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Resume of
David A. Sky
(Please note that this was last updated in 1995.)

Personal Information:

Educational Background:

1987 - 1991 B. Sc., (Hons) Specialist in Artificial Intelligence
University of Toronto
1982 - 1987 Secondary School Honour Graduation Diploma
North Toronto Collegiate Institute

Professional Development (Up to 1996)

Employment History:

1995 - Present (** NOT COMPLETE **) Staff Software Developer - IBM Canada Toronto Software Lab
  • Product: IBM DB2 Universal Database running on Windows NT, OS/2, and multiple UNIXes including Linux
  • Responsibilities:
    • Started out owning the information and samples in a programming DB2 manual (CLI Guide and Reference as well as a number of external IBM web pages.
    • I now own the 'technology' behind delivering the entire DB2 UDB library in electronic form (HTML and PDF versions). From the customer's point of view this includes designing the user experience, gathering customer feedback, and organizing the hundreds of topics in the documentation. From the IBM technical writers' point of view this includes automating the writing process through various intranet web applications (including CGI scripts written in Perl and scripts that access data in DB2 databases), and designing processes to handle thousands of source files and graphics.
    • A growing amount of my time is spent researching future technologies to determine how they can be applied. This includes everything from Internet search engines to new markup languages (XML) and software tools (Java Servlets running on Web servers).
1991 - 1995 (** Too complete **) Computer Services Co-ordinator - BDO Dunwoody,Chartered Accountants, National Office Software Development
  • Responsible for the complete development cycle of a wide range of systems. Primary focus on the firm's nationwide electronic communications system, a distributed database design connecting more than 70 offices across the country which has been used to send over 30,000 messages and 16,000 files since its inception in December 1993. Specific responsibilities include:
    • determining needs, procedures, and users' technical skills
    • developing and testing user interface and program code
    • developing training and support materials (including videos)
    • incorporating feedback/problems/suggestions into product enhancements
  • Used Microsoft FoxPro (versions for DOS, Windows, and the new object-oriented Visual FoxPro), as well as Visual Basic.
  • Internet Strategy and Technology: Convinced senior management of a need for Internet presence. Responsible for securing domain name (BDO.CA), designing and implementing World Wide Web home page (at WWW.BDO.CA), updating the staff on relevant internet resources, and now in the process of enabling e-mail access for all of the firm. Computer Research and Reporting Research includes attending seminars and training courses, reading computer newspapers, journals, and magazines, hands-on product evaluation, and on-line resources. This information is then distributed in a number of ways:
    1. Task Forces: Organized and provided technical background and research for the firm's Windows Implementation Task Force, the E-mail Task Force, and the Firm Wide Communications task force.
    2. Technical Writing Technical writing for general staff, technical staff, and client publications. Delivery methods include printed bulletins, client magazines and electronically distributed Folio Infobase Manager hypertext files and HTML files on the Internet.
    3. Training Videos Involved in a number of training videos; responsible for selection of topics, writing scripts, appearing on-screen and video editing.
1991 Computer Trainer - On-course Computer Training Centre
Taught Lotus 1-2-3 (beginner and intermediate levels) to classes ranging in size from 4 to 12 students.
1989 - 1991 Freelance Computer Training/Support - Personal tutoring and computer service.
Dos, word processing, spreadsheets, database, and programming in C and Pascal.
Summer 1990 Programmer - University of Toronto Artificial Intelligence Lab
Worked with a Prolog based knowledge representation language which included facilities for representing and reasoning about temporal knowledge. Responsibilities included adding new features to the language and problem solving its X-Windows based graphical user interface.
Winter 1990 Computer Tutor - Expert Air Limited
Responsible for tutoring of dBase III+. Position subsidized by the Department of Employment and Immigration.

Computer Languages

Java, C++, Perl and CGI, FoxPro (in Windows and in Dos), Visual FoxPro (object-oriented), Visual Basic, C, Prolog, Pascal, Prolog, Lisp, Object Oriented Lisp, Machine Language, Turing (a procedural language based on C and Pascal), Object Oriented C (C++), Forth, and Clipper (xBase) References available upon request