William C. Thompson

Pepper Pike, OH
216.468.0000, william@wcthompson.com

OBJECTIVE

To secure a challenging position in software development in the Cleveland area which will allow me to fully utilize my experience and abilities to take a leadership role in the development process.

TECHNOLOGY SUMMARY

Technical Strengths: C++, MFC, VBScript, JavaScript, classic ASP, object oriented design & analysis, COM+, Windows API / SDK, SQL Server, SourceSafe, XSL, XML, HTML, Sharepoint

WORK EXPERIENCE

Progressive Insurance, Mayfield, OH - Programmer / Analyst Lead, 2002 - current

(This section is currently under construction.  Please contact me at the number provided above for details on my Progressive work experience.)

OverDrive Systems, Inc., Valley View, OH - Software Engineer, 2001-2002

Project: OverDrive ReaderWorks

  • Using MS Visual Studio 6.0, wrote COM objects to analyze HTML for font information and store embedded font information into .lit files, Microsoft’s electronic book format.
  • Embedding font information allows publishers to distribute proprietary font information in their .lit e-books without exposing themselves to copyright infringements.

MDTelecom, Inc., Mentor, OH - Software Engineer, 1998-2001

Project: AirTrac Kiosk Server Application

  • The application facilitated the immediate activation & deactivation of rented cellular phones through kiosks (with a modem connection to the server) at O'Hare airport. This project lasted about 6 months and 3 engineers.
  • Designed the application and developed in Microsoft Visual C++ (with MFC) to be run as a service on an NT machine running at the client's site. Integrated the application with a SQL Server database.
  • Worked with an outside vendor to establish the protocol between modems connected to the kiosk server and VeriFone terminals installed at the kiosks.
  • Performed extensive load testing to ensure product quality.
  • Provided extensive documentation to the client to facilitate maintenance of the product.

Project: Dialogic-Based Switch Services Application

  • MDTelecom wanted to provide a more cost effective alternative for standard telephony switches. This application uses Dialogic DM3 boards to provide "voice over IP" telephony services (call placement, etc.) under the direction of an MDTelecom application.
  • Designed & developed the application in Microsoft Visual C++ (with MFC) to be run as a service on the client's NT server. Integrated the application with a SQL Server database.
  • Integrated the library controlling the Dialogic boards with the MDTelecom applications.
  • Performed extensive load testing to ensure product quality & improve performance.
  • The application was able to satisfy the client's requirements at a fraction of the cost.

Other Responsibilities

  • Investigating software to provide answers and/or solutions for the technical support team.
  • Implementation and documentation of functionality to meet customer requests in a deadline-oriented environment.

OverDrive Systems, Inc., Valley View, OH - Software Engineer, 1994-1998

Project: OverDrive BookWorks

  • BookWorks is a 32-bit HTML publishing system with an integrated text search & retrieval engine. Customer content could be compressed & indexed into a searchable format and delivered to others on a CD.
  • Using Microsoft Visual C++ / MFC, developed the indexing application (which parses source files and creates a searchable database), paying special attention to speed & size.
  • Assisted in the direction of other engineers in the development of accompanying DLLs and applications to handle additional functionality.
  • Performed extensive testing to improve performance of the indexing process.
  • The abilities of BookWorks led to OverDrive Systems, Inc. entering a partnership with Microsoft to develop ReaderWorks, a software package to author and publish content in Microsoft Reader format.

Project: ZDLink

  • ZDLink is a publishing-based Windows software package (written with MSVC 1.52 & MFC) produced for Ziff-Davis education. ZDLink allows end-users to create customized textbooks by providing a Windows front-end GUI to include desired components from a large selection of textbooks (content compressed & encrypted) provided by Ziff-Davis.
  • Met with customers to establish full product specifications, provide time estimates, and clarify technical issues.
  • Experienced full product development cycle, including: product specification development (with periodic revisions), providing time estimates, client interaction, implementing solutions, testing & quality assurance, documentation, all within a deadline-oriented environment.
  • As lead engineer, developed applications to display available content, faciliate "purchasing" of content, and assembling content as a new textbook.
  • Developed and supported OverDrive’s Windows-based encryption delivery system, a C++ library (written in Visual C++) which enables the client to compress & encrypt content and deliver "unlocking" passwords to end-users.

Computer Science Dept., 1989 - 1992
Case Western Reserve University
Instructed computer science class for seven semesters. Responsible for creating and grading weekly assignments and semester project.

EDUCATION

Case Western Reserve University
Received Bachelor of Science Degree in Computer Science January of 1996.

  • Lead team of three students in a graduate research project in the design and development of an algorithm animation package. Conducted meetings and code reviews.
  • This package was used as an effective instructional tool in the classroom and evolved into a computer science textbook.