CV
Profile
Following a degree in physics I pursued an interest in computer software, working on an ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) application in the C programming language. In 1996 I started writing web applications for Open World, an online marketing company for the luxury travel industry. I worked with large travel companies such as Intercontinental Hotels and Hyatt Hotels. In 2001 I joined Wessex Water and developed an expertise in electricity bill processing, writing the Chellow bill processing software. I am a fan of the internet, free software, free culture and wikis. My other Free Software projects are Imprimatur (a web application testing tool), and Own-Id (a service for delegating OpenIds).
Current Skills
- Computing skills including web applications with Python, Java, Postgresql and Apache Tomcat.
- Good understanding of electricity bill processing including EDI, MPANs (contributor to the MPAN article on Wikipedia), DUoS, TUoS, CCL, VAT. Experience of handling half-hourly data.
- Maintaining relationships with energy suppliers, meter operators, data collectors and DNOs.
- Managing a small team of highly talented people.
Employment History
- 2001 to present - Wessex Water. I manage a small team responsible for processing energy bills, electricity supply changes and energy data. The team and I have developed systems to rapidly and accurately check electricity and gas bills and data. These systems also present a timely picture of the organization's energy use and spending.
- 1995 to 2001 at Open World Limited - My first project at Open World was to automate the production of a training manual for AT&T. The experience of working for corporate clients throughout the software lifecycle has characterized my time at Open World. When the company moved to specialize in publishing hotel group websites in 1996, I was asked to do the back-end programming. I used the Python scripting language to write a number of CGIs that included a search, emailer (PGP encrypted), relocator and a simple auction. As the traffic to our sites became heavier, it became clear that spawning a new Python process for each CGI request was too inefficient. I decided to use a new architecture of Java Servlets and a relational database. One of the applications I wrote using this new architecture was a currency converter which took feeds from the UN and the IMF. As the applications became more complicated, and the websites themselves became more dynamic, it became clear that I needed to improve the application architecture again. With this new architecture, the applications generate XML, which is then transformed using an XSLT template that most closely fits the browser's content-type, character-encoding and language. For example, if someone with a WAP phone requests a page in Japanese with the Shift-JS encoding, a page will be generated based on an XSL template that most closely matches these criteria based on the HTTP specification. This architecture supports compound documents(documents containing dynamic elements from disparate sources) by using Server Side Includes.
- 1994 to 1995 at APL. APL are a software company that produces a suite of programs for managing factories. It was my job to enhance the system according to customer requirements. The system was written in 'C' and ran on Unix and MS-DOS, using an Informix relational database. The enhancements ranged from small modifications to existing code, to writing whole new modules. The work involved visiting clients at their sites to discuss projects.
Education
- Sun Certified Programmer for Java2 Platform
- BSc. Hons. Theoretical and Computational Physics (2.2) Cardiff University
- 'A' levels: Physics (B) Mathematics (C) Chemistry (C)
- GCSEs: Physics (A) Biology (A) Mathematics (B) Chemistry (B) C.D.T. (B) French (B) English Lit. (B) English Lang. (C) Art (C)
Details
Nationality: British
Date of birth: 1971-12-14
Interests
Blogging, reading, walking, cycling, badminton, swimming and pubs.