Mark S. Gordon

Wabtec Railway Electronics
September 2021 through Present
Project Manager supporting integration of the FastBrake® electro-pneumatic brake control system into next-generation passenger railcars being designed and fabricated for the New Jersey Transit and Metra (the Chicago-area regional transit system) rail networks. Represented the Wabtec Railway Electronics division in weekly multinational conference calls for both of these multimillion dollar contracts, rewrote and secured approval from the railcar manufacturer/integrator (car builder) for production test procedure changes, guided the editing of numerous manufacturing and installation drawings, hosted/managed two multi-day, onsite customer audits in support of a contractual First Article Inspection requirement, assembled and led teams charged with implementing design changes, updating engineering documentation, and negotiating with suppliers and customers.

Core Source Technologies
November 2015 through Present
Manage, update, and maintain the ISO 9001 Quality Management System (QMS) for this consulting group that provides technical services including mechanical and electrical engineering, product development, low volume production, printed circuit board layout, and supply chain management. Planned and led the transition from use of the ISO 9001:2008 standard as the basis for the company’s QMS to use of the ISO 9001:2015 standard. Handle internal auditing and annual external audits conducted by the ISO 9001 registrar. Support ITAR procedures and auditing required to maintain certain client relationships. Also provide technical writing services to Core Source Technologies’ clientele.

Wabtec Railway Electronics
November 2015 through Present
Write, lay out, and produce numerous customer-facing and internal documents for this multinational developer and manufacturer of electronic solutions for the rail freight industry and for rail transit systems. Support several product lines including electronically controlled pneumatic (ECP) braking systems for railcars, FastBrake® electro-pneumatic control systems for locomotive consist and passenger vehicle braking, and locomotive and railway monitoring systems (recorders for events, video, and audio). Also create documentation for related analytic software applications.

Ayasdi
March 2016 through June 2018
Wrote, laid out and produced customer-facing documentation for this artificial intelligence software company whose technology supports the creation of enterprise-class, machine learning applications. Also wrote and edited white papers and other pre-sales literature targeted toward health care, multi-national banking, and other vertical markets in which customers seek to utilize large data sets to address costly, often opaque, and seemingly intractable business challenges such as healthcare outcomes and identification of money laundering transactions.

Ace Metrix
April 2012 through July 2015
Ace Metrix Live Quick Start Guide
Wrote, laid out and produced customer-facing documentation used as a post-training deliverable for this provider of TV advertising effectiveness analysis tools. Continued to modify and extend this piece as the company's service offering was enhanced over time.

ActiveVideo Networks
December 2009 through December 2011
CloudTV Operations Guide
CloudTV Installation and Configuration Guide
CloudTV Troubleshooting Guide
CloudTV ActiveVideo Development Environment DHTML (AVEd) Overview
Consulted with executive management, Engineering, Software Quality Assurance (SQA) and Deployment Engineering departments to plan, create and deploy both internal and customer-facing documentation used for training, installation, operation and maintenance of a cloud-based computing and media streaming platform and associated application development tools. This company's product suite provides interactive services to cable TV subscribers on nearly any set-top box by using multiple PCs running CentOS and Microsoft® Windows® that communicate and interoperate with cable TV headend equipment over a distributed network. Tasks included research, project management, scheduling, conducting stakeholder meetings, creation of original material for and publication of completed documentation. Also tested software releases and software patches for functionality and operability then worked with Engineering and SQA to resolve faults. Engineered a centralized cookie storage scheme for use with multiple platform instances any of which may require access to prior and/or current session cookies. Developed recommendations for GUI simplification and normalization to promote intuitiveness and ease of use. This was the second multi-year consulting engagement with this organization (see ICTV Inc. below; the company changed its name).

Real Estate Development & Management
August 1988 through Present
Purchase, renovate, manage and sell real property as investments between consulting gigs. Bought, rehabbed and sold a two-unit Victorian house in San Francisco that was the subject of a multi-page, full-color article in the November/December 2002 issue of Old House Journal. Helped lead an effort that formed a San Francisco City neighborhood historic district. Purchased, subdivided and sold parcels of land in northern California. During this subdivision project I hired and managed consultants, surveyors, a road contractor, well drilling contractor, soil scientist/septic system designer and other contractors, handled easement and encroachment issues, successfully appealed a Transportation Department ruling to the Board of Supervisors and handled all related tax matters. Purchased, renovated as owner/builder/general contractor and continue to manage residential real property in Baltimore, MD using three negotiated bank lines of credit. Successfully applied for and was granted Baltimore City historic property tax credits for both single family and multiple unit residential properties.

Hypertek, Inc.
June 2004 through February 2007
Provided research, analysis, business process development, writing and editorial services to this software development consultancy. Created and edited white papers, proposals, software transition plans, software release documentation, design descriptions, user manuals and quality procedures. Participated in software design reviews. Analyzed competing technologies and produced trade analysis studies recommending the use of a particular protocol, product or technology. Analyzed building construction project documentation and participated in defining an XML schema for these documents.

XtremeSpectrum Inc./Motorola, Inc./Freescale Semiconductor, Inc.
September 2002 to June 2004
Title: Senior Program Manager
Filled various management roles as both a consultant and an employee at this fabless producer of ultra-wideband (UWB) wireless chipsets. Managed relationship with joint venture partner developing miniaturized UWB filters, antennas and OEM module. Oversaw creation and maintenance of a suite of OEM chipset and software development kit documentation, as well as requirements documents and test specifications. Created IBIS models. Handled export and delivery to overseas customers of software, IC samples and evaluation systems. Managed design reviews, layout, fabrication, contract assembly and in-house debugging of both PC boards and evaluation systems. Company acquired by Motorola in November, 2003 then spun off as part of Freescale Semiconductor.

American Arbitration Association
Title: Non-Attorney Arbitrator
Arbitrated numerous contract and employment disputes involving technology companies over more than a decade, both solo and as a member of a panel of arbitrators. Adjudicated a multimillion-dollar case between an electronics assembly contractor and a prime contractor as well as disputes involving software design and development, hardware design and manufacturing, computer subsystem sales and distribution and semiconductor processing equipment.

Network Appliance
April 2002 to February 2003
Fibre Channel Protocol White Paper
Wila-Derwent NearStore™ R100 White Paper
NearStore Near Online Storage Application Success Stories
Wrote and published a primer on the Fibre Channel protocol. Wrote a white paper describing the design and deployment of a system that supplies patent documents electronically to customers on demand, uses near online storage and provides fault tolerance. Wrote several NearStore application stories (success stories or case studies) for use in marketing this appliance.

ICTV Inc.
July 2000 to December 2001
ICTV Digital Broadband System Functional Specification
ICTV Digital Broadband System Specification
Wrote and published functional and implementation specifications for a rack-mounted system providing interactive services (email, Web browsing, etc.) to cable TV viewers. This system uses multiple PCs running Microsoft® Windows® that communicate via DCOM and TCP/IP. It resides in a CATV headend and receives content from local servers or the Internet then converts interactive session video and audio to MPEG-2 and delivers it. The system also processes upstream subscriber input (keystrokes, mouse movements, etc.). This project required in-depth study of C++ code modules, Microsoft® Windows® internals and DOS scripts.

Virtio Corporation
April 2000 to May 2001
Virtio Innovator User’s Manual
Virtio Innovator Design Creation Tutorial
Virtio Quick Start Tutorial and Virtio Hardware Design Tutorial
Wrote and edited on-line and Web-based HTML help pages & self-paced training tutorials for software which models systems-on-a-chip as finite state machines built from a processor core plus interface and other custom logic. The tool permits parallel development of hardware and software prior to silicon production.

Lockheed Martin Corporation/Retech Services LLC
Dec. 1997 to April 2000
Equiax Induction Furnace Operating Manual
Equiax Induction Furnace Maintenance and Troubleshooting Manual
PACT-8 Hazardous Waste Furnace Maintenance and Troubleshooting Manual
PACT-8 Hazardous Waste Furnace Operation Manual
Worked with stakeholders including the Engineering, Quality Assurance, Quality Control and Manufacturing departments to manage publications efforts for this wholly owned subsidiary of Lockheed Martin Corporation that manufactures industrial vacuum induction furnaces (used to cast high-strength metal components such as turbine blades) and hazardous waste furnaces. Researched products, interviewed personnel, established schedules, conducted management meetings, operated equipment then created original content, all while successfully managing multiple projects to closure. Deliverables included installation, operations and maintenance manuals in two languages and custom training materials. Managed customer, vendor and translator relationships, developed and implemented documentation procedures. Utilized piping and instrumentation, electrical and mechanical assembly drawings extensively and gained a working knowledge of piping, cooling, hydraulic, refractory, high-voltage electrical, sensor and electronic systems.

Equiax Induction Furnace Training Class
Managed the design and creation of a custom 15-day training course covering theory, operating procedures and maintenance for an industrial vacuum induction furnace.

Study of Cooling Water Additives that Prevent Copper Corrosion
Conceived and led a research project dedicated to reducing corrosion of a high heat flux water-cooled copper electrode used in the plasma arc torch of a hazardous waste furnace. Efforts concentrated on tracking dissolved oxygen in cooling water and its reduction through chemical and sparging (displacement of dissolved oxygen by bubbling gaseous nitrogen or argon through a cooling water storage tank) techniques.

PACT-8 Hazardous Waste Furnace Spare Parts List Project Management
Managed completion of an extensive spare and wear parts lists for a hazardous waste furnace and its incorporation into the associated maintenance manual.

Instrumentation Component Database Cleanup and Conversion
Wrote Microsoft® Visual Basic® programs that automated updating of the content and structure (to permit forms-based interactive use) of a Microsoft® Access database used to catalog instruments requiring calibration or replacement. Project required extensive knowledge of the underlying equipment, an arcane German component numbering system, instrumentation terminology and specifications and Microsoft® Access.

Earlier Consulting Assignments

Adaptec, Inc.
Created chip data sheets, trade journal articles, software and user manuals, programming and API reference guides and numerous other written materials during a multi-year relationship with this manufacturer.

Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.
Edited disk controller and error processing data sheets for this semiconductor manufacturer.

Amdahl, Corp.
Wrote self-paced training materials that described the architecture, features and maintenance requirements of a multi-processor mainframe computer.

Chips and Technologies, Inc.
Created data sheets, software user manuals, programming and API guides and numerous other written materials during a multi-year relationship with this graphics IC vendor. Company later acquired by Intel.

Microchip Technology, Inc.
Customized a user’s guide associated with design software for field-programmable ASICs.

Quickturn Systems, Inc.
Wrote user’s manual and marketing collateral materials for IC emulation systems. Also provided project management and systems analysis services to select hardware and software for documentation production.

Rambus, Inc.
Created the signature architectural overview document describing this company’s high-speed bus technology. Also wrote trade journal articles, conference proceedings papers and white papers.

S3, Inc.
Wrote numerous data sheets, programmer’s manuals, reference guides and marketing collateral pieces for this video chip manufacturer over a multi-year period.

Synoptics Communications, Inc.
Developed and delivered a three day training and certification course for systems engineers covering local and remote Ethernet bridges. Company later acquired by Nortel Networks.

Telestream Corp.
Wrote data sheets, specifications and operating theory documents for a configurable telecommunications platform marketed on an OEM basis.

Copyright © Mark S. Gordon, 2011-2019. All rights reserved.