Neale Douglas Morison

Curriculum Vitae 15 July 2008

Contents

Overview

Neale Morison is a writer of words and code.

In August 2007 to June 2008 he spent a year in Cambridge, Massachusetts, writing and attending courses at MIT and Harvard. He has now returned to Sydney.

Neale Morison's recent roles have combined technical writing and development with analysis, design, project management and general management tasks. His experience includes over fifteen years in software development, IT writing, technical writing and journalism, and Internet development. Hardware experience includes electronics research and development environments and Web server, network and PC administration and support.

As a communicator, in the role of editor, journalist or web content developer, Neale is able to deliver in a large range of styles to meet the specific needs of his audience. His output includes technical books, manuals, news, features, reviews, and public relations. In 2000 he won an industry writing award for his The End column in the Australian Industry Standard. His Web sites have also won awards. In 2008 Nature Journal published two of his stories.

As a developer Neale has a command of many languages and systems. His experience includes design, debugging and documentation of hardware and software. He seeks challenging roles that draw on his communication, development and management skills.

Contact Details

Skills and Background

Recent Roles

Industries

Technical Writing

Cisco WNBU Sydney, Cisco APIDC, Bullant, Hard Copy, Quoin, Odyssey Development, Fairlight,  and many others. Technical and user manuals, specifications, procedures, for programmers, users, administrators, using a variety of desktop publishing tools

Writing

The End column for The Australian Industry Standard, May 2000 - December 2000 - Winner of Australian Business Publishers (ABP) Award for best opinion column, 2000

Discover Windows 95, Webster Publishing, 1995, ISBN: 1-86398-175-6

News, features and reviews in The Australian Industry Standard, PC World, PC Buyer, APC, PC Week, The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age and others. Marketing press releases, technical product releases, brochures. See also Technical Writing, above.

Software Development

Languages and development platforms

Microsoft Access, Microsoft Visual Basic, Microsoft Excel

Perl (preference for object oriented Perl), Python, PHP, SQL (Mysql, SQL Server, Oracle), Java, JavaScript, C, C++, HTML, XML XSL FO, ColdFusion, various microprocessor assemblers, Vignette, Matlab, Lisp-derived languages, JavaDoc, Doxygen.

Areas of development

Automated documentation producing PDF, HTML and other formats, Web design, Web database publishing, Web content management, Windows and SQL database design, desktop publishing

Operating Systems and Environments

Windows 2000, Windows NT, Windows, DOS, Unix (Linux, Solaris), WWW CGI and Java

Web servers and related technology

Microsoft Internet Information Server (IIS), Apache, Lotus Domino, ColdFusion Enterprise Server

Applications

Academic Qualifications

Training

Employment History

Freelance Writer, Musician, Student

August 2007 to June 2008

MIT and Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts

Senior Programmer, Analytical Models

March 2007 to August 2007

Developed optimisation engine for cellular phone provider CRM system in Perl.

Manager, Testing and Release Group, VaST Systems Technology

August 2005 to March 2007

Managed software testing and release group. 3-4 reports. Handled management, procedure documentation and automation of testing and release systems, some responsibility for IT.

Developed intranet, testing and utility applications in PHP, Perl, Python and MySQL.

Technical Writer, Solutions Developer, VaST Systems Technology

June 2004 to July 2005

VaST Systems Technology creates solutions for modeling and simulation in embedded systems design. Responsibilities included:  

Projects included:

Technical Writer, Applications Developer, Cisco WNBU Sydney

June 2002 to February 2004

12 month contract extended to 22 months to provide documentation and software solutions for documentation automation, with some laboratory testing and other responsibilities. Cisco WNBU (Wireless Networking Business Unit) Sydney (originally Radiata, later purchased by Cisco) developed integrated circuit chips and related applications for wireless networking. I worked closely with hardware and software engineers, writing documentation and provided automated documentation solutions. Development projects included:

Languages, platforms, applications and technologies: Mysql, Oracle, Javascript, XML/XSL, Perl, Python, Ocean, HTML, CGI, Matlab, CVS, Unix (Linux and Solaris), Windows, MS Word, Adobe FrameMaker.

Report to applications manager. Reference: Mike Webb: mmjwebb@optusnet.com.au

Senior Technical Writer,  Bullant

May 2001 to November 2001

Documentation, development of automated electronic documentation systems and sample applications. JavaDoc, Perl, XML/XSLT, Javascript

IT Manager, Project Manager, Intermedia.com Pty Ltd

April 2000 to February 2001
Web development, project management, IT management. Planning strategy, managing development and building of B2B (business to business) and B2C (business to consumer) Web sites in which many hundreds of suppliers maintain their own sites. Six direct reports.

Web Communications Manager, Fujitsu Australia Limited

March 1999 to April 2000
Development, production and management role in the marketing department, involving management of Fujitsu Australia Web site at www.fujitsu.com.au and intranet.

Manager Electronic Services, Editor in Chief, Electronic Publishing, IDG Communications

November 1996 to December 1998
Build and manage IDG Communications award winning (APB 1998) web presence providing  online services for magazines including ComputerWorld, PC World, ARN, PC Buyer, IT Marketer, CIO and online services such as IT directory, email newsletters, PR  publishing. Two reports.

Editor, PC World, IDG Communications

May 1996 to November 1996
Manage editorial budget, hire staff, oversee content, design covers with graphic artists, liaise with display advertising sales staff, report to publisher. Two direct reports plus contributors.

Technical writing, journalism and editing roles, freelance, contract and permanent

Quoin, Hard Copy, PC Week, APC, PC World, Sydney Morning Herald, Age, Computer Magazine Group, IDG Communications, Cisco and others: 1987 – 2004

Fairlight Instruments

1982 to 1986

Fairlight was an electronics research and development company. Products included the CMI digital synthesiser and CVI video effects unit. Debugging of PCBs, lab work, technical writing (user manual). Worked in testing lab, development lab and as documentation manager with one report.