James E. Reaney

CAREER OBJECTIVE

EDUCATION

SKILLS

Research experience includes work on a light-off, temperature and fuel-to-air ratio flame detector sponsored by Rosemount Aerospace, January 1991 to August 1992. This work began with Andrew Hamer and Erik Johnsson and culminated in my Master's Thesis entitled "The Use of Chemiluminescence for the Detection of Temperature and Fuel-to-Air Ratio in Turbulent Pre-Mixed Flames". During the course of this research I became familiar with the operation of several laboratory instruments, including monochromators, digital oscilloscopes, photomultipliers (and photo-optics in general), thermocouples, fiber optics, A/D boards and a variety of computerized lab equipment. Additionally, I used several lasers in my work, including low-power Helium-Neon lasers, three Argon-Ion lasers, a UV-excimer laser, and a ring-dye laser with frequency doubling capabilities. I performed some experiments on laser light absorption and scattering to determine soot volume fractions in flames I was analyzing. I gained other laboratory experience designing and building computer controlled digital translation stages, using CCD cameras and linear photodiode arrays and molding high temperature ceramic parts.

Currently, my Ph.D. work involves the dynamic simulation of gas turbine operating conditions. For now, I am only modeling the intricate dynamics of compressor operation, but eventually the model will be extended to include combustor, turbine and inlet/nozzle effects. I am evaluating the modeling on several machines and architectures in order to determine which is best suited for this task. I am particularly interested in the visualization of the data generated from such simulations.

Prior to my Master's work I was employed in Virginia Tech's Gas Turbine Lab, where I performed maintenance on a Pratt and Whitney JT-15D. This work included outfitting the engine (which was on a test stand) with instrumentation, plumbing fuel lines, some sheet metal work and performing routine power-up tests. During the course of my undergraduate and graduate studies I became familiar with and comfortable using several shop machines, including mills, lathes, drill presses, welding equipment (acetylene/oxygen and MIG), saws, sanders, grinders and the like with a variety of materials including aluminum, brass, copper, steel, wood, wax and Plexiglas.

My classes and additional studies cover a wide range of topics. My transcript details the large number of classes I have taken at Virginia Tech and St. Louis University. In addition to the regular gauntlet of undergraduate engineering classes, I have taken a special interest in classes involving combustion, pollution and propulsion/power generation. In particular, I have taken several classes involving physical chemistry, kinetics, combustion, internal combustion engines, turbomachinery, gas turbines for propulsion and power generation, and ramjets and rockets. I also have many supporting courses in mathematics, plus additional coursework in linguistics, professional writing, ethics and philosophy in general.

Over the years I have gained broad computer experience on a number of systems: PCs, Macs, workstations, mainframes, etc. I have extensive experience with DOS, Windows (including Windows95 and Windows NT), and OS/2 on 8088 through Pentium based PCs, and a thorough working knowledge of Mac operating systems on Apple II through the current PowerMac machines. I have practical experience with UNIX flavors on many workstation platforms. I am adept at using X-based applications between UNIX boxes and PC hardware. And I am familiar with VM/CMS on several university mainframes. I am currently employed by the Virginia Tech Computing Center as a Programmer/Analyst, where my duties include answering computing questions on just about everything any user affiliated with Virginia Tech could have a problem with. Questions routinely involve the mainframes, UNIX-based workstations, PCs, Macintoshes, all sorts of software, anything about the Internet plus many other odds and ends.

I am familiar with nearly all major software releases since 1986, including word processors, spreadsheets, databases, desktop publishers, CAD programs, graphing packages, mathematical/statistical packages, specialized engineering software (Chemkin, AVS, PV-Wave, Spyglass Dicer and Transform, etc.), diagnostic software and games (too numerous to mention). My programming knowledge is very extensive and includes FORTRAN, BASIC, C++, Pascal, and software development under the Windows and OS/2 platforms. I have years of experience with the Internet (the web, e-mail, telnet, ftp, gopher, newsreaders, etc.)

I am adept at the installation, setup, and maintenance of both hardware and software. I routinely set up, maintain and upgrade dozens of machines in the Computing Center. I personally set up and maintained a network of ten PCs for the Reacting Flows Laboratory (formally the Combustion Lab) in Randolph Hall at Virginia Tech (in fact, I served as the de facto sysop for this lab from December 1990 to January 1994). I have set up many PC's, Macs and UNIX boxes from scratch. I have installed just about every operating system imaginable, including DOS, Windows 3.x, Windows 95, Windows NT, OS/2 Warp, NetBSD, Linux, AIX, and of course several versions of the Mac OS. Most machines are networked to share software, data, laser printers and other peripherals, and access to university workstations and mainframes via ethernet and twisted pair cabling. I have also set up many servers used in distributed computing environments; including gopher, ftp and web servers for the Computing Center. This résumé is being presented to you from a web server running under OS/2 Warp on my own personal machine in the Computing Center.

EXPERIENCE

Programmer/Analyst, Virginia Tech Computing Center, Virginia Tech, March 1994 to present.
A campus consultant, answering any and all questions about hardware and software on many different platforms.

Sysop for the Reacting Flows Laboratory, Mechanical Engineering Dept., Virginia Tech; December 1990 to January 1994.
An unpaid position where I was responsible for keeping the lab computers running smoothly, safeguarding data, updating software, etc. This position was concurrent with my M.S. and Ph.D. studies.

Resource Center Administrator, Virginia Productivity Center, May 1990 to December 1990.
I managed and coordinated VPC's resource library; a collection of thousands of articles, books, databases, overheads, videotapes, and films concerning Total Quality and Productivity Management.

Engineering Student Intern, DYNCORP, Fort Belvoir, Virginia, Summer 1987.
Developed and coordinated a computerized, prioritized work schedule for the company; helped familiarize the secretarial staff with the (then) new computer software (Lotus 1-2-3).

REFERENCES

Additional references, written references and/or transcripts furnished on request.

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