Raymond A. Fyhr

365 Walnut Avenue

Cranford, N.J. 07016

Home (908) 272-6041

Cell: (908) 447-2257

Email: rayfyhr@rayfyhr.com
Home Page: www.rayfyhr.com

Summary:

Over 30 years of professional experience as a software developer. Have worked in the pharmaceutical, communications, financial, transportation, manufacturing, operations research, operating systems, data warehousing. typesetting, and entertainment industries. Development expertise traverses the complete gamut from real-time operating system device drivers through object oriented development environments. Actively participated in every phase of the development life cycle in groups of various sizes from sole proprietorship to large geographically dispersed organizations. Continue to devote substantial personal resources in acquiring new skills and enhancing problem solving abilities.

 

Education:

Colgate University, Hamilton, New York, B.A. Liberal Arts

New York Inst. of Tech., Old Westbury, N.Y., M.S. Computer Science (with distinction)

Member of the ACM - Association of Computing Machinery

Member of INFORMS - Inst. for Operations Research and Management Sciences

CCP from ICCP - Inst. for Certification of Computer Professionals

 

Software Experience:

Languages: C, C++, Java,  Perl, ksh, VB, C++, C#, MS Visual Studio “.net”, Apple Xcode, Dash Code, JavaScript, lex, yacc, SQL, sqlplus, plsql, FCIF, XML, HTML, VXML, mzXML, sh, awk, Pascal, Fortran

Operating Systems: UNIX, Linux, and Windows most variants and many versions

Data Base Software: Oracle, Navigator, TOAD, Sybase, Access, Teradata, ERwin

Communications: Oracle’s AQ, CORBA, TCP/IP, FDDI, RPC, pipes, msg queues, nettl, netfmt, netstat.

Math Modeling Optimizing Tools: AMPL, KMPS (Karmarkar Math Programming System), SAP, Bipartite matchers, CPLEX, OSL, simulated annealing, alpha-beta pruning, fuzzy logic

 

Professional Experience:

Merck Research Labs (MRL), Rahway, NJ1/06 – Now

Lead - Proteomics IT lead, Project Manager - Biomarker IM, Lead - Rahway Lab Automation

 

I have many examples of real time performance improvements of 10 to 100 fold in subject areas that I had no prior experience. Subjects include: hedge fund volatility, airline schedule planning, supply chain, database performance, etc..

  • Developed new parallel search algorithm for the identification of multiply-modified endogenous proteins for top-down Proteomics
  • Published paper in RCMS - http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/rcm.5257/abstract
  • Developed a software tool for oligonucleotide research that simultaneously identifies and quantitates metabolites from LC/MS. Project went from concept to production in 2 months
  • Developed POC software for Mobile Device Remote Instrument Monitoring. Allows viewing of multiple live webcams via secure 3G connections into the corporate VPN. Works with iPhones, Droids, and Blackberries.
  • Configured and deployed the Thermo Nautilus LIMS in 4 months for the Proteomics labs at 3 sites.
  • Conceived and implemented the first use of wireless PDA/Scanner in an MRL LIMS application
  • Developed “ScaleWedge”, a fast and automated weight data collection application
  • Made 40 fold performance improvements to the Sequest Peptide/Protein cluster based search engine
  • Participated in the successful development and deployment of 4 different research and clinical lab automation applications using Graph Logic’s Point Dragon platform in less than 24 months.
  • Configured and administrated the AtTask project management tool into the Proteomics Lab to track the resources and budget for Biomarker projects for all the MRL franchises.
  • Worked with vendor developers to improve the performance of a web based project management application using jMeter automated testing tool and Oracle’s jRocket Mission Control.
  • Coordinated the efforts to enhance the CVD image based LIMS with the first fully automated plaque image analysis using the Definiens product utilizing  a remote server architecture

 

Polaris Software Lab – 10/04 – 1/06

Consultant at Merck Research Labs in the Molecular Profiling and Proteomics group, part of Rosetta Inpharmatics. Worked closely with senior research scientists and the Thermo Professional Services team to successfully install and configure the Nautilus LIMS (Lab Information Management System). Developed major extensions to the Nautilus core client, including an Excel sample loader which enables the users to input sample information received as spreadsheets from collaborators directly into the LIMS. This facility greatly reduces time and errors. Developed an Excel reporting extension which is template driven and user modifiable. Also added a sample splitting extension which simplifies creating child aliquots while maintaining ancestral relationships and volume changes. Conceived and implemented a complete wireless PDA add on application with optimal human factors which utilizes the Symbol MC50’s built in barcode scanner to provide sample inventory control and freezer management to users while in the lab, where it is most needed. A piece of the PDA code developed includes a powerful query facility. It allows users to easily select samples or boxes using one or more of 20 possible criteria without requiring any knowledge of SQL or the complex schema design of the Nautilus database. The query function was ported and is also available as an extension to the PC client. These unique PDA capabilities are leading edge enhancements not currently available in any commercial LIMS on the market. The tight integration of the wireless PDA/scanner into a standard LIMS provides Merck with a distinct competitive advantage, finally transforming it into a useful tool in a research lab environment. Worked on interfacing the LIMS with other lab equipment, sample annotation, compound, and bioinformatics systems within the Merck IT domain. Investigating the use of alternate algorithms and optimization techniques to improve the performance and accuracy of the current biomarker analysis software and workflows.

Environment: Visual Basic MSDE Version 7.1 (.NET 1.1), Windows XP Pro 5.1, Windows CE 4.2, Symbol MC50 PDA (802.11b, Bluetooth, Linear Barcode Scanner), Oracle 9i, 10g, Oracle App Server Containers for J2EE 10g, SQL, PL/SQL, SQLPLUS, Navigator 4.4, Thermo Nautilus LIMS 7.0, Microsoft Office 10, Excel 2002 10.6, HP ProLiant cluster, SuSe Linux 8.1, perl v5.8, Apache Version 1.3.26, MS Server 2003 EE 5.2.3 / IIS, Sequest v.27, Peptide/Protein Prophet, GCC version 3.2.2, JSP, ASP, XML, HTML, ZPL (Zebra barcode Printer Language), Merck SLC

 

MindTrust Consulting - 12/03 to 6/04

Consulting on a project that links the Kraft and Nabisco supply chain systems utilizing various interfaces to transmit key information, such as inventory, forecasts, and manufacturing constraints.  Legacy systems, which have pertinent data, use a Business Objects data base as a repository to seamlessly integrate data transfer to and from the Kraft Advanced Planning & Scheduling (APS) initiative. The system’s internal name is StEPP, Strategic Enterprise Production Planner. This application has been developed to model and solve manufacturing, distribution and logistics problems such as capacity utilization, seasonal pre-builds, network optimization and transportation alternatives for the Nabisco Snacks and Confections businesses. StEPP allows plant managers and business analysts to visualize their operations and solve strategic supply chain issues. Based on costs, constraints and other data in the model, the Linear Programming (LP) solver (JD Edwards OneWorld Xe) produces the least expensive production plan for the next two years. The results are then used as inputs for short-term planning and detail resource scheduling.

Environment: Visual Basic 6.0, Oracle 8.1.7, SQL, PL/SQL, AIX Unix, Windows 2000, Korn shell, Manugistics Fulfillment, JD Edwards OneWorld Xe Advanced Planning: Strategic Network Optimization (SNO) 6.1.0, Crystal Reports 8.5/7.0, TOAD, HTML

 

TechLink Consulting  -  8/03 to 11/03

Consulting to Verispan, a health care information company providing patient-centric data warehousing services. Senior developer, working on new data cleansing and scrubbing software. The code under development utilizes rules programming technology, which is a form of Artificial Intelligence. Specifically getting Eclipse, Authorete, and CIA Server from the company Haley Enterprise to work in an AIX (5.2), Oracle (9.2) environment. This new software will be much easier to implement new business rules for multiple customers without excessive SQL programming changes. Also developing C/C++ client server XML interfaces between Windows and AIX that use Oracle’s Advanced Queuing middleware software. XML schemas (XSDs) for these interfaces are being developed using XML SPY which generates code for the XERCES class libraries. In addition, developed a scheduling script that spawns 12000 Oracle sqlplus scripts for loading monthly summary tables. This script logs tracking information into an Oracle table. It makes better use of parallelism while maintaining flow of execution dependencies.

 

MindTrust Consulting -  3/03 to 8/03

Consulting to Kraft/Nabisco doing QA of Oracle sql code to support the implementation of a new Manugistics  package. Developed using perl and Sybase, ISQL, management reports which output Microsoft Excel spreadsheets detailing the running of batch programs on AIX servers which are scheduled using ControlM. Developed similar management reports that monitor Oracle DBMS performance statistics and summarize daily results in another Excel spreadsheet with graphs. Also involved in support phase of an existing JP Edwards Schedule X application that uses data feeds to and from manufacturing facilities using a Linear Program to produce optimized schedules.

 

ATP Inc. - 10/02 to 1/03

Worked on an Army subcontract to CSC developing wireless (802.11) software for handheld computers running MS CE. This project was called Land Warrior and involved parsing XML and other TOC (Table of contents) files of DOD specifications and converting maps and geographic information into various formats including CADRG, JPG, BMP for visual display in the field with an easy user interface. Development languages include MS Visual C++, Java, VB Script.

 

Perii Systems, Inc. - 6/02 to 10/02

Startup work developing a small cost effective single seller trading system along the lines of eBay. Work involved porting Solaris/Oracle C++ web based CGI code to a Redhat Linux box using binary search algorithms and eliminating Oracle.

 

Advanced Technology Solutions, Inc. - 2/02 to 6/02

Senior developer on the DOM (Delivery Order Manager) project for Telcordia. Wrote the code that allowed Bell South to meet an important FCC requirement that did facility checking during the processing of customer orders for new services. Met an important deadline avoiding substantial financial penalties and the code had no field MRs. In addition developed a plan for QA regression testing which would fully automate the execution of hundreds of test cases. This plan included the intelligent simulation of external systems, stress testing, and flow path and code coverage using mutation analysis. Telcordia opted not to implement this automation strategy.

 

Information Technology Partners - 3/01 to 1/02

Consulting on the Emerging Services Billing System for AT&T. This Kenan Arbor BP biller is responsible for all of AT&T's new offerings in the digital IP area including DSL, Broadband, VPN, MIS, and Optical Carrier. Developing adjunct software using C, C++, Arbor API, and Sybase CTLIB, to automate the creation and configuration of complex services, packages, and discounts. These new programs will be supplementing the use of Lucent's ATM (Arbor Table Maintenance) and will help eliminate the manual data entry which is tedious, time consuming, and error prone. Also automating different aspects of the testing process.

 

Advanced Technology Solutions, Inc. - 4/99 to 3/01

Team leader on the Telcordia Customer Manager (TCM) project. Managed the development efforts of three senior level programmers. This team implemented several CORBA FCIF interfaces. FCIF stands for Flexible Character Interface and is a Telcorida protocol very similar to XML. These interfaces provide connectivity between the Vantive Customer Care GUI and several Telcordia systems, including CNUM, ALOC, and DELIVERY. This subsystem also contained all the code for the HTML web interface used to view and print order information. This team completed all tasks on or ahead of schedule. Developed a code generation tool called "genFCIF" which was used exclusively to generate the first iteration of the production code directly from the FCIF requirements. Implemented the common base code libraries which provided logging, tracing, and Oracle OCI capabilities. Also developed an interface between the TCM system and the Kenan Arbor BP system to allow direct entry of billing information as soon as services are provisioned. Created the source code control tree and the build environments.

 

Advanced Technology Solutions, Inc. - 3/98 to 4/99

Designed and implemented a new Arbor BP feature which is used to modify the service instance ids when new area codes are introduced. This utility was written in C using the Kenan Arbor BP API. It reads a table of new area codes and local exchanges, updates all appropriate phone numbers, and logs all changes to a report file with a summary. Built an internet HTML application for an ecommerce startup using an ERwin designed Oracle 8i database and numerous C coded CGI modules. This system has 10 times the performance characteristics of similar systems built using tools such as Cold Fusion and Jasmine. Developed an Oracle OCI database tool to facilitate table maintenance, debugging and regression testing. Developed in C++ using the Kenan OM class libraries an adjunct process that provides email notification when different milestones are reached.

 

Advanced Technology Solutions, Inc. - 6/97 to 3/98

Senior developer on NCR's NIW (Network Information Warehouse) project. Designed the Logical Model for this multi-dimensional data warehouse application, using the ERwin tool. Responsible for the physical design of the model in Oracle and developed a working simulation of a tri-state phone company with realistic usage data from hundreds of telco switches. This simulation was to provide the basis for developing optimization models for improving switch and trunk utilization. Later combining this with cost and revenue data would provide the data for models that could help improve the profitability of the network. Utilities to do data extraction, cleansing, loading, and querying were largely generated automatically with the "oragen" tool I developed for NCR's SRSM project. Attended a series of Yield Management lectures on applying statistical methods to Data Warehouses to improve customer retention and reduce direct marketing costs. Investigated Data Quality issues, including the use of numerical and analytical tools from companies such as Trillium and Matchware.

 

Advanced Technology Solutions, Inc. - 8/96 to 5/97

Senior developer on NCR's SRSM project (Services Remote Server Management). Developed the logical and physical design for a 20 GByte Oracle database which NCR will use to improve service to customers while reducing their own internal costs. Performed Unix system admin and DBA functions. Migrated from Oracle version 7.2 to 7.3. Established the development environment including porting the Rogue Wave C++ toolset to MPRAS, configuring SQL Net, and building the source code tree. Implemented 4 major modules using C, C++, lex, yacc, and ProC consisting of over 5,000 LOC with only 5 MRs. Developed a C++ class code generator for Oracle tables called "oragen". Rewrote several system utilities using oragen which derived hardware and software system configurations. The new versions executed 20 to 40 times faster, greatly reducing the amount of time necessary to do remote system maintenance. Attended "Object Oriented Analysis and Design" course which covered "Use Case Diagrams" and other OMT concepts.

 

Advanced Technology Solutions, Inc. - 9/95 to 7/96

Consulted for Hewlett Packard doing on site contract support to AT&T at Red Hill and Middletown N.J. locations. This work involved trouble shooting and resolving any problem that included HP hardware or software products. Responsible for HP/UX versions 8.0 through 10.0 as well as numerous application packages including networking, software development, performance monitoring, backup, and high availability products. Performed symmetric multiprocessor kernel level debugging and low level networking trace log analysis. Installed and configured HP Openview Network Node Manger to control a complex network using new Cisco routers and Cabletron hubs.

 

Telecommunications Premium Services- 2/95 to 9/95

Senior software developer for a new company that provides digital voice response systems to the cellular industry. Main responsibilities were with ProC Oracle based reports, billing, and analysis software. This software runs on Sun OS and HP/UX computers and interfaces with SCO boxes that contain the Dialogic voice hardware. It replaced some previously existing Oraperl reports but was much less code and 20 times faster. Also performed analysis using Erlang calculations and participated in studies of middle ware products such as Tuxedo and Top End.

 

PATH (Port Authority Trans Hudson) - 1991 to 1995

Consulted on the New Fare Collection System for the Port Authority of NY/NJ. Responsibilities included system administration of multiple HP G40 UNIX hosts, data base administration of a 50 million dollar a year 5 gigabyte Ingress data base, and network administration of a multi-protocol fiber and copper network. with 80 UNIX machines. This was a large real time system that interfaced with hundreds of gate equipment distributed over a large geographic area including parts of lower Manhattan, Newark, and Jersey City. Rearchitected many DBMS functions to achieve orders of magnitude performance improvements for processing 250,000 transactions a day. Implemented enhancements to the system to better monitor the status of field equipment. Worked with upper management, revenue, audit, operations, and engineering departments in evaluating the system and improving the system. Developed a portable HP100LX application that provides field support with a compressed version of the central computer data base.

 

AT&T Bell Labs, ADSS, Operations Research Area - 1989 to 1992

Participated as lead architect and developer on the Schedule Planning project. This was a large scale, leading edge, operations research project designed to increase airline profitability by improving aircraft fleet assignments while monitoring thousands of constraints and optimizing many objective functions. Designed the architecture of the final product that used combinatorial techniques instead of linear programming. Improved the real time performance of the swapping algorithms several orders of magnitude. Implemented a number of the mathematical models in C for feasibility checks that provided statistics regarding the flyability of the changing schedule. Developed an in-house object oriented CASE tool that supported data base I/O, spreadsheet style editing, referential integrity checking, feasibility analysis and math module interfacing using a lex and yacc parser and g2. Developed a proprietary technique for obtaining initial solutions to the fleeting problems. The final version of this program made use of a new SAP algorithm and still derives better solutions in hours than the large LP based methods. System was purchased by Delta and Northwest airlines in multi-million dollar contacts. It paid for itself within the first year.

 

AT&T Information Systems DSG- 1984 - 1989 senior consultant

Tier 1 Systems Engineering work which involved designing and writing proposal for campus networks that used AT&T's communication products including FDDI, ISO, and TCP/IP protocols. Developed a voice mail system specifically for the Hotel Industry which directly interfaced to a System 75 using out-of-band signaling over X.25 interface.

Designed and implemented ETIP Designer which was an object oriented prototype interface building tool. It allowed non-programmers to develop working interfaces that used menus, forms, fields, text boxes, and shell scripts. At any time during the design process, 'C' code could be generated along with make files that would compile a working version of the prototype. The tool itself was built on top of Raima’s db_Vista's network data base and used it's own lex and yacc parser to interpret and build the form description. This tool was used by a number of internal and external development departments. Also ported Raima’s db_Vista from source code to the UNIX PC platform. Developed the Voice Design Tool This tool allowed non-programmers to use a menu driven, object oriented interface to design interactive automated voice attendant applications. From these working prototypes the 'C' code could be generated. It could manipulate objects of the following types: playback, record, dial, shell script, and touch tone. The tool itself was built on top of  Raima’s db_Vista's network data base and was used internally and by AT&T VARs.

 

Mellon Bank - 1983 to 1984

Design and implemented one of the first UNIX based foreign exchange trading systems. This system was built for a Digital Micro-VAX running ULTRIX. Software was written in 'C' and used JYACC's Form Maker for the user interface and MDBS III which was a high performance extended network model data base. This system provided traders with real time information on currency positions, profit and loss, foreign holidays, currency conversion, arbitrage calculations, customer credit, and account balances.

 

Bell Laboratories - 1981 to 1983

Mergenthaler Linotype - 1979 to 1981 system programmer

Wrote assembly language operating system software for HP and Prime mini-computers. This work involved real time programming for disk drives, tape drives, photo-typesetters....etc.

 

References available upon request