LMAX builds and operates fiat and digital exchanges in London, New York, Tokyo and Singapore.High performance, low latency code forms the heart of the exchange, which is written entirely in Java.My role at LMAX has been predominately been in areas around DevOps where we have been building and configuring AWS managed services for Kubernetes and Kafka, and writing a Java native library for interacting with the Solana block chain that supports on-line and off-line transaction… Show more LMAX builds and operates fiat and digital exchanges in London, New York, Tokyo and Singapore.High performance, low latency code forms the heart of the exchange, which is written entirely in Java.My role at LMAX has been predominately been in areas around DevOps where we have been building and configuring AWS managed services for Kubernetes and Kafka, and writing a Java native library for interacting with the Solana block chain that supports on-line and off-line transaction signing for high security environments.Platforms: Linux, AWSTechnology: Java, Docker, Kubernetes, Helm, Kafka Show less

CloudNC is realising fully autonomous on-demand flexible manufacturing.I joined CloudNC to be part of the software team focusing on the logistics of manufacturing - everything that happens outside the machines in the factory. Low-volume high-variability manufacturing at scale requires a precise and complex real-time choreography of machines, resources and people in the reality of the factory floor.Opportunities for optimisation need to be identified and acted upon before and… Show more CloudNC is realising fully autonomous on-demand flexible manufacturing.I joined CloudNC to be part of the software team focusing on the logistics of manufacturing - everything that happens outside the machines in the factory. Low-volume high-variability manufacturing at scale requires a precise and complex real-time choreography of machines, resources and people in the reality of the factory floor.Opportunities for optimisation need to be identified and acted upon before and during the short manufacturing runs, unlike factories with established and refined production lines, where we go... there is rarely "again"; there are no "lines".My experience in developing warehouse task execution systems with exception handling and compensation actions along with just-in-time optimisation attracted me to this role, this is a whole new level of complicated.In a small company, it is very hands-on for a wide range of tasks, ranging from designing and specifying costing, pricing and quoting services, integrating with an existing ERP for quality management. Much of my time is spent mentoring other developers and performing code reviews.TechnologyJava, Dropwizard, Spring Boot, AWS Services, Docker, RESTful API's (design, specification, implementation), OpenAPI, GitLab, Docker (Linux & Windows containers).PlatformsLinux, AWS Show less

Anaplan operates in the relatively new sphere of "Connected Planning" for business (they really don't like this description, but think of large, cloud based, multi-user spreadsheets but with many, many more dimensions with hierarchies, and a much easier to use, user interface.)Models are easy to design, just like spreadsheets, but these are a lot more powerful and capable of slicing, dicing and aggregating staggering amounts of data, allowing different parts of businesses to connect… Show more Anaplan operates in the relatively new sphere of "Connected Planning" for business (they really don't like this description, but think of large, cloud based, multi-user spreadsheets but with many, many more dimensions with hierarchies, and a much easier to use, user interface.)Models are easy to design, just like spreadsheets, but these are a lot more powerful and capable of slicing, dicing and aggregating staggering amounts of data, allowing different parts of businesses to connect, manage, plan and interact in real-time rather than with a flurry of copied, e-mailed, and coallated spread-sheets.My role as a Senior Java Software Engineer has led me to work on the core code (Java), in and around where the core calculation engine lives. I would love to describe what I've been involved in, it has been challenging and very, very interesting, however it is also confidential and proprietary.Technologies UsedJava, SpringBoot, Git/GHE, Gradle, Maven, Jenkins, KubernetesPlatformsLinux, (macOS for development) Show less

I completed my NQT (Newly Qualified Teacher) year and obtained my QTS (Qualified Teacher Status) at UTC Reading. I thoroughly enjoying the change in career. I taught GCSE and A-level Computer Science. UTC Reading is an outstanding school with amazing leadership, wonderful teachers and support staff and enthusiastic learners. I suspended teaching to return to industry for a very specific opportunity, a rare R&D position.

I completed my PGCE Secondary Computing on the Schools Direct programme in conjunction with the University of Reading and have been recommended for QTS status.My placements were with Waingels College and The Piggott School near Reading.

I took some time to catch up on some personal interests in the computing field and industry while searching for a position that I really wanted. Having been employed in some form or other since the age of twelve, always focusing my interests in line of those of my employer, I took the opportunity during my search to re­focus and explore the wider computing field and the application of computing in business. To a large extent, I focussed on exploring the changes in the perception and… Show more I took some time to catch up on some personal interests in the computing field and industry while searching for a position that I really wanted. Having been employed in some form or other since the age of twelve, always focusing my interests in line of those of my employer, I took the opportunity during my search to re­focus and explore the wider computing field and the application of computing in business. To a large extent, I focussed on exploring the changes in the perception and application of technology within business between the turn of the millennium and the present. I worked my way through many wonderful observations and amazing insights. The part of computing in business you don't see when you are up to your eyeballs in the technical details.Many years ago, I reached the conclusion that it is preferable to configure and integrate over developing sophisticated software from scratch, especially in organisations with little to no focus on software development as a principle activity. I re-affirmed this in the strongest of terms. Developing good software requires a lot of skill and resources, no matter the quality of the tools or the marketing behind them. I still find it amazing how so many companies insist 'it can't be that hard', and then end up spending more than they could ever have imagined, often incurring unnecessary hardship.During my investigation I solved a common business problem of the sole trader, where resources are marginal and infrastructure and IT knowledge is almost non­existent. I found that it is possible to re­interpret existing software products into usage patterns that aren’t immediately obvious but solve the requirements of the business with ease and at minimal complexity and cost without the excessive overhead of maintenance of bespoke solutions.Well designed software is an enabler. We need to be creative in how we use it to get the most from it. Show less

SPG is a property management and asset development company, one of the largest in Switzerland.A newly appointed IT director assembled a team of highly experienced staff to lead a change in the SPG computing away from a data­centre model as well as the consolidation of a number of acquired business’ systems, for which I was acquired for my integration, software development, and programming skills.The move to modernise the systems was still in planning when the IT director… Show more SPG is a property management and asset development company, one of the largest in Switzerland.A newly appointed IT director assembled a team of highly experienced staff to lead a change in the SPG computing away from a data­centre model as well as the consolidation of a number of acquired business’ systems, for which I was acquired for my integration, software development, and programming skills.The move to modernise the systems was still in planning when the IT director resigned. I was engaged shortly before he left. The team was subsequently systematically dismantled and released from service, leaving me. With my practical skills, I spent my time at SPG fire­fighting and patching the legacy systems. I remained for a year, waiting for promised change that did not materialise.I worked closely with the business analyst to devise an integration approach and strategy for systematically replacing functionality of the legacy in-­house system with commercially available components, the first being a Customer Relations Management (CRM) solution. The finance, staff and property management elements were also charted for replacement as the company had decided to move away from in-house development completely.Technologies UsedJava, JEE, JSE, Python/Jython, C/C++, C#, .NET, PL/SQL, RESTful Web Services, Eclipse, Visual Studio, IIS, Apache Web Server, Tomcat, HTML/CSS, Oracle, Oracle Forms, JScript, Microsoft Office AutomationPlatformsWindows, Linux, VMWare Show less

I was engaged for, and contracted out entirely to, the UNHCR for the duration of my employment by S&H in Geneva. S&H is an IT consulting company that supplies staff to the UNHCR.I was assigned to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to fulfil the role of Senior Java Developer on a Results Based Management budgeting tool.Technologies UsedJava (J2SE,Swing), Eclipse, Hibernate, Oracle, Sybase, Mobilink (database synchronization… Show more I was engaged for, and contracted out entirely to, the UNHCR for the duration of my employment by S&H in Geneva. S&H is an IT consulting company that supplies staff to the UNHCR.I was assigned to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to fulfil the role of Senior Java Developer on a Results Based Management budgeting tool.Technologies UsedJava (J2SE,Swing), Eclipse, Hibernate, Oracle, Sybase, Mobilink (database synchronization tool)PlatformsWindows Show less

HP acquired EDS.After the sale of the company, I was assigned to assist with the development and maintenance of a core internal system that manages a communications grid and the life cycles of VPN's deployed on the grid. The grid is global and interconnects multiple major carriers using proprietary hardware.Technologies UsedJava (J2EE), Swing, Hibernate, JBossPlatformsWindows, Linux

Member of a small team, originally Nexagent wholly acquired by EDS, implementing a natural language system for managing and visualising concepts, business rules and their relationships for service based industries using rules engines to enforce their business practices and policies.Technologies UsedJava (J2EE), Eclipse (RCP, SWT), Hibernate, JBoss, OpenGLPlatformsWindows, Linux

Red Prairie acquired RangeGate. Only the development team and a few support staff were transferred.Implemented a package to automatically consolidate, co­ordinate and micro­manage workflow (including real-time exception handling) of operators on warehouse floors using mobile terminals as part of the larger work flow product (advanced task management).Implemented additional adapters to support text, voice and web based mobile terminals for operators.Technologies… Show more Red Prairie acquired RangeGate. Only the development team and a few support staff were transferred.Implemented a package to automatically consolidate, co­ordinate and micro­manage workflow (including real-time exception handling) of operators on warehouse floors using mobile terminals as part of the larger work flow product (advanced task management).Implemented additional adapters to support text, voice and web based mobile terminals for operators.Technologies UsedJava, Eclipse, Hibernate, Servlets, XML, XSLT, VoiceXML, MQE, SQL Server, PostgreSQL, Oracle, Python, Javascript, Groovy, Multi­threading.PlatformsWindows, Linux, BSD, Solaris, AIX Show less

We re­architected and implemented a task management system in Java based on a legacy product implemented in C. Lead developer on a number of smaller system integration projects using C/C++, in­-house middleware, and scripted business logic to perform business operations originating in SAP or customer specific back­end systems and carry them out on mobile terminals.Transferred from South Africa and was assigned to diagnose and solve severe technical problems on a failing mission… Show more We re­architected and implemented a task management system in Java based on a legacy product implemented in C. Lead developer on a number of smaller system integration projects using C/C++, in­-house middleware, and scripted business logic to perform business operations originating in SAP or customer specific back­end systems and carry them out on mobile terminals.Transferred from South Africa and was assigned to diagnose and solve severe technical problems on a failing mission critical project at a leading mobile phone network operator.Lead developer in replacing the faulty system to securely and reliably transfer work requests and schedules between remote field engineers and the core data­centre at a leading mobile network operator.Mentor for junior and senior developers and acted as an intermediary between research and development (R&D) and the projects teams.Technologies UsedC/C++, STL, ACE, SSL/TLS, Java, Eclipse, Hibernate, Servlets, XML, XSLT, MQE, SQL Server, PosgreSQL, Oracle, Berkeley DB, Python, Javascript, Groovy, Lua, Sockets, Multi­threading, Cisco PIXPlatformsWindows, Linux, AIX, HPUX, Solaris Show less

Developed a kernel network driver for WindowsNT to perform advanced network security functions in a distributed fabric over multiple servers, much like modern firewall technology.Performed network and system audits as part of internal government audits.Performed due diligence audits on systems on behalf of a law firm.Created a windows driver for I2C/iButton interfacing (physical authentication and security technology).Technologies UsedC/C++, MFC, Assembly… Show more Developed a kernel network driver for WindowsNT to perform advanced network security functions in a distributed fabric over multiple servers, much like modern firewall technology.Performed network and system audits as part of internal government audits.Performed due diligence audits on systems on behalf of a law firm.Created a windows driver for I2C/iButton interfacing (physical authentication and security technology).Technologies UsedC/C++, MFC, Assembly x86, SSL, XML, SQL Server, Sockets, Multi­threaded kernel mode driver coding.PlatformsWindowsNT, Windows95 Show less

Developed the software for the hand-held barcode scanners for parcel Track&Trace across the national network of depots. This included the full mobile application along with the server software integration component to soak up the data from the warehouses (during fail-over, country-wide) reliably and as quickly as possible.The mobile software was MS-DOS based and in the early stages of WiFi where access-point roaming was problematic and coverage was intermittent.Additionally… Show more Developed the software for the hand-held barcode scanners for parcel Track&Trace across the national network of depots. This included the full mobile application along with the server software integration component to soak up the data from the warehouses (during fail-over, country-wide) reliably and as quickly as possible.The mobile software was MS-DOS based and in the early stages of WiFi where access-point roaming was problematic and coverage was intermittent.Additionally, had to cope with unskilled and/or illiterate operators while also providing business and technology diagnostic functions, and survive the harsh realities of fragile mobile technology in harsh environment of warehousing. Show less

Teaching adults computer skills (typing, word processing, spreadsheets, accounting) to national diploma level. This position was extremely challenging as the students came from a wide range of backgrounds and education, and often did not understand English very well or even at all. Some had never operated a push­button phone.I introduced the internet to the technical college, making it one of the first non­-university education institutions in South Africa to have access to the… Show more Teaching adults computer skills (typing, word processing, spreadsheets, accounting) to national diploma level. This position was extremely challenging as the students came from a wide range of backgrounds and education, and often did not understand English very well or even at all. Some had never operated a push­button phone.I introduced the internet to the technical college, making it one of the first non­-university education institutions in South Africa to have access to the internet.I achieved the highest pass rates in any subject for the college. My classes were always over­booked well before the start of a new semester. I taught four different classes each semester, one three hour lesson per class per week making four nights a week while reading for my degree in Computer Science at Rhodes University, full-time.Skills UsedTeaching, lecturing, course planning. PlatformsMS­DOS, Slate&Chalk Show less