MARK E. PHAIR

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Experience

Paul D. Sheriff and Associates (Tustin, CA) 1997--Present (details)

Software Engineer: Redesigned a web-based time- and project-management software package. Collaborated on multiple projects using Visual Basic, SQL Server, and ASP.

Test and Automation Engineer: Introduced formal test methods, including full regression testing. Designed and implemented test procedures for the company's primary product, a code generation tool and application framework. Automated tasks using C#, including document preparation for e-publishing.

University of California, Irvine (Irvine, CA) 2003--Present (details)

Instructor (Summer 2006): Instructor of record for EECS 12 (Introduction to Programming). Responsible for all aspects of class including lesson plans, assignments, and tests. The class will consist primarily of students who are not majoring in computer science or a related field, and it is a short, intense session (5.5 Weeks).

Graduate Student Researcher: Research in sketch-based methods for civil engineering simulation, leading to two publications and a third currently under review. Developed C++ and Python-based software that has been used by civil engineering students in their course work. The software serves as an interface to an open source finite element solver for earthquake engineering that previously only had a script-driven interface unacceptable for use by students unfamiliar with programming. It allows users to sketch a model using standard engineering notation and then simulate its response to various loading conditions.

Teaching Assistant: Responsible for discussion sections and laboratory instruction for two quarters of C programming and introductory computer engineering. During the second quarter, developed a series of programming assignments in which students used C to simulate the processor that they were studying.

Harvey Mudd College (Claremont, CA) 2000--2003 (details)

Student Researcher: Developed a customizable, IEEE 754-compliant floating-point multiplier as well as web-based software to enable novice users to select appropriate customization options. Utilized Perl for the backend processing and the Verliog hardware description language as the output format. Developed VERIMark, a markup language that describes the possible options to be made available in the web interface and the resulting Verilog code that should be produced.

Instructional Laboratory Assistant: Responsible for instruction of students in the use of MATLAB for signal processing and system simulation.

Education

University of California, Irvine (Irvine, CA)

M.S. Electrical and Computer Engineering, December 2005. GPA 3.9

Graduate Fellow: California Institute for Telecommunications and Information Technology.

Course work: computer graphics, scientific visualization, virtual reality, algorithms, mobile game development, random processes, compilers, computational logic, regular languages and automata, and distributed and parallel systems.

Selected course-related projects

• Developed a Monte Carlo ray-tracer. As part of a two-person team, designed a parameterized disco-ball, implemented a k-d tree for spatial subdivision, and implemented basic photon mapping for participating media (e.g., fog).
• As part of a three-person team, developed a game for Java-enabled (MIDP 2) mobile phones. The Alchemist's Workshop is a time-pressure puzzle game in which players attempt to mix together basic elements to create products for the nobles that support their shops.

Harvey Mudd College (Claremont, CA)

Course work in systems engineering, nonlinear dynamics, system simulation, computer architecture, mechanical engineering, materials engineering, electrical engineering, chemical engineering, engineering design, and project management.

Selected course-related projects

• As part of a two-person team, developed a Java-based plug-in for the open source VLSI design tool Electric that enables users to quickly produce programmable logic arrays from simple tabular descriptions.
• As part of a four-person team, designed and implemented a system for an industry client to detect and eliminate lip-synchronization error in an NTSC television signal. Based on the preliminary conceptual work of the client, the system monitors the audio stream for certain events, and then places single-character hidden markers in the closed-caption field, which resides in the video signal. When the audio and video are separated for processing, they can fall out of synchronization. Re-synchronization can be achieved by monitoring the audio for the same events, searching the video stream for markers, and then delaying either the audio or the video as required.

Selected Publications

``Image centric finite element simulation,'' Computers and Graphics, 23(3): pp 379--392, June 2005. With Falko Kuester and Tara C. Hutchinson.

``PerlNomic: Rule Making and Enforcement in Digital Shared Spaces,'' Online Deliberation 2005 / DIAC-2005, Stanford University, May 20-22, 2005. With Adam Bliss.

Programming Languages I've Used

Python, C/C++, Java, SQL, LSL, Perl, Visual Basic, C#, Ruby, Lisp, PIC Assembly, Verilog, Prolog, QuickBasic, AppleSoft Basic.

Other Keywords

Virtual reality, databases (MySQL), physical simulation, user interfaces, system architecture, OpenGL, Linux, HTML.

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