I began my independent consulting career in 1984 with one
contract. Before long, I found another. I'm still going.
When I started, I needed a business card, stationary, and some
promotional material, so I found a graphics designer and we put it
together. I figured I did not need a special business name. I
planned to use my own name instead, but I soon learned nobody
believes you if you simply use your name. Vendors will not talk to
you, and potential customers figure you are just an unemployed
engineer. Fortunately, I included the tag-line, Electronics
Consultants, on my card, stationary, and brochure. Within a
week, I started calling my company Electronics Consultants. I still
do.
I felt a little sheepish using the plural, Consultants, instead
of the singular. Although I did think my services really included
other professionals that I would subcontract, I wasn't sure things
would work that way. They did. Over the years, I have been able to
complete projects requiring a great variety of skills. I have made
many contacts, and I have contracted competent people to contribute
their specialties so that I can meet my contractual obligations to
my clients. Time has proven to me that my original use of the plural
was justified.
I perform most of my work in my own office and workshop in St.
Paul, Minnesota, but I work on-site when necessary. For example, I
worked on an optical recording test system that had to remain in the
customer's laboratory space. In another case, I worked on a magnetic
disk drive head test system in a clean room. Even in these cases,
however, I was able to perform all of my design work in my shop and
then install and debug my results at the customer's site.
If you would like more information about my technical life,
please visit my
Biography
page.
If you would like to print out my resume, you can download it in
PDF format by clicking
Resume. You will need Adobe Acrobat Reader to view or print my
resume. If this program is not installed on your computer, you may
download and install it free of charge.
Resume