Experience

Dec 2006-Present University of Alaska Fairbanks, AK

Software Developer

• Maintenance of the University web portal, including bug fixes, content development, user assistance, testing, and software engineering improvements.

• Responsible for maintenance and improvement of all systems common to the web portal and the central University administrative software.

• Initiated software engineering improvements to the existing project, including bug tracking documentation distribution via wiki, test case management, and source control.

• Initiated incorporation of new technology into the web portal, including RSS reader upgrades and feed publishing.

• Manged testing of portal functionality, including implementation of new tools and procedures

• Oversight of student employee.

2003-2006 Volt Information Sciences (at Microsoft) Seattle WA

Software Test Engineer

• Created & executed Build Verification Tests (BVT) on smart mobile devices.

• Performed various bug maintenance tasks, including creation and regression of bug reports.

• Executed functional tests on International versions of Windows.

• Improved existing test suite by adding relevant execution details.

• Executed daily BVTs on French versions of Microsoft Money.

• Improved the BVT by writing detailed steps with French navigation aids.

• Coordinated localization of International software.

• Resolved problems associated with localization of web-based products.

• Created processes and schedules for localization of program resources.

• Created batch and macro programs to automated tedious manual tasks.

2001-2003 Microsoft Corporation Seattle WA

Software Test Engineer

• Tested International web-based software in the MSN group.

• Developed test plans for testing globalization and localizability.

• Created, tracked, and regressed software bug reports, driving them to resolution.

• Remotely supervised globalization test vendors in Beijing, China, and drove test execution.

• Coordinated testing projects with both Project Managers & other Testers.

• Designed testing strategies & wrote test plans for both International & core testing of web-based applications and localization tools, including integration, BVT, and regression testing.

• Designed & performed grey-box testing on a web- and SQL-based system for controlling localization handback & handoff.

• Created & executed test cases for International & core software using test tools such as Tactics (Testcase Manager), Product Studio (Bug Reporting), & Localization Studio (String Resource Manager), Application Center Test (ACT), plus some Visual Basic scripting.

• Responsible for maintaining user permissions, installing patches, and maintaining web & SQL services on a workgroup server.

• Used Microsoft Application Center Test to improved performance of a web-based application used by offsite localization vendors and internal build teams. Generated reports from the performance data for selecting the best implementation. Created a VBScript program to automatically tune ACT parameters.

1997-2001 University of Washington Seattle WA

1994-1997 University of Alaska Fairbanks AK

Research & Teaching Assistant

• Taught laboratories for introductory and advanced biology, evolution, and genetics classes.

• Performed scientific research in fundamental biology of the cell.

• Performed scientific research on the molecular evolution of Native Americans.

• Created a DNA sequence processor & analyzer program in Pascal for my evolution study.

• Designed and built both hardware and software for a custom machine to measure photosynthesis based on a computer-controlled infrared gas analyzer.

1985–1991 Texas Instruments, Inc. Plano TX

Software Design Engineer

• Maintained a large, Pascal-based, microprocessor-simulation package. Duties included repair of customer-identified software deficiencies, testing of all changes, and implementation of modifications for reliability and efficiency.

• Created user and hardware Ada interfaces for avionic test hardware. Duties included all phases of the software life cycle from design to integration.

• Created a custom database for collection and analysis of data from integrated circuit test equipment. Duties included designing database requirements and field definitions, writing the Pascal implementation, and creating auxiliary analysis programs.

1978–1985 Texas Instruments, Inc. McKinney TX

Software Technician & Student

• Developed & maintained a custom database system for archival of software products. Duties included defining database functions, software design & coding, system testing & maintenance.

• As a member of the Engineering Development Program maintained half-time employment and half-time student status.

1976–1978 Texas Instruments, Inc. Dallas TX

Electronics Engineering Technician

• Built & maintained electronic hardware test equipment. Duties included construction of hardware from engineering drawings, evaluation of circuitry performance, and troubleshooting.

Technical Skills

Languages - Familiar: Pascal, Ada, Fortran, Cobol, HTML, Assembly, LISP. Limited: XML, XSL, SQL, C#, C++, Perl, Visual Basic, Java.

Applications - Proficient: Office Suites (MS, Open), Graphic Editors (Inkscape, Gimp), Modelling (Maxima, Maple), Issue Tracking (Jira, Bugzilla), Document Control (Roxen, Wikis), Virtualization (VMWare, VirtualBox), Test Managers (Testlink). Familiar: Database Management (MySql, LDAP, Oracle), Source Control (Subversion), Project Management (MSProject).

OS - Proficient: Linux, DOS, Windows. Familiar: Unix, MacOS.

Hardware – Familiar: Most modern and archaic computer components.

Publications

• Simonson JH (1989) An Ada Interface to a Functionally Designed Library Texas Instruments Inc., Ada Rendezvous Vol. VI, No. 1.

• Simonson JH (1994) Anitfreeze May Boost Growing Season Fairbanks Daily-News Miner, H-4, 23 Jan 94.

• Simonson JH (1997) Genetic Evidence for a Beringian Bottleneck in Northern Native Americans During the Late Pleistocene. M.S. Thesis, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks AK.

Grants & Awards

• Molecular & Cellular Training Grant, University of Washington, Seattle WA, $24,000 (1998-2000).

• Chancellor’s Graduate Fellowship, University of Alaska Fairbanks, $4000 (1994).

• Third place, Farthest North Fiction Contest, for Boquillas, Fairbanks AK (1993).

• Chancellor’s List, University of Alaska Fairbanks (1992-94).

• Dean’s List, University of Alaska Fairbanks (1991-92).

• Graduated Cum Laude, University of Texas at Dallas (1985).

• Dean’s List, University of Texas at Dallas (1984).

Education

• M.S. Zoology, Department of Zoology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA (2001).

• M.S. Biological Sciences, Department of Biology & Wildlife, University of Alaska Fairbanks, AK (1997).

• B.S. Biological Sciences, Department of Biology & Wildlife, University of Alaska Fairbanks, AK (Cum Laude, 1994).

• B.S. Mathematical Sciences major Computer Science, School of Natural Science & Mathematics, University of Texas at Dallas, Richardson, TX (Cum Laude, 1985).

• Richland College, Dallas TX (1981-83).

• A.S. Electronics Engineering, ITT Technical Institute, Ft. Wayne IN (1976).