Jef Poskanzer's Résumé

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Jeffrey A. Poskanzer May 2005
1-510-528-2178 jef@mail.acme.com
1212 Kains, Berkeley CA 94706 http://acme.com/

Objective

Technically challenging software development either in the Berkeley area or via telecommuting.

Skills

Expert in: Unix, C, C++, JavaScript, Java, shell scripting, HTTP, web server design, CGI, HTML, image file formats, PC hardware.

Proficient in: XML, TCP/IP, netnews, SMTP, user interface design, protocol design, API design, 2-D graphics algorithms, geographic algorithms, PostScript, FreeBSD sysadmin, firewalls and network security.

Work Experience

For the last few years I have been alternating full-time work and consulting, plus some development projects of my own when I have the time. For example:

I have also produced some interesting graphics and sound demos, a miniature X11 toolkit, and lots of fun PostScript graphics. I've also done some experimenting with ray tracing, computerized map making, high-speed netnews transfer protocols, interfacing to alphanumeric paging systems, and lots more.

Some of the more interesting consulting projects: adding pbmplus to a video frame-grabber system so that it could save and read dozens of different file formats; some X11/InterViews work and graphics hacking for a major network management system; installing a new netnews system at a large company.

Other jobs:

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory July 2012 - December 2013

I returned to LBNL for a part-time temporary position where I worked on a network analysis tool called iperf3. My tasks were to improve the software's performance and reliability, and get it ready for release.

WaveMarket April 2002 - May 2003

WaveMarket provides location-based services software for cellphones, using both Java and C++. I worked mostly on the server side. My most interesting project was writing a new web server in C++ providing a Servlet interface very similar to the Java one.

Digital Video Broadcast Systems September 1998 - September 2000

A startup involved in high-performance internet servers and protocols, especially streaming video. My task was to improve and tune a general-purpose HTTP server, using technology from my freeware thttpd server. The result was verified by a third-party test as the fastest web server in the world.

Real Time Solutions September 1993 - May 1995

RTS makes hardware and software for automating large distribution warehouses. The software is basically a hugely complicated real-time database. I worked mostly on the X11/Tk-based user interface programs, and also do general system-level programming and support - shell scripts, DNS maintenance, NetBlazer/ISDN/SLIP work, etc.

Z-Code Software March 1992 - April 1993

Finished a port of Z-Code's Motif-based email program to OpenLook (just in time for Sun to give up on OpenLook!). Finished a Motif-based fax system (incoming & outgoing, client/server organization, shell interfaces as well as GUI). General maintenance programming.

Sybase January 1988 - May 1988

At Sybase I was part of a team of three engineers, designing a new window system to support Sybase's database front end. The design drew heavily on my experience with the X window system.

UniSoft Systems September 1986 - November 1987

I was UniSoft's resident graphics hacker, working on porting the X Window System to UNIX System V on various machines. I participated in MIT's alpha and beta tests for X version 11. I also did general bug-fixes on UniPlus+, the UNIX System V product that is UniSoft's main business.

My last project at UniSoft was porting X11 to the Mac II, running A/UX. Porting the clients, library, and server took me a total of three weeks.

Genigraphics-GP May 1985 - July 1986

I was hired to write systems and graphics software for a high-powered presentation graphics workstation based on two 68020 processors and a smart frame buffer. I got to do a few interesting projects, such as designing a simple but powerful window/user-input manager; designing and implementing a file format for compressed bitmaps; and prototyping a font package. I also wrote some very nice graphics hacks.

Versatec/Xerox February 1983 - April 1985

I worked in the Engineering Information Systems division, which was writing a CAD/CAE software package called "Expert" to run on Xerox's D-machine processors using the mouse/windows/icons user interface. My work was split between the Systems group, writing common software for use by the other groups, and the Drafting group, developing a 2-D mechanical drafting package as part of a team of five programmers. My notable tasks included:

On my own time, I wrote about 30 different "hacks" (unsupported software distributed within Xerox). These were mostly systems-type utilities, such as a remote filesystem cache, a shell, a random number library, and a printf() clone. However, I enjoy doing real-time animated graphics, so I also wrote a lot of entertainment software - a bitmap animation tool, a lunar-lander game, some 3-D stuff, etc.

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory July 1979 - December 1982

I worked in the Real Time Systems Group, which designs, builds, and maintains real-time control systems for various research projects in the lab and around the country. At the time, we specialized in three types of computers: PDP-11s, Vaxes, and Modcomps. My first task at RTSG was to port Kernighan & Plauger's "Software Tools" to the Modcomps. Some of my other projects:

In between the major projects, I did a lot of development on the Software Tools, including writing a portable screen editor and an early real-time multi-player space war game called Conquest (available through DECUS).

Other jobs: in 1979, grader for a second-year computer science course at Carnegie-Mellon; in 1978, a summer job writing disk drivers for Cm*, an early experimental multi-processor; in 1977, a summer job at LBL modifying an electron-optics simulation on a CDC-7600; in 1975, a small database for keeping track of textbooks at my high school; in 1972, a character generator routine written in PDP-8 assembler.

Awards

Usenix 1993 Lifetime Achievement Award for work on BSD Unix
Usenix 1996 Lifetime Achievement Award for work on Software Tools

Education

Carnegie-Mellon University 3 years completed
Pittsburgh, PA Fall 1976 - Spring 1979

My major was "Applied Math, Computer Science A (Software)". I studied both math and computer science. The more interesting courses I took include Combinatorics, Graph Theory, Computer Graphics, Compiler Design, Software Engineering, and Artificial Intelligence.

University of California Summer quarter, 1975
Berkeley, CA

Between my third and fourth years of High School, I took one course at U.C. Berkeley. It was called "Machine Structures", and it dealt with assembly language programming for the Control Data 6000/7000 series, and for PDP-11s.


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