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As IT Officer I have sole responsibility for the IT needs of the college. Despite being a small organisation, we have all the facilities and challenges of a larger one. My primary focus is to provide effective computer systems which assist all levels of administrative and teaching staff. This is done both through the provision of "Management Information" from our Student Records database and development of other systems to complement it. My day-to-day work encompasses almost every facet of the IT spectrum. This includes Windows NT, Solaris and AIX system administration, database programming and general applications support. I also have to plan the acquisition of new hardware and software, extensions to the college network and software rollouts.
April 1994 to November 1996
As a team Network Support are responsible for the installation and maintenance of the "core" college network. This was mainly an FDDI ring connecting the various departments via Cisco routers. We also maintained connections to a number of remote college sites and provided high speed Internet connections for other institutions. The Library, Computing Services and Mechanical Engineering departmental LAN’s came under our immediate control, although other departments often consulted us in an advisory role on networking matters. We had to ensure the maximum availability of this important college service and in the case of any problem be able to pinpoint and resolve it quickly. This was accomplished by the use of tools such as SNMP management, RMon devices and portable Network analysers. This gave me an understanding of many forms of LAN/WAN hardware and software, from fault finding "dumb" devices to the configuration of routers and end systems.
11th April 1993 to the 31st March 1994
This post was in the same group as my next position, however I spent most of my time working purely within the Administration LAN. This secure network was host to the Administration VAX's and has a large number of PC's and Terminals that access them. My responsibilities were chiefly in the installation and maintenance of the LAN hardware. I was very involved with formulating the Administration policy in integrating Novell Netware with our existing services and was sent on an Advanced Novell Systems Admin. course to help with this. Another aspect of my work entailed the installation, certification and fault finding of various types of network cabling. I gained experienced in multi-mode Fibre-optic cabling, thick and thin Ethernet, Category 5 UTP and all manner of serial communications.
6th of November 1991 to the 8th of April 1993
Over this period I worked in the Computer Shop based on the Campus.
This involved a very varied workload. One minute I could be selling floppy
disks to Students, while another I was maintaining the Shop's Novell Network
or providing technical support. For most of the time at the shop I was
also responsible for balancing the daily accounts and takings. Being a
very intensive environment, I learned a great deal about PC compatible
hardware and software.
My final year project consisted of designing and implementing a window
based tool for an Image Processing technique. This was written in C, using
the Sunview window system on a Sparc IPX.
Secondary Education
September '82 to July '88
Mathematics (A), Physics (A), Chemistry (A), Geography (B), French (B), German (C), English Language (B), English Literature (B), Design & Technology (B)
G.C.E. A/O-level passes
Mathematics (A), Electronics (A).
G.C.E. A-level passes
Pure & Applied Mathematics (A), Physics (B), Chemistry (C).