As an Advanced Decisions’ consultant, I’m often asked, “what type of work do you do?” And there lies the problem. How do I explain my job when one day can be completely different then the next? So, I figured this might be the simplest way to demonstrate everything I do as a consultant.

This is a year in the life of me...an Advanced Decisions consultant, and these are the projects I’ve worked on.

My first assignment was for an individual who had recently written an application for a Financial Services company. She saw it being useful to a much wider market but faced certain constraints in making it a more universal application, and brought me on to help make sure it happened.

So my journey began…

Project: Financial App Development

Key Challenges:

• Needed a more universal application for a larger target market
• Wanted to transform the financial application into a long running software firm
• Organizational structure and team building
• Strict regulations in the financial industry
• Absence of a requirements document
• Lack of physical office space

Solutions:

• Met with client and current customers to create set of requirements for the commercial version of this product
• Studied and mastered the inside and outs of the financial market
• Wrote code in C# and .NET providing a long lasting technology that can be sustainable for years to come
• Modified current product to target a wider market for maximum sales
• Started by housing the company at the Advanced Decisions headquarters
• Hired and trained software development team

After I completed the project, I was immediately moved onto my second job. My new client was looking for the overall development of the software and electronics of his consumer-oriented device for home entertainment systems.

I was put in charge of the team and got started right away…

Project: Consumer Oriented Device for Home Entertainment Systems

Key Challenges:

• Was product concept viable
• Required full development of hardware and software design
• Minimum end-user interaction with hardware
• Lack of requirements
• Multiple mobile platform development

Solutions:

• Wrote requirements
• Rapidly prototyped hardware and software proof of concept devices demonstrating product viability
• Embedded development - architected and designed embedded platform
• Designed, prototyped, and tested all software writing it in C using MPLAB

Because of a great team effort, our client was able to file for a patent and prepare to get his product to market ahead of schedule. Little did I know my third project was already waiting. An oil field service company needed updated instrumentation that utilized modern functionality and readability.

So I rolled up my sleeves and got to work…

Project: Oil field service upgrade on current display instrumentation

Key Challenges:

• Utilizing their current instrumentation
• Adapting to changing requirements
• Working within their original requirements document

Solutions:

• Created an interface with a modern color display and better user functionality
• Redefined the old requirements document
• Able to run on Linux, Mac, or Windows, yet only had to be written once
• Suggested improved usability and functionality for front display screen

Upon completion, the client asked me to stay on for a second project. This time around, I would be going underground.

Literally.

Being responsible for both the hardware and software design I needed to redesign a piece of hardware to work 10,000 feet underground.

Off I went…

Project: Hardware and Software Development for Oil-rigging machine

• Current tool drew too much power and was becoming obsolete fast
• Tough environmental conditions that had to be met at 10,000 feet below ground level
• Mimic current software’s behavior
• Lack of functional specifications
• Added functionality needed to be added on in middle of project

• Researched and designed the hardware and software that drew less energy with more modern technology
• Firmware written in C using MPLAB
• Created a model after several rounds of experiments to determine best hardware that functions in depths of more than 10,000 feet
• Rewrote requirements to meet current needs
• Added additional monitors on the boards