Robin England Email & Phone Number

Oxford, Gb

Oxford, United Kingdom

Uk R&D, Fritwell, Oxfordshire / Epsom, Surrey Uk

I am technical lead for KLDiscovery Ontrack's cleanroom (hardware) R&D team. The team is highly skilled and has many years' experience in the low-level technical design and operation of computer data storage technology with emphasis on the recovery of data from failed storage devices. I work closely with the team to help define the scope and direction of our projects. The team provides daily support, internal research notes and hardware and software tools that are used by our cleanroom engineers worldwide to recover client data from failed computer data storage devices including tape, hard drive (HDD), solid-state drive (SSD) and other flash-memory based devices such as removable media, mobile phones and tablet computers.From an early age I have had a passion and a fascination for electronics and computers. As a radio and television engineer, my father gave me a thorough introduction and exposure to fault-finding and repairing consumer electronics using technologies ranging from thermionic valves to the "latest" digital ICs during the 1970s and 1980s and I have never looked back!I enjoy being hands-on and take the opportunity to work directly on projects wherever possible. I take sole responsibility for all stages of electronic product design from concept to production; including multi-layer PCB layout and routing, writing firmware, basic mechanical design, producing manufacturing data and writing end-user instruction manuals.I have experience in software and firmware development and disassembly and have written code in machine language, assembly language, C, C++, Visual BASIC, PowerBASIC and Java for various microprocessors, microcontrollers and operating systems including Windows, Linux and Android.An aspect of my current role I particularly enjoy is reverse engineering; examining hardware and software to find out how it is designed, how it works and using that understanding to build new solutions or product enhancements.

Uk Hq, Bicester, Oxfordshire, Uk

AuthenTec International merged with Vogon International in 1997.I took a leading role in building upon and improving Vogon's hardware data recovery capabilities, focusing on the reverse-engineering of computer storage hardware, firmware and the development of new techniques and tools.I led and supported the small team of cleanroom engineers and I identified new areas for research and development in order to continually maximise Vogon's data recovery success rate.I designed, developed and produced Vogon's VBUS commercial forensic hardware products. VBUS was a "write-blocking" forensic hardware data-capture product with support for different disk interfaces (SCSI, PATA, SATA) and included the world's first password "cracker" for "platter-locked" PATA laptop hard drives.

Bicester, Uk

S&S International became AuthenTec International in 1996. At this time I became the only data recovery hardware engineer and I took sole responsibility for the hardware aspect of all incoming data recovery work.I took some responsibility for IT support within the company, including managing backups, setting up and maintaining NetWare servers and providing desk-side support.I became more involved in computer forensics, contributing IT hardware expertise to forensic investigators and legal professionals, and also operating data capture equipment on-site in both hostile and friendly environments throughout the UK.

Aylesbury, United Kingdom

At S&S International, founded by Dr. Alan Solomon (famous for Dr. Solomon's Anti-virus Toolkit), I received an excellent grounding in computer hardware, software and data storage technologies.Working in a very small team I used existing tools and techniques to recover data from faulty hard drives. I gained a thorough understanding of how hard drives and file systems worked and was involved in the whole Data Recovery process from booking in customer media, working on the hardware aspect of the recovery, keeping customers updated to returning recovered data, initially on many floppy disks(!) but eventually on CD.I supported the hardware research and development engineer in the development of the world's first SpinStand - a device that could read and decode data directly from a hard drive's disk platter. I also designed various electronic devices such as the MSF radio clock accessory for the company's FlightServer product.I also gained new experience of the internet and the world-wide web which was an emerging technology at this time.

Swindon, United Kingdom

I initially took this role as a GEC apprentice. I gained experience and training in the design, operation and maintenance of electronic and mechanical scales and accessories in industrial and retail environments. I also studied part-time at Swindon Technical College for my Higher National Diploma in Electrical and Electronic Engineering.GEC Avery won a contract to provide maintenance and warranty support on Amstrad products including personal computers, printers and fax machines and I took a key role in providing on-site service on these devices for a large number of clients in the South West region.My interest in microprocessors and computers piqued, I taught myself x86 assembly language, writing simple tools (including some TSR programs) for DOS. For fun I also wrote firmware for the 8039 microcontroller that was used in many of Avery's electronic scales. I think the highlight was firmware that turned an Avery 1770 retail scale into a piano!When I left GEC Avery in 1994, I had attained the role of Technical Support Engineer for the South West region and had gained my HND.

Mcsa, Microsoft Windows Xp, Server 2003

Btec Hnd, Electrical & Electronic Engineering

Gce O Levels / Gce A Levels