Providing support for the Standard Electronic Control Unit (ECU) within the F.I.A Formula One World Championship. I am required to attend all F1 track events including all test and Grand Prix. Duties include;• Hardware implementation of on-board electronics.• Off car systems software (Telemetry acquisition, ECU program).• Embedded control systems. • Network\Cloud infrastructure• Team Logistics

My role was to develop, implement and manage the trackside I.T infrastructure for McLaren Racing at all Formula One race events. As trackside lead, i was required to provide a resilient and fully redundant infrastructure so that when the car is on track, the management and engineering teams are able to receive telemetry and communicate with the additional teams based at our technology centre who also received the telemetry live over our prioritised MPLS service. With a user base from 60 outside of Europe to over 100 when in Europe, I was also responsible for the day to day support when at track, also dealing with local Telco’s and service providers ensuring that McLaren are able to operate, compete and win, in one of the most technically advanced sports in the world.One second is a very long time in Formula 1 and once that time has gone it is very difficult to get it back. That is why over 5 years my main task had been to increase the performance of core system and ensure that when failures occur, the root cause is identified quickly and addressed. While some find the environment to be stressful, remaining calm under pressure is a key attribute for me.Developing the trackside systems and integrating new technologies into the existing infrastructure was an important part of this role and often had to be done to a tight deadline, brainstorming ideas whilst traveling around world to incorporate new sponsors and technology partners. These projects varied greatly from designing a wireless electronic pit stop wing adjustment system to adapting strategy systems to enable tablet gestures for in car driver feedback.The Formula One environment requires innovative thinking and you are encouraged to think “outside the box” and knowing that no idea was too ridiculous to consider.

Working for an IT consultancy as the senior member of a team of support personnel, my role was todesign and manage the implementation and ongoing support of IT solutions for new and existing customers. I was responsible not only for the technical aspect of each project I was there to ensure that the team perform to a high standard to enable each project to be completed within its predetermined timescale and within the agreed budget.The customer base increased dramatically through word of mouth and this was mainly due to our flexible and friendly approach towards our customers. I also believe in educating end users on how orwhy things happen, if this is done correctly it enabled me to concentrate on the more important tasks like server management rather than the repeat problems that users encounter. I was also responsible for our own production network ensuring that the remote monitoring systems we use for customers are kept healthy and up to date.

Provided technical consultancy for new and existing network infrastructures, ensuring that the correct solution for the individual customer was implemented; a careful audit of the existing customer network and working practices would be undertaken. In doing this I was able to identify key areas within the customers business allowing me to recommend a more efficient workflow. Following on from this I developed my job role to encompass the new technologies that were being introduced; such as video conferencing, internet cameras, digital LCD projectors, telecommunications and virtual private networking. Quickly building up a rapport with our direct and indirect salespeople enabled me to utilise these new skills, along with my existing networking and IT knowledge, to provide quick and effective solutions. I created technical documentation on problems reported in the field and the fixes Iresearched for them. These would be distributed to both customers and Canon consultants through a system of best shared practice. Interaction with the public and fellow professionals in a polite and effective manner was necessary for the speedy resolutions of problems or queries. All this strengthened my ability to pool internal and external resources and to work as part of a team enabling the best possible service for the customer. There were also plenty of chances to increase my technical knowledge as well as my interpersonal skills through the excellent training programs available through Canon.

Employed initially as an apprentice 1st line support for Canon’s internal infrastructure of 3000 users, this included server admin, printing problems and primarily computer/network related issues. Contributing to the efficiency of company systems and all other services required. Involved in this was the maintenance of the network and printing facilities, whilst continuing to provide technical support in many software and hardware problems for users and colleagues. Whilst in this position I assisted in the ‘Y2K’ roll out in which we covered 72 sites over an 8 month period, including Scotland, Northern Ireland and the Republic. Due to my Customer Service background I was asked to be the dedicated IT resource for the busy customer facing department. With over 150 users our service level agreement demanded that all terminals, databases and optical libraries were operational 99% of the time. Developing these areas enabled me to streamline the operation, not only for the user, for the customer as well. Along with a team of Oracle developers and telecoms specialists we were able to integrate an Oracle database, CTI, automated consumable dispatch and a host of other systems into a department that had outgrown its original 7 year old 5 user infrastructure.