Who I Am

I was born and raised in Montreal and graduated from the University of Waterloo with a BASc in Electrical Engineering and a Master of Mathematics degree in Computer Science. I am a Professional Engineer licensed to practice in the Canadian province of Ontario, though I am now retired.

I started working in my field as part of the Co-op program at the University of Waterloo, where I worked for the former AES Data in Montreal, NCR in Waterloo, and Electrohome in Kitchener. After graduating with my Master of Mathematics, I worked as the Lab Manager in the Multiprocessor Research Group where I had done my Masters thesis. Next, I worked as a Software Developer at Bell-Northern Research, a job that brought me to Ottawa, Ontario, where I still reside.

I left Bell-Northern Research to join a small company, ObjecTime Limited, that spun out of Bell-Northern Research. At ObjecTime, I worked as a consultant, trainer, customer support staff member, technical sales person, and product manager. ObjecTime was acquired by Rational in 2000. Just three years later, IBM acquired Rational. I retired from IBM at the end of 2015 as a Senior Product Manager.

I’ve worked on a lot of projects in my career. Some were great successes and others were spectacular failures, with most somewhere in the middle. I’ve also worked for companies of various sizes. I joined ObjecTime Limited as the sixteenth employee and it peaked at 140 people when it was acquired by Rational, a company of about 3,500 people. IBM, of course, was the behemoth of this bunch at about 400,000 employees. I have more than a few stories to tell about my experiences!

Along the way, I started a small video production company, Darlington Mediaworks, and worked with the Targa Newfoundland rally in Newfoundland from 2004 to 2007, producing the party tape for the dinner at the end of the event as well as personalized team DVDs and a documentary of the event for purchase.

I’ve been playing hockey once a week for a couple of decades now, and sometimes twice a week in retirement. I’ve also picked up cycling again for the first time in about twenty-five years. I like longer rides of 40-120 kilometers in length, or about 25 to 80 miles. I’ve also resumed playing bass guitar (long live Rock’n’Roll!!!) after a thirty-year absence. I joined a rock’n’roll band which folded and morphed into another rock’n’roll band! I also lift free weights three or four times per week in my losing battle to fight aging. Lastly, all these activities rest on a foundation of family and friends, led by my wife of more than forty years, Joanne.