyed working with the great people at HZO. I ended up changing employment to WAVE where I had been offered a job but initially turned it down, as I agreed to take the HZO position.

Crest Semiconductor (was originally SliceX, then SiFlare) designed high-speed ADCs. I participated in marketing visits in America and Japan that resulted in a product whose definition led market trends, and 5 patents being granted for solutions we created to overcome customer problems.I was heavily involved in creating technical collateral to release the ADCs, including an Eval-kit with an FPGA capable of 1Gbyte/sec sustained capture rate to DDR2 memory. I designed nearly all circuit-boards used at Crest, from simple test boards to very sensitive, high-performance analog boards.Other work involved automation of lab testing and reporting.

I wrote software here too (a Windows CE driver, embedded code and software to automate bill of material generation), but my main function was the primary hardware designer on a fully functional pocket PC with capabilities to control engine power, and with the added features of a back-up camera and GPS. I also implemented a wireless camera interface and a Bluetooth product.

This was a wonderfully varied contract engineering company. To quote my boss, "Sometimes getting a new project is like going on vacation!" and we had lots of new projects. I personally designed circuits from tiny embedded RF circuits to energy control circuits switching 150A loads. I implemented solutions using a wide variety of different embedded processors, peripheral devices and power supplies, but the projects all required software. About 75% of the time I wrote software, both embedded code and a lot of Windows applications to communicate with the products.Unfortunately, KWM's largest engineering customer pulled their production from the KWM floor and the corresponding engineering contracts. The company was unable to sustain operations from that point and ceased operations.There was a lapse in this employment of 9-months while I worked for SliceX designing analog ICs.

A group of engineers I had worked with in Japan asked me to join them in a new robotics company they had started. It ran out of funding so I had to find other work after only a year, but during that time I wrote the windows software that enabled users to program the robotics and implement ladder logic to control peripherals. I also did a fairly complex FPGA design for real time networking of industrial controllers.

Developed a custom photodiode array for a multi-revolution, quasi-absolute encoder, and also improvised hardware to greatly improve timing accuracy of outputs based on robotic position. Also supported customers and assisted in robotic repairs as needed.

I worked in the welding robotics group in Osaka, Japan. I was asked to do a variety of tasks so I could be independent once I transferred back to America. I did circuit board design, wrote embedded controller code, and did mechanical design of robotic controller cases. The most challenging project, however, was a capacitance sensor I designed that was sensitive enough to detect a grounded object 30cm away with a 5mm diameter sensor element. It was used at much shorter distances to follow welding seams and thereby self-teach the robot how to weld a complex seam.