PROFESSIONAL PROFILE
Results-oriented research engineer with 17 years of experience.
Skilled at working individually or in teams to develop decision
support systems, risk management tools, and other information
based products for the improvement of agronomic, economic,
and environmental assessments. Proven ability to provide leadership,
analyze multi-disciplinary / multi-technology systems, rapidly
identify and adapt to new opportunities, develop innovative
solutions, prioritize, meet deadlines, interact with customers,
learn new software, and program in numerous languages. Has
national and international experience. Key areas of expertise
include:
- Decision Support Systems
- Project Management
- Information-Based Products
- Software Interface Design and Development
- Computer Simulations
- GIS / GPS and Programming
- Statistical Analyses
- Databases
- Risk Management Tools
- Intellectual Capital
- Real-Time Data Logging / Controlling
- Growth Chambers
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
Vice President 2001 - present
Soil and Water Engineering Technology, Inc., Gainesville,
FL
Develop and modify watershed models of hydrodynamics and
water quality for use by various private and public agencies
in decision making on water quality issues. Lead projects
on modeling and assessment of existing water quality and management
alternatives.
Staff Research Engineer 1998 -
2001
Agricultural Information Development Group, Cargill, Inc.,
Central Research, Minneapolis, MN
Technical lead and highest ranking scientist for 12 member
group with $9 million budget. Determined research direction,
identified customer requirements, consulted with business
units, and presented results to senior management. Received
"exceeds expectations" (highest ranking) on reviews
and awarded merit bonuses. Highly ranked on scientific knowledge,
communication, and teamwork.
Project Manager: U.S. Regional Forecasting Project, 8 project
team members including employees and contractors. $3.5 million
budget. Rapidly developed and managed project including priorities,
timelines, and budgets. Modified and developed crop simulation
models and weather data quality controls and interacted with
customers. Evaluated and incorporated ground-based and remotely
sensed data. Developed contract requirements and directed
university and private contractors. Responsible for documenting
and protecting intellectual capital.
Project Manager: U.S. Field Level Project, 4 project team
members including employees and contractors. $0.5 million
budget. Designed and oversaw field data collection, development
of GIS based crop scouting software, variable rate nutrient
application, and crop marketing sales tools.
South American, Asian, and Information Technology Projects:
Responsibilities included developing crop simulations appropriate
for regions, interacting with private and public researchers,
designing interfaces, developing customer requirements, and
traveling to domestic and international locations.
United Soybean Board Project: Served on industry advisory
board for project on "Integrating Genetics and Precision
Farming Information into Decision Support Systems"
Senior Engineer 1996 - 1998
Soil and Water Engineering Technology, Inc., Gainesville,
FL
Developed and modified agronomic and environmental farm, field,
and watershed scale simulation models. Designed, developed
and supported decision support system and risk management
software. Developed and installed real-time monitoring system.
Farm Crop Simulation: Co-designed and developed PC-Yield,
a software package for predicting site-specific crop growth
for farmers. Most widely used commercial crop simulation software
in the country.
Farm Decision Support System: Modified Everglades Agricultural
Area Model (EAAMOD) to incorporate new agricultural and environmental
functionality. Used by farmers to assess the agronomic, economic,
and environmental impacts of management practices. Responsible
for user training and support.
Watershed Decision Support System: Developed source to stream
and stream routing component of Watershed Assessment Model
(WAM) to simulate movement of water and nutrients. Used by
water management districts in Florida and in New Zealand.
Real-time Data Collection: Programmed data loggers and installed
flow and stage monitoring devices in drainage canals in sugarcane
fields.
Visiting Assistant 1994-1996
Agricultural and Biological Engineering Department, University
of Florida, Gainesville, FL
Designed and developed agronomic and economic decision support
system. Played key role in interacting with funding agencies,
researchers, and farmers across U.S. Involved in other risk
management and real-time decision making projects.
Crop Decision Support System: Designed and developed an economic
model of farm profitability and developed linkages with models
of crop growth and development, soil and water, environmental
impacts, and weed effects. Interacted with farmers and crop
consultants on system development.
Southeast Regional Climate Center Project: Played key role
in project to determine effects of climate change on crop
growth using GIS and crop models. Responsible for assembling
GIS data, modifying Arc/Info linkage with models, and performing
model runs.
Irrigation Control System: Assisted in the development of
a real-time irrigation control system.
Wheat Leaf Rust Model: Co-developed model of wheat leaf rust
in Brazil. Currently used by Brazilian farmers to predict
wheat rust severity and take preventive measures.
Banana Model: Developed model on effects of canopy shape and
plant spacing on photosynthesis.
Agricultural Extension Research
Associate 1993-1994
Biological and Agricultural Engineering Department, North
Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC
Selected and implemented simulation models. Designed, developed,
and maintained tabular and GIS databases. Coordinated research
with other agencies.
Herrings Marsh Run Water Quality Demonstration Project: Evaluated,
selected, and applied soil and water model for evaluating
best management practices in order to improve water quality
on a field and watershed scale. Developed and maintained a
tabular and GIS database necessary for implementing model
including the collection and analysis of GPS data.
Graduate Research/Teaching Assistant
1988-1993
Biological and Agricultural Engineering Department, North
Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC
Lead and co-lead research and teaching. Designed and developed
real-time data collection systems and developed simulation
models based on these data
.
Chrysanthemum Stem Elongation: Designed and built environmental
control chambers equipped to provide environmental measurements
and chrysanthemum stem elongation measurements on a 10-minute
time interval. Created growth and development model based
on data collected from growth chambers.
Chicken Heat Stress: Designed experiments, developed real-time
data collection system, and aided in the collection and analysis
of data on relationships between housing temperatures and
chicken temperatures in order to test the effectiveness of
nighttime ventilation.
Class Instructor: Lead and co-lead classes in computer based
problem-solving methods for engineering students and in basic
computer use for agricultural students. Scored from "very
good" to "excellent" for all categories in
student evaluations.
Graduate Research Assistant 1985
- 1987
Agricultural and Biological Engineering Department, University
of Florida, Gainesville, FL
Developed system design for real-time greenhouse control
system. Developed expert system component. Traveled to Israel
to aid in system installation.
BARD Project: Played key role in Bi-national Agricultural
Research and Development (BARD) Project for developing a multi-level
tomato greenhouse control system which optimized profit by
best matching crop growth to market pricing. Designed overall
system and developed real-time expert system decision aid.
Greenhouse Grower / Manager / Bookkeeper
/ Software Developer 1978 - 1985
Jacobson's Plants, Inc., Apopka, FL
Involved in all areas of greenhouse operation.
EDUCATION
Ph.D., Biological and Agricultural Engineering, North Carolina
State University
Minors: Statistics and Operations Research.
Dissertation Topic: Measuring and Modeling the Effects of
Environments on Dynamic Internode Elongation in Chrysanthemums.
Areas of Study: Systems Modeling Theory, Linear and Non-Linear
Programming, Statistical Design of Experiments, Time Series
Analysis, Multivariate Statistical Analysis, Plant Physiology.
GPA: 3.8
M.E., Agricultural Engineering, University of Florida
Thesis Topic: The Conceptual Design, Development, and Testing
of an Environmental Controller for Tomato Greenhouses.
Areas of Study: Expert Systems, Linear Controls, Biological
and Agricultural Systems Simulation, Numerical Analysis, Differential
Equations, Heat and Mass Transfer, Instrumentation. GPA: 3.9
B. S.E., Agricultural Engineering with Honors, University
of Florida
Areas of Study: Soil and Water Conservation, Drainage and
Irrigation, Water Management, Hydrodynamics, Environmental
System Design. GPA: 3.3
CERTIFICATION AND CONTINUING EDUCATION
- State of Florida Professional
Engineer License Supervisory Training
- Introduction to Programming ArcObjects
with VBA Project
- Management Training Environmental Monitoring
Programs Short Course Precision Farming Workshop
- Thinking on Your Feet - Presentation
Training
- ESRI GIS Database Design Training
- Managing GIS and Remotely Sensed Data
for Better Decision Making
TECHNICAL SKILLS
- Programming: Visual Basic/VBA, C, C++,
C#, Java, Fortran, Pascal, HTML, Avenue, AML, Perl, Awk,
COBOL, PROLOG, LISP, SLAM.
- Computer Software: ArcInfo/ArcGIS, ArcView,
Atlas GIS, SAS, SPlus, Word, WordPerfect, FrameMaker, Excel,
Lotus, Access, DBase, Oracle, AutoCad, Cadra, TK Solver.
- Operating Systems: Windows 95/98/NT/2000/XP,
Unix, Linux.
- Other: Statistics, Calibration, Instrumentation,
Basic Construction.
HONORS AND AWARDS
- Alternative Energy Corporation Recognition
Certificate
- Outstanding Graduate Student of the Year
for the College of Agriculture, University of Florida
- University Presidential Recognition Award,
University of Florida
- Florida Foliage Foundation Citation
LEADERSHIP AND PROFESSIONAL SOCIETIES
- American Society of Agricultural Engineers,
Florida Section.
- Treasurer, Membership Vice-Chair.
- American Society of Agronomy
- Graduate Student Association. President,
NCSU, Biological and Agricultural Eng. Branch.
- Alpha Epsilon. Honor Society of Agricultural
Engineering. President, University of FL student branch.
- Vice-President, NCSU student branch.
- American Society of Agricultural Engineers.
President, University of Florida student branch, 1984-85.
- Engineering Leadership Circle. University
of Florida, Less than two percent of college admitted annually.
- Tau Beta Pi. University of Florida. Engineering
honor society.
- Alpha Zeta. University of Florida. Agricultural
honor society.
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