Network Design - I have been involved with many network design issues - modelling traffic flows, growth issues and considering how technology changes the costs of different network elements. I have been personally consulted by BT looking for ways to evolve their telephony network. I have been brought in by Marconi to help several operators large and small improve their network design. For example I suggested that ATA (a small Spanish operator) change their network design from 5 small star connected switches, to 2 small and one larger switch that were all connected - this was a lot more efficient, cheaper, and had better growth potential.
System Design - I have led the system design of several projects, for this I have performed risk analysis, equipment design, protocol design, security studies, social studies and customer profiling. Projects included a large network access project (prototype worked but never deployed), a special network for BBC news gathering and interconnecting networks.
Strategic Studies - on behalf of Marconi I led, took part in and
advised many strategic studies. Studies have included:
| 2002 - | Waveney Consulting Established myself as an Independent Telecoms Consultant and co-founded Discovery Consultancy - an association of independent Telecoms Consultants. As well as offering general Telecoms and ATM expertise this also provides Website analysis, development and management. |
| 1998 - 2001 | Marconi |
| 2000 - 2001 | The ATM Forum's Vice President and web czar. I drove the re-focusing of the forum from work on new specifications to product neutral promotion of the technology. I also drove through the redesign of the forum's web presence; this involved co-ordination of web design, hosting and graphics companies and two different offices of the forum. |
| 1996 - 2001 | Broadband strategic technical network design, standards co-ordination, switch design consultant, ATM consultant, Network design and modelling. Standards have included ATM Forum, The MSF, IETF, DSL forum, MPLS Forum, ITU-T and ETSI. I successfully got features Marconi wanted into standards at the ATM Forum, ITU-T, IETF and MSF. I also investigated Home Networking technologies and home automation. |
| 1982 - 2001 | Invited into lots of strategic technical brainstorming sessions on a wide variety of topics, many of which are outside my main specialist area, but involved because of my wide knowledge and ability to dig into new subjects. |
| 1978 - 1998 | Plessey and GPT |
| 1995 - 1997 | System design and concepts behind a novel passive optic network access system (prototyped but never deployed). As well as my normal system design, research and modelling; this also included social studies, security studies and customer profiling. |
| 1993 - 1994 | Led a company wide strategic look at Video on Demand, working with many set-top-box suppliers, broadcasters (BBC, Granada, Sky), computer companies (Sun, DEC, IBM) and network operators. Detailed study of the technology and market. Conclusion - it would work, be attractive, but the technology was too expensive to become a viable service for ~10 years. |
| 1988 - 1996 | Developed, modeled, simulated and proposed a series of very high performance ATM and general purpose switch designs. This activity had resumed in 2001, looking at optic switching. |
| 1986 - 1991 | Led, controlled and took part in research, standards and company policy into ATM switching, ATM use and ATM opportunities. |
| 1978 - 1986 | System X - real time software design and testing, system design, fault finding "Guru", system integration. Called into many projects to "get it working". |
| 1975 - 1977 | Marconi Avionics (No connection with Marconi above) Vacation work while at University, developed special display software for use at Farnborough Airshow, the kernel of an avionics computer, a cross-compiler and a software profile analyser. |
| Software | Perl, C, Assembler, Unix (slightly rusty), Mathematica, MS office, HTML |
| Hardware | Aware what can and cannot be done in electronics and optics |
| System Design | Led, been part of and assisted many teams (including multi-site and multi-continent) |
| Telecoms | ATM, MPLS, PSTN, Networks, SDH, Broadband, Teletraffic, Performance, Reliability, Availability, DSPs, IMA, GSMP, Protocols, Routing, Design |
| Presentational | Many presentations (once to 5K people) often with little warning, trained to deal with the press |
| Leadership | Technical leadership excellent |
| Technical | I have helped adjudicate several PhD and research projects at the Universities of Cambridge and Lancaster |
| Date of Birth | 2nd June 1957 |
| Marital Status | Married with 2 children |
| Driving License | Full, Clean |