Timeline
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All positions, up to and including the
role in Panasonic Semiconductors
(PSDE), were as permanent staff.
After taking Voluntary Redundancy
the decision was made to operate
as a contractor. This decision was
made for a variety of reasons.
The Eyeplane role was as staff, but
as I never got paid I don’t really
count it
Copyright Steelbadger Consulting Limited 2005 - 2010
20+ Years of experience in many different sectors of the Electronics Industry
Over the past 20+ years I have been privileged to work in some fantastic companies and with some
of the cleverest and nicest people anyone could ever wish to meet.
During this period I have built up a network of fellow contractors and companies which would be of
benefit to any person or group wishing to take almost any electronics based design from concept
through to full scale production.
Go to the “Colleagues” page to see the huge range of skills and facilities on offer.
Last update : 13th November 2010
Website designed and implemented
by Steelbadger Consulting Ltd
Made with Xara Web Designer
Overview : September 1986 to August 1995
Member of the Digital Signal Processing group within Plessey Radar initially working on a unique
multi tasking control system for a new generation of radars. Last role was as team leader
responsible for the delivery of a very significant section of a completely new radar. This involved
managing and working within a team under extreme pressure with very tight deadlines. The
delivery was successfully made after working with the customer on various tests and trials.
Overview : August 1995 to May 2001
Initially senior engineer at Snell and Wilcox within a team creating a set of extremely innovative test
equipment for real time analysis of digital television transmissions. Then moved to the High
Definition section and managed a small multi-disciplined team specifying and creating a completely
new modular system for HDTV digital broadcasting infrastructure. I attended NAB on a number of
occasions and represented the company at an IEEE presentation and a DVB meeting in Geneva.
Overview : May 2001 to August 2005
Joined Panasonic System LSI Europe (PSDE) as the 12th member of this new team. Created and
managed a customer focused system engineering team delivering turnkey solutions for DAB
Radios to Asian manufacturing companies. Customer liaison and support of the Sales Team
throughout the lifetime of the project. Line and Project Management of the hardware, software, RF,
and production engineering teams delivering the solutions to the customer. Also created and ran a
complete system verification program for a new LSI developed by a different group in the office.
Overview : October 2005 to April 2008
Contracted into Philips Semiconductors in Southampton to take over the running of an IC Validation Team.
The team consisted of a Technical Lead and five other engineers from various groups. There were two new
variants of an existing System On Chip (SOC) device requiring validation to extremely short timescales. As
Team Leader I was responsible for all the planning and preparation of the activities of the Validation Team and
reporting to the Functional and Project Management Teams. This role evolved to the point where I became a
key part of the Project Management Team occasionally standing in for the Project Manager. I also visited the
end customer and managed the development of a completely new in-line production test system.
Overview : April 2008 to July 2008
Joined a small start-up to undertake the System Design, Project Management, and Technical Management of a
new display system in the High Definition broadcast environment. I put together the overall system strategy to
fulfil the requirements as specified by the owner, and pulled together a great team of mechanical, hardware,
software, and VHDL remote working contractors to implement the system. I put together a project plan, work
breakdown structure, and detailed budget estimate. Unfortunately it soon became clear that the financial
backing was completely insufficient to support the development so, having done everything possible to protect
the interests of the contractors, I left the company.
Overview : July 2008 to January 2009
Joined OmniPerception on a short term contract to assist in the delivery of some important contracts in the
area of biometric facial recognition. This was the first delivery of bespoke hardware and electronics which
incorporated their unique facial recognition algorithms. The role was varied and spaned everything from liaison
with the customers, generation of project plans, technical coordination and product document creation. I
discovered that I really like working within a small company environment and really enjoyed the diversity of the
role. A great company with lovely people, many of whom I am still in touch with.
Overview : January 2009 to May 2010
Joined the technical team at BSKYB in Osterley working as a Technical Lead for a major new set of software
across four Set Top Boxes. I am responsible to the Programme Manager and the Software Design Manager. I
work very closely with four Project Managers (one for each STB) and the technical teams working on those
boxes. My responsibilities are very wide ranging from the resolution of specific technical queries, to the close
facilitation of problem solving teams for specific issues, and the management of individual project and cross
project technical risks. Eventually ended up focusing full time on the most problematic of the four original STBs
that I had been looking after.
Overview : May 2010 to Date
Rejoined OmniPerception after they found out that I was available having left BSkyB to cover for their project
manager as he was moving to a new role. This involved project and financial management of the significant
collaborative project with BAE Systems up to it’s completion at the end of September. Then I moved on to
project managing the creation of a batch of the innovative CheckPoint-STM cameras and then doing the system
design and managing the complete design process for a completely new, fully productionised version of that
camera. This is the work that is ongoing at the moment. There has also been liaison and close support with
other customers for installed CheckPointTM systems. Rediscovered the pleasure of small companies!
Overview : Not Yet Known!
One of the things that is really great about contracting is that you really don’t know where the next challenge is
going to come from. One of the primary reasons that I moved into the contracting arena was to work with lots
of different people in lots of different companies in lots of different technology areas.
If you think you might be interested in providing my next opportunity for any of these elements, then please go
to the “contact us” page and get in touch.
