Curriculum Vitae

John A. Thywissen

Education

The University of Texas at Austin, Department of Computer Science, 2008–present, Objective: Ph.D. in Computer Science

S.M.U., 2004–2006, Master of Science in Engineering Management

University of Kansas, 1985–1989 & 1992, Bachelor of Science in Computer Science

Other higher education & training

The University of Texas at Dallas, 2007, Coursework related to decision making and risk

S.M.U., 2005, Postgraduate Certificate in Enterprise Management

London Business School, 2001, Accelerated Development Programme

HP/EDS, 1994–2008, 119 courses (707 contact hours) on: management, consulting, software engineering, object-oriented development, networking, and specific technologies

Houston Community College, 1984, Coursework in electrical engineering

Rice University, 1982 & 1983, Coursework in computer science (audit)

Employment

Graduate Research Assistant; The University of Texas at Austin, Department of Computer Science, Austin, Texas; 2009–present

Programming languages research with Prof. W. Cook and Prof. J. Misra, investigating "computational orchestration" — specifically the model of programming languages and distributed computing embodied by Orc.

Created and maintained the Orc Eclipse integrated development environment plug-in.

Created proof-of-concept implementation of security typing (secure information flow) in Orc.

Formalized an Orc “token semantics” — a form of structural operational semantics.

Currently investigating methods for modifying running Orc programs.

Advanced Systems Engineer, Senior Systems Engineer, Project Manager, Senior Programme Manager, and Managing Consultant; HP/EDS, Plano, Texas; 1994–2008

Provided technology expertise, advice, and education to business and government clients.

Designed and led development of numerous large software systems.

Directed I.T. projects and programmes as part of contracts valued from $64k to $700M.

Led technology adoption and education for HP/EDS teams, and acted as “consultant to the consultants” for software engineering practices such as: object oriented development, iterative development, Web systems development, distributed systems, and human-computer interaction.

Technology and management expert for critical project situations: advanced technology introduction, “turnaround” (get out of trouble), and “schedule crash” (faster than reasonable).

Developed project proposals for government and business clients.

Initiated and directed the EDS+University Collaboration Programme.

Diverse set of clients, including: American Airlines, Bank of America, Bell Helicopter, Commonwealth Bank of Australia, eBay, Everest Funeral, GM, National Heritage Insurance Company, Norwegian Cruise Line, Safety-Kleen, U.K. Inland Revenue, U.S. Dept. of Veterans Affairs, U.S. Military Healthcare System, U.S. Postal Service, and United Airlines.

Technical Consultant; COMSYS Technical Services, Inc., Rockville, Maryland; 1992–1994

Reengineered and enhanced digital telecommunications test equipment remote control software. Maintained system’s proprietary windowing system and multitasking executive. Wrote utilities, including field programmable gate array (FPGA) program download.

Provided technical leadership to make prototype U.S. military ID card system feasible within the constraints of its three-tier distributed platform architecture.

Engineering Consultant; Obert Associates, Inc., University Park, Maryland; 1990–1992

Developed fluid dynamics modeling software for:

• Ariane 5 space launch vehicle’s Vulcain engine cryogenic main system feed
• Two-phase flow in various applications (for example, vessel blow-down)
• Naval costal systems center vortex ring project

Prepared engineering project reports for manufacturing, aerospace, and military applications.

Research Assistant; U.S. Naval Academy/Maryland Advanced Development Laboratory, Annapolis, Maryland; 1989

Developed data acquisition and control software and hardware for vortex ring research project.

Assisted with experimental runs (apparatus construction, data collection, etc.).

Awards, honors, fellowships, and scholarships

Dean's Excellence Award, College of Natural Sciences, The University of Texas at Austin

Phi Kappa Phi National Scholastic Honor Society

Outstanding Executive Program Student, S.M.U.

HP/EDS scholarship for S.M.U. Master of Science in Engineering Management degree

National Merit Scholar Semifinalist, National Merit Scholarship Program

Professional activities

Member of the balloting group or revision committee for the following standards:

• IEEE Std. 1003.1, Standard for Information Technology–Portable Operating System Interface (POSIX)
• IEEE Std. 1028, Standard for Software Reviews and Audits
• IEEE Std. 1074, Standard for Developing a Project Software Life Cycle Process
• IEEE Std. 1362 (reaffirmation), Guide for Information Technology–System Definition–Concept of Operations (ConOps) Document
• IEEE/AIAA Std. 1633, Recommended Practice on Software Reliability
• ISO/IEC/IEEE 12207, Systems and Software Engineering–Software Life Cycle Processes
• ISO/IEC/IEEE 15288, Systems and Software Engineering–System Life Cycle Processes
• ISO/IEC/IEEE 15289, Systems and Software Engineering–Content of Systems and Software Life Cycle Process Information Products (Documentation)
• ISO/IEC/IEEE 16326, Software Engineering–Life Cycle Processes–Project Management
• IEEE Std. 90003, Adoption of ISO/IEC 90003, Software Engineering–Guidelines for the Application of ISO 9001:2000 to Computer Software

IEEE, 1985–present, currently Senior Member

• Societies: Computer Society, Communications Society, Standards Association, and TCSE

ACM, 1994–present, currently Lifetime Professional Member

• SIGs: SIGPLAN, SIGSOFT, SIGACT, SIGOPS, SIGCOMM, and SIGCHI

INFORMS, 2006–2008

Certified Usability Analyst

Institutional and Public service

GRACS (UT CS graduate student organization), executive committee, Fall 2009–present

Young Eagles (Educate 8–17 year-olds about aviation via introductory flights)

HP/EDS volunteer project to introduce children to the workings of computer hardware

Dallas Ramps Project (Construct wheelchair ramps for otherwise homebound people)

Metroplex Technology Business Council, Innovation Team, 2007–2008

Teaching activities

Teaching and course design

Multimedia and Internet Life Cycle (MILC), USA and UK, 2001 (developed and taught)

Instrument–Airplane (SEL), 2003 (developed)

FAA certified Flight Instructor and Ground Instructor, 2003–present

Mentoring

HP/EDS, 1994–2008:

• Trained and mentored multiple project teams on transition to object-oriented development, including adoption of use cases, OOA and OOD modeling, pattern-based development, new languages, and associated management practices.
• Mentored and educated organizations on software engineering process impact of Web and new media technologies.
• Introduced and trained product managers to pricing methodologies for IT services.
• Educated and advised client teams on Internet and e-commerce technologies.

Patents

“Apparatus and method for securing data in computer storage”, US patent pending, application 11/949,028 (File encryption and access control without problems of individual file passwords and without the problems of full disk encryption)

“Determining a price premium for a project”, US patent pending, application 11/688,094 (Converting project risk levels to an equivalent price increment for assuming the risk)

Language skills

• English: Native
• German: Basic to Independent (CEF level A2 to B1)
• Spanish: Basic (CEF level A1)
• Latin: Basic (CEF level A1)