Name: Leonard Frank Holgate
Email: Len.Holgate@jetbyte.com
Date of Birth: 25th February, 1967
Driving licence: Yes, full, clean, UK licence. Passed 16/04/85
Contracting company: JetByte Limited
Availability: August 2001.
This document was last updated on 5th June 2001 - for a more up to date CV see here.

Technical Skills

C++, MFC, Windows 95/98/NT/2000, C, Rogue Wave Tools++, SQL, UNIX, Smartcards, Microsoft COM/ActiveX, Shell scripts, UML, Summit API, Microsoft Visual Basic, XML, CORBA.

• 12 years C programming experience in DOS, UNIX and Win32 environments.
• 6 years C++ programming experience in DOS, UNIX and Win32 environments.
• 5 years MFC 4.x experience.
• 4 years SQL experience, mostly on Sybase and Microsoft SQL Server 6, 7 & 2000, with some exposure to Oracle 7.
• 2 years Java experience.
• Just enough VB and VB Script for a C++ COM guy to get by.
• Experience of designing and implementing applications which rely heavily on Microsoft COM, COM+ and MTS technologies.
• Experience of designing and implementing systems using CORBA, DCOM and custom middle-ware solutions.
• Experience accessing Summit systems using the Summit API.
• Experience of CORBA using C++ on OmniORB and Orbix. 
• I've been using MS-DOS since 1984, UNIX since 1991 (SVR4, HP-UX, LINUX, Solaris) and Windows NT since 1995.
• I have worked with GemPlus PCos Smart cards. I have been trained in, and evaluated GemPlus MPCos cards.
• I have also performed system administration work (UNIX, NT and Novell); been responsible for a dial-up Internet connection; configured a firewall machine; and implemented an SMTP gateway for an email system.

Personal Skills

Creative; Self motivating; A fast learner; I work well alone or as part of a team; I am eager to learn new skills, increase my knowledge and remain technically focused; I can communicate my knowledge well to other members of the team and enjoy taking a mentoring role.

Commerzbank

February 01 - August 01 (6 month contract) Commerzbank, 119 Cannon street, London.

Main areas of work:  Bonds IT development. 

Skills used: C++, Java, CORBA (OmniORB & JacORB), Solaris, NT, Summit API, JDBC, SQL, Sybase

At Commerzbank I work with the Bonds IT development team. We're currently providing data to Excel spreadsheets via custom Excel Add-ins written in C++ using the Excel C API. The add-in talks via CORBA (Omni ORB) to a Java server on a Solaris box (JacORB) and provides the ability to manipulate risk data from the Summit system from within Microsoft Excel. 

HSBC

November 00 - February 01 (3 month contract) HSBC St Magnus House, Lower Thames Street, London.

Main areas of work: Global Markets IT development. Summit and HSBC "dot com" teams.

Skills used: C++, HPUX, Sybase, Windows NT, Shell scripts, Summit API, CORBA.

At HSBC I worked as a senior programming consultant to the Summit and HSBC "dot com" teams. My work was split fairly evenly between the two. I helped them to restructure  their Summit extension source code tree and moved them to a more structured version control system. I also helped them to port some Summit addins from an NT version of Summit to their HPUX system and investigated the difficulties that might be encountered if they were to port their entire Summit system to Solaris. I was also involved in evaluating various CORBA Orbs for the "dot com" team. This involved C++ programming using Orbix and Omni ORB. 

Credit Suisse First Boston

June 97 - October 00 (12 + 12 + 9 + 6 month contract) Credit Suisse Financial Products/ Credit Suisse First Boston. One Cabot Square, London EC14 4Q.

Main areas of work: OTC derivatives settlement systems, Syndicated Loans, Core Technologies and Tools, Equity Capital Markets.

Skills used: C++, SQL, Solaris, Sybase, Windows NT, Shell scripts, UML, Summit API, Visual Basic, XML.

At CSFP I worked as a consultant in the Tools and Technology team. We provided the core code for other development teams; examined new technologies to see how they can be used within the bank; and helped to mentor and train other teams to use appropriate technology to solve their problems. In addition to working within the team we were also sent out to other teams within the bank to provide assistance and training.

Key Projects:

Core Technology, COM+ development: Writing utility code for teams developing COM+ applications. Developing scripts for automating the build of COM+ applications. Mentoring other teams in COM+ design principles. Designing and prototyping a COM+ based document imaging (scanning and document storage/retrieval) system using FileNET as the document store.

Core Technology, COM development: Writing an ATL-style IPersistStream implementation that works with Rogue Wave 'streamable' objects. Working with OLE-DB to provide data access to our in memory database and 3-tier servers from VB via ADO. Providing COM interfaces onto our in house C++ libraries. Investigating COM+ as this is the strategic direction that the bank is taking for all its new systems.

Equity Capital Markets: Working with the Investor Relations team in ECM to provide an Investor Relations Calendar application using Visual Basic, Jaguar (CORBA) Servers and Java. Working as a consultant on a 3 month loan from the Tools and Technology team I advised on three-tier design and helped improve performance in their Visual Basic client code and Java server code. I was responsible for redesigning and re-implementing the Contact Management side of the application in Visual Basic and Java.

Summit Syndicated Loans Development: Design and implementation of a "Summit Server", a Unix based, C++ server, designed to allow access to the Summit API from the standard CSFP three tier architecture. The server provides access to Summit entities through the usual Summit API calls but then translates the Summit data representation into a form more suitable for use by other standard CSFP systems. The data is then presented using a Visual Basic GUI. Changes to the data can then be shipped back to the "Summit Server" which translates the CSFP data back into a Summit entity for standard processing using the Summit API. As CSFP is a Summit "source client" I've had the opportunity to work with the Summit API at a source code level which has proved to be invaluable for gaining an understanding of how Summit applications work "under the hood".

Generic Data Reconciliation System: Design and implementation of a "generic" data reconciliation and processing system. Although originally intended to reconcile only two data sources, the system proved flexible enough to be easily adapted for use throughout our systems. It was also used "off the shelf" by several other teams within the company. The system was designed using UML and consisted of a Sybase database, C++ server and support programs, and a web-based user interface using COM and active server pages. The system was later extended to automatically load changes into a system using the Summit API.

Interlink

Jan. 94 - June 97. Interlink. Harella House, 90-98 Goswell Road, London, EC1V 5DB.
Deputy Manager in the new product development department.

Main areas of work: Smart cards, EFTPOS, ATM (Cash machines), Middle-ware, Encryption.

Skills used: C++, C, HP-UX, SVR4, Windows NT, UML, OMT, SQL, Shell scripts, Leadership.

I started with Interlink in the Customer Support department which involved maintenance programming, telephone support and on site installations for their international customer base.

In September 1994 I moved to the Product Development department. There the emphasis was on being involved in the full product life cycle during the development of new products. The work involved C and C++ programming on UNIX and Win32 platforms.

In October 1996 I was promoted to Team Leader, responsible for card production, credit card management and middle-ware products.

In March 1997 I was promoted to Deputy Manager of the Development department and became jointly responsible for all new product development.

Key Projects:

Sep. 1994 - Mar. 1995: Implementation and installation of the card production section of an electronic purse system (similar in function to Mondex) for a client in eastern Russia using GemPlus PCos and OKI Oscar smart cards.

Apr. 1995 - Aug. 1995: Responsible for the design, implementation, testing and delivery of a Stand-in Authorisation System for JCB International credit cards.

Oct. 1995 - Nov. 1995: Specification of an Encryption Key Management system for card production and transaction processing systems. Prototype and design work for hardware and software DES encryption device drivers.

Feb. 1996 - Apr. 1996: Porting Interlink’s in-house middle-ware product from SVR4 to HP-UX and then to Win32.

Apr. 1996 - June 1997: Specification, design and implementation of a Win32 based credit card production system using Visual C++, MFC 4.x and COM.

Oct 1996 - Jun 97: Managing the development of a Credit Card Management product (using Oracle 7.x and associated tools), the maintenance of Interlink’s middle-ware product and the continued development of the card production system.

Feb. 1997: Arranging for a custom course to be delivered to the rest of the development team on C++, MFC etc.

Dragon Systems

1992 - 1994 Contract programming for Dragon Systems, Ilford, Essex.

Contract C programming work on a UNIX system. Designing and implementing a real-time, multi-user conference and chat system for a local company running a public access UNIX system with national telephone access and 200+ registered users.

F. Holgate & Co. Ltd.

1983 - 1994 F. Holgate & Co. Ltd. Ilford, Essex.

I left school in 1983 to join the family construction and property management businesses. Since the companies had few employees I was expected to do many different types of work over the years, both on site and in the office. For three years I managed the three companies that form the group, being responsible for all of the office based work. My responsibilities included: running the accounts for all three companies; writing utility programs in C; making purchasing decisions; managing the network; selecting, purchasing, installing and maintaining software and hardware; writing macros to automate common office tasks; and supporting the other, non-technical users of our systems.

Training

• Feb. 1996: GemPlus Smart card programming: MPCos & EMV (3 days).

Learning Tree International IT courses:

• Apr. 1996: Course 382: (4 days) Relational Databases, Design, Tools and Techniques.
• May 1996: Course 312: (4 days) Software Quality Assurance.
• June 1996: Course 225: (4 days) Microsoft SQL Server 6: A Comprehensive Introduction. (Also covered Sybase 10 and the differences between later versions of SQL Server and Sybase.)
• Sep. 1996: Course 323: (5 days) Object-Oriented Analysis & Design. (Using OMT.)
• Custom course for Interlink (10 days) Advanced C++ and developing 32bit Windows Applications using the SDK, MFC, COM & OLE. Based on courses 300, 301, 302 & 398.

• I completed the Think Tank Software ANSI C++ Developer Challenge and scored 90%...

Education

1978 - 83: St. Edward's Comprehensive School, Romford, Essex. 6 'O' Levels.

1983 - 87: Tottenham Technical College. 5 City and Guilds (all with distinctions).

Other information

Clubs and periodicals:

I am a member of the Association of C & C++ Users, the IEEE Computer Society and the Professional Contractors Group

Hobbies and interests:

Programming for pleasure. Playing and writing on-line multi-user games. Refereeing and playing role-playing games. Reading: computer science text books (!), science fiction and fantasy fiction, especially books by Jeff Noon, Michael Marshall Smith, David Gemmell and Janny Wurts. Creative writing: short stories, scenarios for role-playing games, etc. Squash, badminton, tennis, working out at the gym, skiing, juggling, cooking, eating out!!