Nick Withers Email and Phone Number

I started out working for accommodation and was swiftly put on the payroll as Assistant Manager and IT guy. Aside from running the B&B during my normal 13:00 – 19:30-ish shifts, I have also been solely in charge during periods in which the owners have been on holiday.A major part of my contribution has been in improving business practices, in particular the selection and implementation of a Property Management System (Preno) to replace the previous paper-and-diaries (plus portable… Show more I started out working for accommodation and was swiftly put on the payroll as Assistant Manager and IT guy. Aside from running the B&B during my normal 13:00 – 19:30-ish shifts, I have also been solely in charge during periods in which the owners have been on holiday.A major part of my contribution has been in improving business practices, in particular the selection and implementation of a Property Management System (Preno) to replace the previous paper-and-diaries (plus portable diaries) system that had been in place for many years, since the property began operation.Other responsibilities and contributions include:- Managing work-for-accommodation staff (up to 5 at a time)- Operating reception (answering phone calls, responding to email requests, guest check-in / -out)- Responding to guest reviews- Housekeeping- General maintenance and gardening- Addressing network architecture and performance issues, in particular with guest wireless internet- Assisting the owners with personal tasks, such as repairing their pop-top caravan’s "pop" Show less

Contracted to replace an aging, unreliable and poorly understood data acquisition system for the Department of Nuclear Physics' Heavy Ion Accelerator Facility, now successfully deployed along with thorough documentation and face-to-face user training.My communications, systems engineering and project management skills proved as important as my technical and analytical abilities in achieving success in a resource-constrained environment where I was the sole dedicated digital engineering… Show more Contracted to replace an aging, unreliable and poorly understood data acquisition system for the Department of Nuclear Physics' Heavy Ion Accelerator Facility, now successfully deployed along with thorough documentation and face-to-face user training.My communications, systems engineering and project management skills proved as important as my technical and analytical abilities in achieving success in a resource-constrained environment where I was the sole dedicated digital engineering resource.- Designed and implemented in C an embedded, modular data acquisition system based on the MPC8540 PowerPC core and the RTEMS real-time OS, managing all stages of the project- Assisted with the design, testing and implementation of a VME-based electronic interfacing board implemented for the system by a university technical department- Debugged digital interfacing issues with third party hardware products, leading to published manufacturer fixes- Investigated several low-level RTEMS issues and successfully submitted patches to correct them (e.g., a pending clock interrupt was not taken into consideration in determining elapsed time, causing a violation of time monotonicity)- Produced and taught an Introduction to C course for staff and students wishing to produce software in C / C++- Provided assistance on software engineering matters for staff and students (e.g., writing scientific analysis code) Show less

Initially employed as a junior software engineer, took responsibility for the C / C++ OS-less embedded software on a power supply control board for a naval Continuous Wave Illuminator used for defensive missile employment.Subsequently moved into a mixed software, firmware and – to a lesser degree – electronics engineering role, where my skills and experience were further exploited and enhanced.- Developed and maintained software for the Company’s custom FPGA-implemented… Show more Initially employed as a junior software engineer, took responsibility for the C / C++ OS-less embedded software on a power supply control board for a naval Continuous Wave Illuminator used for defensive missile employment.Subsequently moved into a mixed software, firmware and – to a lesser degree – electronics engineering role, where my skills and experience were further exploited and enhanced.- Developed and maintained software for the Company’s custom FPGA-implemented microprocessor distributed system, in assembly language- Produced FPGA firmware and test-benches in SystemVerilog, with Altera and ModelSim tools- Developed a driver, libraries, test and basic software applications for the FreeBSD platform, along with some firmware, for a customised PCIe expansion card- Designed and implemented embedded OS-less software on in-house designed boards in C / C++, using the GreenHills MULTI development tools- Produced design and user documentation Show less

· Modified and maintained in-house developed automated software build systems· Integrated applications and services on Windows 2000 Advanced Server and Windows Server 2003 machines and in Active Directory (AD) domains, including performing security analyses and implementing restrictive Group Policies· Produced and reviewed technical and management documentation including project proposals, technical and high-level designs, security specifications and implementation documentation·… Show more · Modified and maintained in-house developed automated software build systems· Integrated applications and services on Windows 2000 Advanced Server and Windows Server 2003 machines and in Active Directory (AD) domains, including performing security analyses and implementing restrictive Group Policies· Produced and reviewed technical and management documentation including project proposals, technical and high-level designs, security specifications and implementation documentation· Provided design and architecture-level support for production, development and testing environments· Provided technical and architectural guidance to management at a variety of levels, including senior executives· Designed Centrelink's Windows Server 2003 Standard Operating Environment (SOE) build and AD implementation along with two colleaguesI acted as Centrelink's Windows Server Team Leader / Windows Server Senior Technical Adviser / Windows Server Design Manager on several occasions for periods extending up to a month. In particular, this gave me a clearer view of wider organisational issues and management. Show less

· Part of the team that developed the corporate Windows XP Professional SOE and deployed the solution across roughly 27,000 client machines over roughly 450 geographically disparate sites, replacing the incumbent Windows NT 4.0 Workstation solution· Produced and reviewed technical documentation· Provided design and architecture-level support for production, development and testing environments

· Provided end-user and office level technical assistance to Centrelink staff nation-wide· Acting team leader on many occasions of a team of roughly 5 individuals, taking on team leader duties indefinitely towards the end of my tenure at the ITSC· Trained and provided assistance to new arrivals· Developed and documented anti-virus procedures for the ITSC