I have been in the IT business since 1979. In the UK, I worked for a number of well-known companies before moving to Germany in 1987 to work as a freelancing Analyst / Programmer.

Main areas of expertise

Over the years I have worked on many different systems and made use of many different tools. Operating systems include Windows, Unix and OS/2. Areas of application range from micro-controllers to PC-controlled test equipment to CAD/CAM/CIM to Enterprise Web application design and implementation.

Development tools

I currently use the Rational Application Developer Version (RAD7) and Eclipse for Java, JSP and HTML development. I use Visual Studio 2008/2010 for C# and SharePoint development. I have also made use of various Apache / Jakarta Open Source projects such as Lucene, Tomcat and Log4j.

Earlier C and C++ development was done with a variety of tools such as text editors, Visual Age from IBM.

Qualifications

I have an HTEC in Electronic Engineering from Oxford Polytechnic (now Brookes University) and am (slowly) studying for a Degree in Technology from the Open University.

I also have the following professional certifications: Sun Certified Programmer for the Java 2 Platform (SCPJ); Sun Certified Web Components Developer (SCWCD); IBM Certified OS/2 Engineer; IBM Certified OS/2 Programmer; IBM Certified Presentation Manager Programmer.