Location: Mountain View, CA 94043
Phone: (650) 906-4958
Email: lrm@bayarea.net
Web: www.starbug.com
Objective: To find the signal in the noise, using my training in physics and experience in computer science, whether it is out in the radio noise of the universe or under a mountain of spam.
Education: B.A., Physics, University of California at Berkeley, 1985.
Updated: 2011 Oct 17
I am fluent in C/C++, Python, and MySQL and have a good working relationship with Java, Unix shell scripts (Bourne and C shell families), make, Tcl/Tk, flex/bison and xml. I also have worked successfully with Fortran (largely by wrapping it in C++), and Perl in the past.
My operating system experience is largely with the Unix family of BSD, HPUX, Irix, Linux, OSX, and Solaris.
Back-end Infrastructure
Sr. Software Engineer
April 2011 - present
I created the CDNetwork's python style guide (a slightly customized version of PEP8) and demonstrated how to apply it to our tasks, including updating our nightly billing cron jobs as well as improving our core library. I wrote an object oriented DNS bind parser to support our zone transfer product and integrated it to our database using the GUI's Django models and forms. The OO design made it simple to apply our customizations to processing the data and adapt to new requirements as they were discovered. I also wrote a simple python daemon using the multiprocessor module to efficiently parse our log data files into round robin databases. This included python scripts to synthesize test data for performance measurements on the input and a simple daemon to generate the json format required for display on the GUI along with a threaded python http server to deliver it. I also created simple shell wrappers to manage this. I also documented the design, wrote the user's guides and work closely with QA to validate the code worked as intended.
Security Applications
Software Engineer
April 2005 - April 2011
I developed the third generation of our Web Based Reputation Service (WBRS) product used by our web appliances. I wrote the functional and design specs and developed a tool kit of python/MySQL scripts to generate the reputation updates, test their efficacy and debug their contents. I have implemented a python based rule weight evaluation utility that applies a gradient descent algorithm to our phone home data to find the optimal set of rule weights. Prior to that lead the development of the 2.0 release of our Sender Base Reputation Service (SBRS) product, a DNS service used by our email appliances. When I started at IronPort, I worked on our "corpus", a database of spam for use with the IronPort Anti-Spam (IPAS) tool. For these products, I was responsible for writing the specs, code, user's guides and other documentation, coordinating the contributions from other engineers, working with QA to develop test tools and methodology and resolve the bugs that are found.
For the corpus development, I created a set of rc.subr daemons using python that processed incoming email from our traps by sending it through our scanning engines and extracting the results for storage in our database, a.k.a. the corpus. IPAS pulls a set of test email from the corpus for nightly scoring to determine an optimal set of rules to be pushed to our customer's IronPort mail servers. As the corpus progressed through its 2.0 release, I lead the development effort to hand off the maintenance and further development to our Ukrainian contractors. I wrote the functional specifications and the user's guides for new developers, QA engineers and system administrators.
My initial work on SBRS was to do the planned re-factoring and prepare the code base for a 2.0 release. I surveyed the code tree, pruned many dead branches (reducing the code line count by 60%), created the user's guides (increasing their line count by 100%) and updated the configuration process to use our newest tools, while preserving the underlying data structures (mostly in the MySQL schema) to reduce risk. Once we were confident that the process was clearly understood, updating the data structure became the focus of the 2.0 release. I worked closely with QA and system administration to provide them with the tools they need to monitor the system and verify it is functioning correctly as well as provide documented procedures about what to do if it is not.
Information Physics Group
Sr. Software Engineer
September 2003 - March 2005
I implemented a new computational framework for atmospheric and surface remote sensing, called CSFSR (Classification of Spectral Features in the Solar Radiation), for the Information Physics Group. I also worked on extending the Signal Processing Environment for Application Development (SPEAD) tool kit for the Neuro Engineering Lab.
The CSFSR is a largely C++ test framework that was used to look for the optimal solution to the most likely mix of gases (O3, O2, CO2, NO2 and H2O) seen in a high spectral resolution satellite image of the earths surface. It combined solar radiation data with HITRAN data about how these gases absorb light in the atmosphere and used the standard Fortran program DISORT to analyze an image. We experimented with several techniques to find the optimal solution, including simulated annealing and gradient decent. I was responsible for implemented the application using equations provided by the physicists in the information group. I also created the C++ wrappers for the Fortran functions in DISORT to link them directly to CSFSR, eliminating the need to parse DISORT's normal text output and greatly increasing the speed of processing. I also built several test harnesses to validate the accuracy of the model.
The SPEAD tool kit is written using the Qt tool kit. I added several signal processing modules, including simulators of a simple sine wave signal generator and mixer along with a spectrum analyzer and oscilloscope. I also created a qmake file builder language along with a python script to process it for generating the makefiles needed by Qt to build SPEAD.
The Phoenix Group
Sr. Software Engineer
August 2000 - August 2003
I joined the SETI Institute to work on Project Phoenix's Search System Executive (SSE) for the New Search System (NSS), the continuation of the NASA program to observe stars with in 200 light years for radio signals. I wrote many applications to support the observation, from the control interface to the telescopes through to the to the database to store the results.
I built on my previous experience with controlling RF equipment using the GPIB bus (IEEE-488) including tuning local oscillators, setting step attenuators and switches, generating test signals and monitoring system status. To simplify configuration and add flexibility and maintainability into how observations were programmed, I created a created a C++ library of the equipment and wrapped this with SWIG to create a simple command interface. I turned this into a simple TCP/IP server by using Tcl's socket library to process strings sent to a socket. This allowed a client as simple as telnet to send commands to the server. This also made it easy to use Expect to create a suite of QA regression tests to validate the server.
I was also fortunate to have the opportunity to do many things I had not done before. Working mainly from the Rubini Linux Device Drivers book, I wrote the device drivers for two custom PCI boards used to process the signals and monitor status. I created the MySQL schema and the C++ and Java APIs to store the test input parameters and results of the observation, which included many thousands of signals, all RFI from things like ships radars and cell phones. I also created a Java SWING application to provide a GUI for the database to make it easier for the astronomers to access the data and generate reports.
However, the most fun was to participate in the observations with the astronomers at Arecibo and Jodrell Bank. I wrote a common interface to both of the observatory's telescope pointing controls and did on site setup and debugging of our hardware and software.
Engineering
Sr. Software Engineer
August 1998 - August 2000
At Frequency Technology I worked on the Columbus product, a tool for creating a SPICE model of the parasitic capacitance in the interconnect circuits of integrated circuit designs. I developed several ports of the source code base from Solaris to HPUX and IRIX platforms updating the build infrastructure using Rogue Wave's implementation of the C++ STL.
I did research on how changes to the mathematics of the model would effect the results, creating several special purpose software tools to accomplish this. I wrote an C++ parser to allow Columbus to parse hierarchical SPICE decks and developed a command line option object to simplify setting and accessing configuration information. I also re-factored our Perl build scripts to support builds on the HPUX and IRIX platforms.
Multimedia Group
Member of Consulting Staff
October 1996 - June 1998
As a member of the multimedia group, I developed several modules, in C++, for our Signal Processing Workbench (SPW) product, a graphical tool kit for constructing models of signal processing systems. I also provided documentation and customer support for installing and running the new modules.
The modules were part of a custom model built for Fujitsu of their JSAT MPEG-2 decoder. These included interfaces to load video data to and from disk files, modules for mixing on screen display information into the video stream using the vertical blanking interval as well as modules to model an asynchronous serial bus and a IC card reader.
Land Survey
Member of Technical Staff III
August 1996 - October 1996
I wrote makefiles to build the source code generated by Rational Rose for the TrimTalk communication product.
Engineering
Sr. Software Engineer
January 1994 - August 1996
At TIW, I developed the software (C++/Tcl on Unix) for our in-orbit test (IOT) system of satellite transponders. I was also responsible for installing and verifying the equipment at the customers facilities (in China, Italy, Luxembourg, Virginia and Wyoming).
The IOT consisted of a suite of tests, often customized to meet customer specific requirements, that measured the performance of a transponder once the satellite was in its working orbit. These tests ran on a Unix work station (HPUX and Linux) by sending commands over custom TCP/IP client-server applications and via the GPIB bus (IEEE-488), to signal generators. The return signal was measured with a spectrum analyzer or RF power meter and the results were stored in a relational database. I developed a C++ library for the instruments we used which allowed us to mix and match hardware to quickly address customer customizations. I also wrote the schema for the database tables.
The test were used on SES Astra's 1D, ChinaSat's DFH-3 and EchoStar's EchoStar1 satellites. They measured the satellite transponder's local oscillator, equivalent isotropically radiated power (EIRP), saturation curve, frequency response, G/T, spurious emissions, and inter-modulation characteristics to name a few.
Algorithm Development Group
Sr. Research Engineer
May 1986 - January 1994
I started at Lockheed in the electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) group running Fortran computer models of how noise gets into electronic systems. I developed C applications to first analyze the data and then extend the range of the models. I finished in the Algorithm Development Group developing a signal processing model to show the effect of various signal recover techniques.
My first job at Lockheed was to collect the data for and run a industry standard Fortran computer model (IEMCAP) of cable bundles in spacecraft designs with regard to electromagnetic compatibility (EMC), a.k.a. cross-talk. I used the results of these models to show our flight hardware met the MIL-STD-461 requirements or when it didn't, determine whether it was safe to grant a waver or not. I was also responsible for observing the hardware test in the EMC lab. Working with Tempest engineers, I developed a new application in C, based on a set of equations in an IEEE paper that would allow the model to calculate the cross talk at the much higher frequency requirements of Tempest.
In the Algorithm Development Group, I wrote the X11/Motif GUI for our signal processing tool kit (CWID). I also implemented many of signal processing algorithms. This application served as a test bed for developing new techniques in continuous wave applications, interference rejection, peak detection. After leaving LMSC, I continued to develop signal processing tools like the java applets on my web page (www.starbug.com. See DSP made simple and Make Waves with FFTs). I also received hands on experience with the signal generators, spectrum analyzers and oscilloscopes in our lab.
Contributing Editor
January 1984 - May 1986
I was responsible for producing articles on various aspects of energy conservation in residential housing. This included researching the topic, interviewing people involved with the technology, writing the article and preparing the magazine for publication and distribution.
I was involved getting the magazine started working on everything from figuring out how to use nroff to do our type setting, to building a database of subscribers and writing the excel macros to print labels for mass mailings. I wrote articles on energy conservation included the advantages of compact fluorescent light bulbs and the results of calorimeter measurements I did on the efficiency microwave ovens to name two. I presented a paper on desk-top publishing at the 1986 ACEEE conference. I also worked as a teaching assistant for Energy and Resources Physics class at U.C. Berkeley.