Objectives
Develop information in an environment that encourages initiative and innovative approaches.
Summary of Qualifications
- Thirteen years of experience as a technical writer, mostly enterprise server-client software products and developer tools
- Ten years of experience in XML authoring, single sourcing, content sharing, and department troubleshooting, DITA and DocBook DTDs. Initiated and led XML conversions at three companies.
- Experience managing translation projects
- Experience designing and creating eLearning courses
- Proven record of productivity and teamwork with globally distributed teams in an Agile development environment
- Formerly fluent in Japanese
Experience
2/10-present
Senior Principal Technical Writer, Oracle, Redwood Shores, CA
- Develop sample applications, articles, tech tips, and blogs for JavaFX technology and a Java developer audience.
- Led the JavaFX writering team's conversion to structured authoring using FrameMaker and a DTD extension of DocBook.
6/08-2/10
Technical Writer, Sun Microsystems, Menlo Park, CA
- Developed sample applications, articles, tech tips, online help, and related documentation for JavaFX technology in a RIA development environment.
- Collaborated with the javafx.com designer and usability expert to lead a project authoring and publishing a comprehensive set of 47 how-to topics in two months.
- Participated in a DITA interest group and a tools committee that conducted an Alfresco content management project.
10/07-4/08
Information Developer, IBM Silicon Valley Lab, San Jose, CA
(supplemental position with official title of Staff Software Engineer)
- Developed a full documentation set in DITA in two months as the first and only technical writer for a legal discovery product.
- Worked on an Agile development project with a goal of increasing the use of embedded assistance in the UI and reducing formal documentation.
10/05-8/07
Technical
Publications Manager, Code
Green Networks, Santa Clara, CA
- First and only technical writer for a startup
- Documented a network appliance that monitored for technical content
- Created and maintained an XML authoring system using structured FrameMaker
- Managed localization
4/05-9/05
Independent Technical Writing Contractor
- EMC/Documentum, Solutions Group: Wrote developer and marketing documentation for a mortgage processing solution kit
- EMC/Documentum, Developer Conference: Helped to organize the 2005 Documentum Developer conference
9/01-1/05
Staff Technical Writer, EMC Corporation (formerly Documentum), Pleasanton, CA
- Designed and developed end user, system administrator, and developer documentation for Documentum client products on Windows and UNIX platforms and J2EE application servers
- Implemented an XML application in the Technical Publications department and served as the technical expert for XML content chunking and sharing
- Gave pre-sales technical demonstrations on Documentum XML applications and the Arbortext integration
- Participated in teams to implement corporate initiatives by designing training programs and creating developer coding guidelines
- Product Operations Top Performer Award, Q2 2002
11/99-5/01
Senior Technical Writer II, Tumbleweed Communications, Redwood City, CA
- Designed, developed, and revised technical documentation (online help, user guides, reference manuals, release notes) for a UNIX- and NT- based server-client software product using CORBA architecture
- Documented the API and a proprietary scripting language
- Initiated and won support from Engineering for a project to convert to XML-compatible structured documentation
- Designed and developed a technical training course for the Client Services Group
3/99-9/99
Documentation and Training Specialist,
Aveo Inc., Santa Clara, CA
- Designed and developed technical documentation and training for a Windows-based server-client software product designed to provide timely technical support messages
- Initiated and developed a performance support database for the Client Services group
10/98-3/99
Web-Based Training course developer, WBT Systems, Dublin, Ireland
(full-time contract)
- Designed and developed Web-based training courses for students, course developers, course administrators on how to use a server-client WBT development and management system
1999
Consultant on data analysis project, Lee Hecht Harrison, San Jose, CA
- Designed a statistical analysis of survey data after analyzing information need and presented results in graphical format
1997-1999
Partner/Web Site Developer/Editor, In English
- Designed and developed a small e-commerce Web site
- Worked as a free-lance editor
1995-1998
Owner, American English Services, Fremont, CA and Portland, OR
- Designed, developed, and delivered customized language training programs
1987-1995
Lecturer and
Research Associate,
Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts
- Wrote research proposals, managed large research projects and a lab of approximately a dozen research assistants, analyzed data, wrote scientific papers
Professional Society Volunteer Experience
1999-2002
Contributor, Online SIG newsletter, Hyperviews
Online, Society for Technical Communication
- Created a quarterly column called "The Reluctant Trainer"
1997-1998
VP of
Communications,
American Society for Training and Development, Silicon Valley Chapter
- Founded an email discussion group, produced a monthly newsletter
1996-1997
Field Editor, Language Training Forum,
American Society for Training and Development
- Solicited, edited, and
wrote articles for quarterly national publication
Technical skills
- Languages and scripts: XML, XHTML, CSS, JavaFX Script, some JavaScript, PERL, Java (limited)
- Authoring tools: Arbortext Epic, XMetal, FrameMaker (including the DITA Application Pack)
- Publishing tools: ePublisher Pro, WebWorks Publisher, HTML Help Workshop, Dreamweaver, Acrobat
- Graphics tools: Fireworks, Visio, Paint Shop Pro, Phtoshop, some Illustrator
- Microsoft Office: Microsoft Word, Excel, Access, PowerPoint
- Source control: StarTeam, Subversion, ClearCase, Visual SourceSafe, CMVC
- Operating systems: Windows, Mac OS X, basic Unix
Education
- Ph.D. with Honors (Psycholinguistics), McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
- M.S., Education, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana
- B.S., Music and Business, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana
Professional Development
- Online courses in Java programming, Documentum, 2003 and Oracle, 2009-2011
- Models of Human-Computer Interaction, course at Oregon Graduate Institute, 1997
- Cascading Style Sheets, HTML Writers Guild, 2000
- Introduction to Programming Languages, HTML Writers Guild, 2000
- UNIX, online course offered by DigitalThink (now Convergys), 2001
References
Provided upon request; also see http://www.linkedin.com/pub/0/251/8b5 for endorsements