Steven W. McDougall

swmcd@theworld.com
https://theworld.com/~swmcd/steven

198 Worcester Rd
Hollis, NH 03049
(978) 758-7053

EDUCATION

Princeton University, BS, 1982
Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
Engineering-Physics Program

EXPERIENCE

• TaxSys web-based tax collection system
• 5 MLOC codebase
• Added new features, fixed bugs, addressed performance issues
• Imported/converted legacy data for new clients
• Wrote Perl for backend, SQL for reports, HTML/CSS/JavaScript for GUI

• Programs collect call detail records (CDRs) and generate reports and graphs
  - supported data rate of 4000 CDRs/second
• Took over in-house tools; rewrote and productized for sale to customers
• Wrote Perl for backend, SQL for reports, PHP for GUI
• Wrote alarm system to notify user of exceptional conditions
• Wrote logging system
• Wrote scripts for build, test, release, kickstart, install, and upgrade

• transitioned build system from Portage to RPM
• wrote power and temperature monitoring system
• in-house authority for Slurm job scheduler
• debugged fabric congestion and kernel races
  - 6000 cores can hit 1-in-1,000,000 bugs in a few hours
• documented system for internal and external users

• multi-terabyte SCSI fibre-channel RAID arrays
• object-oriented C++ application backed by relational database
  - 500 KLOC code base
• created sub-systems for licensing and access control
• completed Pegasus server profile from pre-release sources
  - passed SNIA Conformance Test Program

• architected next-generation product
  - scales to 10,000 users and calendars
  - implemented and shipped on time
• wrote HTML/JavaScript for browser-based UI
• wrote middleware layer in Perl
• wrote SQL for database access
  - profiled and optimized database queries

• developed algorithms, protocols and software for a big, fast, reliable distributed storage system
  - demonstrated prototype at National Association of Broadcasters 2001 trade show
• wrote a WindowsNT file system client and network provider
  - used OSR file system development kit and kernel mode sockets interface
• designed and implemented software to partition disks under program control
  - guaranteed correct operation after crash and restart
• wrote a protocol simulator
• wrote make systems
  - generated builds for Windows and Linux, kernel-mode and user-mode
  - recursive dependency checking for all libraries and source files
• wrote Mac OSX kernel extensions

• wrote a client-server program to move media over TCP/IP
• developed plug-in architecture to support alternate transports & protocols
  - enabled Avid software to work with 3rd party products
• used memory-mapped I/O for speed
  - 10 MB/s end-to-end transfer rate over 100 BaseT
• added HTTP/XML interface for integration with web-based applications
• wrote regression tests
  - kept code stable & robust through 2 years of evolving requirements
• integrated a 3rd party video recorder with Avid editing application
• documented APIs for in-house and 3rd party use

• maintained software in daily production
  - when production is down, it has to be fixed
• modified legacy software to function far beyond its original design limits
  - critical to meeting customer expectations in a $20M deal
• recovered data from corrupt multi-gigabyte database
  - critical to success of company's first commercial sequencing project
• wrote new production software
• hired 7 programmers
• supervised 4 programmers

• developed and programmed sequence assembly algorithms
  - successfully assembled sequences on which existing techniques failed
  - presented results at a scientific conference
• wrote software to analyze physical mapping data
  - ran orders of magnitude faster than existing software
• developed new graphical display techniques for genomic data

• took over software from consultants
• established in-house development capability
• wrote GUI, graphics, data acquisition and instrument control software
  - worked with vendors to solve problems in 3rd-party libraries
• established procedures and standards for software development
• wrote documentation to support customer FDA validation efforts

• wrote an EtherTalk to SCSI protocol converter
  - attained industry-leading benchmarks for print job speed
• wrote a TCP/IP file server on Unix; later ported to Macintosh
  - used setjmp/longjmp to emulate multi-threading on the Macintosh
• designed Macintosh user interface for an image editing program

• performed statistical analysis of data from clinical trials
  - critical to investor decision to continue funding
• developed and programmed DSP algorithms
  - algorithms enabled novel application of ultrasound to bone diagnostics
• wrote data analysis and graphics software
  - output was submitted to FDA
• developed procedures for documenting and tracking data analyses
  - ensured that results could always be regenerated from raw data
• designed digital and analog electronics
• designed manufacturing test hardware and software
• developed new ultrasound measurement techniques

• designed test processes, test hardware and test software
  - 1% return rate on first 10,000 units shipped
• wrote device drivers for SCSI disk drives
• reviewed products for manufacturability
• analyzed production fallout
• designed hardware and software for component qualification tests

• designed video game hardware and software
• programmed Macintosh user interface for a database program

• performed computer analyses of semiconductor fabrication processes
  - assisted principal investigator in interpretation of results
• wrote a full-screen text editor
  - took advantage of local editing capabilities of HP terminal

• developed algorithms for use in automated logic design system

• wrote graphics and data analysis software
  - advised principal investigators on digital signal analysis techniques
  - restructured algorithms to avoid disk thrashing
• developed hardware for laser tomography system

• modified PL/I data analysis and archiving program
  - program generated data for submission to FDA

SKILLS

OS

Linux, Win32, Mac OSX, MS DOS, VAX/VMS

Languages

C/C++, Perl, Python, PHP, bash, Java, JavaScript, SQL, FORTRAN, Pascal, PL/I, LISP, APL, BASIC

Databases

MySQL, MS SQL server, Oracle, Sybase, Filemaker Pro

Markup

HTML, CSS, XML, SVG

Protocols

TCP/UDP/IP, HTTP, SNMP, SCSI, AppleTalk

Development environments

Unix/vi/make/gcc/gdb, Windows/MSVC++, Macintosh Project Builder

Version Control

git, Subversion, ClearCase, Perforce, CVS, SCCS, RCS

System Management

Slurm, Syslog, Nagios, LDAP, NTP

Graphics

GD, GD::Graph, Perl/Tk, X/Motif, Macintosh, MetaWINDOW

Hardware

PC, Macintosh, Sun Sparc, DEC Alpha, DEC VAX

Assemblers

8086, 68000, 6502, 8051, PIC

CAD

NiFi, Orcad

AI

Windsurf

FREEWARE

Convert::yEnc

yEnc decoder, with database of file parts

Game::Stones

Play the game of Stones - an exercise in dynamic programming

News::Newsrc

Manage newsrc files

Pod::Tree

Parse a POD into a static tree. Includes Pod::Tree::HTML for translating PODs to HTML.

Set::IntSpan

Manage sets of integers, newsrc style: 1-7, 15, 23-28

Set::Window

Manage an interval on the integer line

A heap

malloc() and free(), with diagnostics and integrity checks

Tech notes

• How to daemonize a process
• How to use lock files
• How to find out which (Intel) CPU you have

PerlMonth articles

• Network Programming with IO::Socket
• linkcheck
• XS Mechanics
  • Introduction
  • Architecture
  • Tools
  • Modules
  • Align::NW
• Flexing Your Modules (There's more than one way to do it...)
• Writing usenet applications with News::* modules
• Representing Sets in Perl
• Finding your files with File::Find
• Parsing the Command Line with Getopt::* modules

Perl documentation

Object-oriented programming in Perl

It's all done with mirrors

Module Mechanics

How to build a perl module

Module Anatomy

A skeleton for a Perl module

Module PODs

How to document a perl module

Program Anatomy

A skeleton for a Perl program

Program PODs

How to document a perl program