John Beisley
E-mail: greatred:AT:gmail:DOT:com
Computer Skills
- UNIX / POSIX
- (X)HTML, CSS
- XML, XSLT
- MySQL
- Postgres
- Subversion
- Bazaar
- Doxygen
I have contributed some feature and fix patches to a few open-source projects, and had them accepted.
Career History
February 2008 – April 2008 – Campbell Carr
In the time that I worked at Campbell Carr, I was developing a Python-based system to replace an existing PHP/Python web application. This involved working with a legacy database schema that would support both systems for a transitional period while the new application became more capable of fully replacing the existing system.
Both new and old systems employed transactions to ensure that account inventories would be consistant at all times. In writing the new system I gained knowledge in the use of the Quixote web framework, as well as SQLAlchemy to make the system agnostic of database dialect (Oracle and Postgres being the two main supported databases).
June 2006 - November 2007 - Mintel
I worked on several products, including developing upon and maintaining the GNPD (Global New Products Database). The GNPD is a paid-for subscription service that both academic users and small-to-large companies use for performing market research. The service is a web-application under very active development, and embraces a few new technologies. Typically, my work had involved putting new features on the GNPD to provide a more useful service to customers, using such technologies as Apache, C++, MySQL, XSL/XML, HTML, CSS and Javascript. The C++ code had to be written in a maintainable form, and utilised some of the more advanced C++ features such as writing generic functions and classes, object-oriented models (including inheritance), as well as making heavy use of the C++ STL to make use of standard algorithms and data structures in high level code.
I also worked in the core team of developers in maintaining common core libraries, shared between many of Mintel's products. These libraries were largely in C++. As well as using the features of C++ mentioned above it was important to diaognose problems in the libraries, and add unit tests to protect against future regressions. In doing this, I improved the existing unit test framework, whilst maintaining backwards compatibility with the existing unit tests.
During my employment at Mintel, I developed many scripts to assist with the maintenance of services and database structures - many of these scripts were written in Python. This included part of the unit test suite that was previously written in Perl and needed to be expanded considerably upon its previous requirements.
Software maintenance involved using a variety of tools, including Doxygen for code documentation and Subversion for version control. I have found that writing Doxygen comments before implementation has generally led to produce higher quality and better thought-out code, as well as producing high quality interface documentation.
Whilst working at Mintel I have gained experience in working in a small team of developers on a product that requires high availability to clients, and as such have learnt how to react quickly to diagnose problems and fix them quickly. I have also worked as a part of a larger development team that shares a great deal of common source code and I have learnt important communication skills in tracking down and fixing problems in this shared code.
September 2005-June 2006 – University
Completed degree - achieving a first in MEng (Hons) Software Engineering at The University Of Wales, Aberystwyth.
September 2004 July 2005 - Backpacking around AustraliaI spent a year in Australia on a working-holiday, largely travelling by myself. During the time I picked up a lot of self-reliance and confidence.
June 2003 - August 2004 - Plymouth Marine LaboratorySome continued maintenance of primary production models.
Working as part of a large project (DISMAR) on an online Web-GIS system involving many countries. This has involved writing a WMS Server using Python, Postgres and Mapserver's Mapscript to serve out a large quantity of data on demand, projected and displayed to clients' requests. During this time I have travelled to meetings across Europe in order to discuss the project's current and future development.
Helping to develop and optimise a faster image projection algorithm for mapping satellite images to arbitrary map projections.
Porting C code for scientific image processing from a Sparc/Solaris system to x86/GNU/Linux, to compile and run for both systems, whilst maintaining read and write compatibility with existing big-endian binary data files.
While working at Plymouth Marine Laboratory I attended a manual-handling course, which covered lifting and moving heavy and unwieldy objects. This has been a useful skill in both my work at the laboratory and in temporary jobs while on my working holiday in Australia.
September 2002-January 2003 - University
July 2002-September 2002 - Plymouth Marine Laboratory
Continued development of primary production models, and maintenance of processing systems.
September 2001-June 2002 - University
August 2000-September 2001 - Plymouth Marine Laboratory
This was a university-assessed year in industry. My roles there were quite varied - mostly consisting of writing bespoke software for scientists. My major work has included:
Implementing multiple models based upon multiple published scientific papers. These models usually model primary production or related models. These models were written in C/C++ and were required to be written with performance in mind.
Maintaining the image processing system, both adding features and correcting problems.
September 1998-June 2000 - University
Interests
My sporting interests include archery (mostly unsighted recurve), and I have competed in an archery club at university. I also enjoy sailing as part of a crew when circumstances allow. To relax I like to read books, and also walking in natural surroundings.
Education
I have achieved a first in MEng (Hons) Software Engineering at The University Of Wales, Aberystwyth.
| A-Levels (1998) | |
|---|---|
| Bromfords School, Wickford, Essex | |
| Computing | B |
| Physics | B |
| Mathematics | C |
| GCSEs (1996) | |
| Bromfords School, Wickford, Essex | |
| Mathematics | A* |
| Science (Double) | A* |
| English | A |
| English Literature | A |
| Geography | A |
| Information Systems | B |
| Media Studies | B |
| Statistics | B |
| German | C |
| Art and Design | C |
Referees
Contact me for referee information.
