John Salmon Email & Phone Number

Reading, England, United Kingdom

Employed as an independent consultant in China to perform the NoBo certification against the relevant ETCS Subsets (-026, -039 etc.) of two different ETCS Level 2 Radio Block Centre (RBC) products, and to perform technical audits and assessment of the software development of a CBTC moving-block Zone Controller (ZC) product against the provisions of EN 50128:2011 for SIL 4. Most recently, performing the technical validation of computer simulation models of wide-area real-world railway… Show more Employed as an independent consultant in China to perform the NoBo certification against the relevant ETCS Subsets (-026, -039 etc.) of two different ETCS Level 2 Radio Block Centre (RBC) products, and to perform technical audits and assessment of the software development of a CBTC moving-block Zone Controller (ZC) product against the provisions of EN 50128:2011 for SIL 4. Most recently, performing the technical validation of computer simulation models of wide-area real-world railway networks against the relevant signalling principles, working timetables, traction and rolling stock performance specifications etc. Show less

London, United Kingdom

Employed as a Senior Consultant. Seconded to Network Rail’s Digital Railway project for 14 months as a subject-matter expert in modelling and simulation of railway signalling and train control systems. My principal responsibility was to ensure the technical adequacy of the signalling and train running models being built by the Digital Railway project to support quantitative and objective assessments of the capacity and performance benefits that Digital Railway technology can be expected to… Show more Employed as a Senior Consultant. Seconded to Network Rail’s Digital Railway project for 14 months as a subject-matter expert in modelling and simulation of railway signalling and train control systems. My principal responsibility was to ensure the technical adequacy of the signalling and train running models being built by the Digital Railway project to support quantitative and objective assessments of the capacity and performance benefits that Digital Railway technology can be expected to provide for UK main-line railway operations. In addition, I wrote two detailed study reports for Northern Powerhouse Rail on the location-specific quantitative contributions that properly-applied Digital Railway technology (ETCS + Traffic Management + Connected Driver Advisory Systems) would make towards the achievement of their capacity and journey-time aspiration for two trans-Pennine routes.I have also planned and conducted independent safety assessments and software assurance audits (to CSM-RA and BS EN 50128:2011) of safety-related products and systems in the UK rail industry such as SCADA systems, interlockings and ETCS data preparation tools. In addition, I have also performed NoBo, AsBo and ISA assessments of new products and of railway upgrade projects, including a 2-month secondment to Ricardo's Beijing office to work on the NoBo assessment of an ETCS Level 2 On-Board equipment being developed by a Chinese company. Show less

Dorking, Surrey

Employed as a Senior Consultant in the Safety and Environmental division. My principal responsibility was to deliver an RSSB research project to develop guidance on the use of high-integrity software for railway applications, for which I have conducted an extensive series of interviews with UK rail industry companies and organisations about their experiences with the procurement, development and assurance of high-integrity software from which I developed the guidance delivered to RSSB. My… Show more Employed as a Senior Consultant in the Safety and Environmental division. My principal responsibility was to deliver an RSSB research project to develop guidance on the use of high-integrity software for railway applications, for which I have conducted an extensive series of interviews with UK rail industry companies and organisations about their experiences with the procurement, development and assurance of high-integrity software from which I developed the guidance delivered to RSSB. My output from this research project formed the basis of RSSB Guidance Note GE/GN 8650 (Guidance on High-Integrity Software-Based Systems for Railway Applications).I also performed a technical audit of signalling and train running simulation software being developed by a third party for Network Rail to confirm compliance of the simulation model with Network Rail’s signalling and operating principles. I also performed an independent static analysis and assessment of a rail industry financial model as part of a technical audit of that model prior to its submission to the DfT. Show less

London, United Kingdom

Modelling Specialist, working on modelling and evaluation of traffic management systems. My main responsibilities were writing the requirements specification for the signalling and train running models for a Traffic Management and ETCS Test-bed; working as Technical Coordinator with the external supplier developing this test-bed; evaluating the operational performance of traffic management products and systems proposed by external suppliers for UK main-line railway application; and evaluating… Show more Modelling Specialist, working on modelling and evaluation of traffic management systems. My main responsibilities were writing the requirements specification for the signalling and train running models for a Traffic Management and ETCS Test-bed; working as Technical Coordinator with the external supplier developing this test-bed; evaluating the operational performance of traffic management products and systems proposed by external suppliers for UK main-line railway application; and evaluating the feasibility of using the MATLAB notation and toolset to construct a generic test harness for new train regulation and driver advisory algorithms. In addition, I also acted as technical adviser to two academic research groups working on projects sponsored by Network Rail. Show less

London, United Kingdom

Assurance Engineer on the Cambrian ETCS project. I developed (using FaultTree+) the system-level fault trees for the ETCS signalling system which identify the product-level hazards and operator actions which may lead directly to accidents, and analysed and ranked the identified hazards according to their associated safety risk. I also brought about a major change to the project’s approach to demonstrating that its safety targets are satisfied. I also performed the fault-tree analysis (FTA) for… Show more Assurance Engineer on the Cambrian ETCS project. I developed (using FaultTree+) the system-level fault trees for the ETCS signalling system which identify the product-level hazards and operator actions which may lead directly to accidents, and analysed and ranked the identified hazards according to their associated safety risk. I also brought about a major change to the project’s approach to demonstrating that its safety targets are satisfied. I also performed the fault-tree analysis (FTA) for a new type of points operating equipment (Hy-Drive NR60) together with a mathematical (Bayesian) analysis of the degree of statistical confidence that can be obtained from trials and from the in-service history of this equipment that its pre-specified quantitative safety targets are met. Show less

Taipei, Taiwan

Employed (on a temporary contract) as a Software Assurance Coordinator in the Software Assurance Group of the Taiwan Shinkansen Corporation (TSC) which was the Japanese consortium responsible for delivery of the new Taiwan High-Speed Railway. My responsibilities included technical acceptance reviews of software documentation, technical audits of suppliers, and closing-out non-compliances with technical contract requirements and with applicable standards.

Farnham, Surrey

My responsibilities were performing and documenting the Preliminary Hazard Analyses (PHA) (including HAZOP Studies) for a naval radar system and for a land weapon system; writing the functional safety management plan for a naval communications system; and working as a Software Safety Engineer seconded to the Project Control and Management Office of a multi-national project to develop unmanned air vehicles (UAVs) and their associated ground control equipment to UK MoD Defence Standards… Show more My responsibilities were performing and documenting the Preliminary Hazard Analyses (PHA) (including HAZOP Studies) for a naval radar system and for a land weapon system; writing the functional safety management plan for a naval communications system; and working as a Software Safety Engineer seconded to the Project Control and Management Office of a multi-national project to develop unmanned air vehicles (UAVs) and their associated ground control equipment to UK MoD Defence Standards (including DEF STAN 00-56 / 00-55) Show less

Taipei, Taiwan

Seconded to the Taiwan High Speed Rail Corporation (THSRC) in Taipei, as a Senior Engineer in the Signalling Section. My responsibilities included formal acceptance reviews of all software-related document submissions from the Japanese suppliers of the signalling and traffic control sub-systems for the Taiwan High-Speed Railway; and auditing the suppliers of the signalling and traffic control sub-systems at their factories in Japan and Taiwan for their compliance with the THSRC contract… Show more Seconded to the Taiwan High Speed Rail Corporation (THSRC) in Taipei, as a Senior Engineer in the Signalling Section. My responsibilities included formal acceptance reviews of all software-related document submissions from the Japanese suppliers of the signalling and traffic control sub-systems for the Taiwan High-Speed Railway; and auditing the suppliers of the signalling and traffic control sub-systems at their factories in Japan and Taiwan for their compliance with the THSRC contract requirements for software development (including the CENELEC EN 50126/8/9 and IEC 61508 standards called-up by the contract) Show less

Scunthorpe

Systems Engineer in the Rail Group, working on Railtrack / Network Rail’s Network Management Centre (NMC) Project. My principal responsibilities were : identifying relevant standards and deriving NMC equirements from them; derinving NMC requirements from the behaviours of external connected systems; specifying NMC software requirements derived from UK main-line railway safety and operating requirements; assessment of train regulation algorithms; and hazard identification and analysis via… Show more Systems Engineer in the Rail Group, working on Railtrack / Network Rail’s Network Management Centre (NMC) Project. My principal responsibilities were : identifying relevant standards and deriving NMC equirements from them; derinving NMC requirements from the behaviours of external connected systems; specifying NMC software requirements derived from UK main-line railway safety and operating requirements; assessment of train regulation algorithms; and hazard identification and analysis via Functional Failure Analysis (FFA) and HAZOP Analysis. Show less

Chippenham

Safety Engineer responsible for the safety assessment of the Automatic Train Protection (ATP) software for the moving-block transmission-based signalling being developed at that time for London Underground. My safety analysis of the ATP software (based on Functional Failure Analysis (FFA)) identified scenarios in which the ATP would exhibit hazardous behaviour either when working as per its specified requirements or as a consequence of undetected incorrect primary inputs or of faults in the… Show more Safety Engineer responsible for the safety assessment of the Automatic Train Protection (ATP) software for the moving-block transmission-based signalling being developed at that time for London Underground. My safety analysis of the ATP software (based on Functional Failure Analysis (FFA)) identified scenarios in which the ATP would exhibit hazardous behaviour either when working as per its specified requirements or as a consequence of undetected incorrect primary inputs or of faults in the ATP’s software or configuration data. Modifications to the design of the ATP and its software and configuration data were proposed, to reduce or eliminate the safety risks associated with these hazardous behaviours. Show less

Yeovil

Technical Consultant working on the static analysis and safety assessment (using the MALPAS toolset) of safety-related and safety-critical avionics software for the C-130J transport aircraft. My principal responsibilities were : analysing the Ada code for the aircraft’s Nacelle Interface Unit; validating the formal models of LUCOL functions used in the analysis of the aircraft's full-authority digital engine controllers (FADECs); and development and presentation of a 1-day course on “Static… Show more Technical Consultant working on the static analysis and safety assessment (using the MALPAS toolset) of safety-related and safety-critical avionics software for the C-130J transport aircraft. My principal responsibilities were : analysing the Ada code for the aircraft’s Nacelle Interface Unit; validating the formal models of LUCOL functions used in the analysis of the aircraft's full-authority digital engine controllers (FADECs); and development and presentation of a 1-day course on “Static Code Analysis using MALPAS”. Show less

Loughborough

Technical Consultant in the Control and Instrumentation Division, responsible for the experimental formal requirements analysis and formal validation and verification (including formal proofs of safety properties) of a safety-critical monitoring and shut-down system for a dual-fuel (natural gas and petrol) vehicle.

Farnham, Surrey

Technical specialist in formal methods and software assessment and verification using MALPAS. I worked on the analysis and safety assessment of the Primary Protection System software for the Sizewell 'B' nuclear power station. I also performed the analysis and formal proof of safety properties of the Ada software implementing the code-selection logic for the coded track circuits used in the TVM 430 signalling system for the Channel Tunnel. I also formally developed and proved correct… Show more Technical specialist in formal methods and software assessment and verification using MALPAS. I worked on the analysis and safety assessment of the Primary Protection System software for the Sizewell 'B' nuclear power station. I also performed the analysis and formal proof of safety properties of the Ada software implementing the code-selection logic for the coded track circuits used in the TVM 430 signalling system for the Channel Tunnel. I also formally developed and proved correct safety-critical software to control the interlocking of valves in a gas distribution network. In addition, I developed and presented a variety of training courses on static analysis and proof of correctness of software, on developing high-integrity software etc. Show less

Camberley, Surrey

I was the technical lead on FORMAST (Formal Methods for Asynchronous Systems – ESPRIT Project 1033), for which ASA were the prime contractor. My responsibilities were :- investigating and selecting logics and other notations for specifying concurrent distributed systems; validating the formal semantics of the chosen logics and notations; and performing a case study to check the usability of the chosen notations and methods in industrial applications. I also gave a lecture on this work to a… Show more I was the technical lead on FORMAST (Formal Methods for Asynchronous Systems – ESPRIT Project 1033), for which ASA were the prime contractor. My responsibilities were :- investigating and selecting logics and other notations for specifying concurrent distributed systems; validating the formal semantics of the chosen logics and notations; and performing a case study to check the usability of the chosen notations and methods in industrial applications. I also gave a lecture on this work to a national conference organised by the Institute of Mathematics and its Applications. Show less

Romsey, Hampshire

Responsible for the design and development of logic synthesis tools to form part of an in-house Computer-Aided Engineering (CAE) toolset for designing very large (VLSI) integrated circuits. My particular contributions were requirements elicitation from hardware engineers, software requirements specification (including synthesis algorithm specification), and design and implementation of a syntax-driven translator to translate abstract specifications of required hardware behaviour expressed in… Show more Responsible for the design and development of logic synthesis tools to form part of an in-house Computer-Aided Engineering (CAE) toolset for designing very large (VLSI) integrated circuits. My particular contributions were requirements elicitation from hardware engineers, software requirements specification (including synthesis algorithm specification), and design and implementation of a syntax-driven translator to translate abstract specifications of required hardware behaviour expressed in the ELLA language into sets of minimal Boolean and Reed-Muller equations. I gave a lecture on this work to an IEE Colloquium, and also co-authored two papers on this work published by the IEE. Show less

Maidenhead, Bershire

Specification, design and implementation (in Algol 68-R) of a set of CAE tools to support the use of the ELLA Hardware Design Language. Development and presentation of a series of 5-day courses on ELLA and on the CAE tools that I had implemented.Design and implementation (in Algol 68-R) of a Logic Simulator and its associated Circuit Compiler and Device Libraries of integrated circuit descriptions, used for design verification of digital circuits intended for use in System X… Show more Specification, design and implementation (in Algol 68-R) of a set of CAE tools to support the use of the ELLA Hardware Design Language. Development and presentation of a series of 5-day courses on ELLA and on the CAE tools that I had implemented.Design and implementation (in Algol 68-R) of a Logic Simulator and its associated Circuit Compiler and Device Libraries of integrated circuit descriptions, used for design verification of digital circuits intended for use in System X telephone exchanges.Evaluation of the CCITT System Design Language (SDL) for possible use within Plessey Telecommunications, by applying SDL to the specification of a proposed new data transfer protocol. I co-authored a report on SDL for STARTS (Software Tools for Application to large Real-Time Systems), and gave a lecture on SDL to a National Computing Centre (NCC) conference. I also served as a member of a 4-nation Technical Working Group to specify an SDL-based toolset for software design in telecommunications applications.Performance modelling of System X and other telephone exchanges using either analytical techniques (Markov Processes, Queueing Theory) or discrete-event simulations (using a general-purpose discrete-event simulation package which I designed and implemented in Algol 68-R). Show less

Bachelor Of Arts (Ba), Mathematics

I won an Open Scholarship (Lucy Scholarship) in Mathematics to Hertford College, Oxford University

Education record

A-Levels : Maths (A), Physics (A), Chemistry (B) S-Levels : Maths (Distinction), Physics (Distinction)