Derek Koonce

Electronic Designer

Technical Marketing

Technical Writer

(Updated 2006 December 15)

 

My degree is in electronic design. I have had extensive courses in computer science and mechanical engineering. I bring high level technical experience to engineering teams, market development and writing. I am available as a consultant for a wide variety of services – electronic design from conceptual phase to proto-typing to production, short-term design management, market research and development, and technical writing.

 

My 20 years experience in electronic design work has covered a myriad of engineering design such as analog circuit design, magnetic design, digital design, electro-optical design, instrumentation design, and electro-mechanical design. Projects I have worked on covered flash lamp circuits from a few hundred watts to over 20 kilowatts, CCD circuits for linear arrays and analog shift registers, power supplies from a few watts to kilowatts, flat panel displays such as plasma and electroluminesce and various LCD technologies, printer technologies such as electro-static and ink jet, and semiconductor design. The last 10 years I have worked in the semiconductor market as both applications engineer manager and technical marketing positions.

 

This project, done for a client, is a gas analyzer. Based on a 12 Volt supply, this system generates 3.3V, 5V, 28V, and 400V supplies to power the various functions. The board uses a microprocessor (not shown) to take temperature, pressure, speed of sound, and dew point measurements (unit not shown) and calculates the purity of a gas. The measurement readings and resulting calculations are sent to a display. The system self calibrates with a known sample using a test fixture that is able to control the microprocessor.

 

 

 

 

 

 

This project is a tracking module that was for search and rescue. Using readings from a GPS, packet data is generated and sent to a radio for transmission. The radio can be used normally through the use of a hand mike. The packet data transmitted is intended for the search base to track the various search teams in the field.

 

 

 

 

 This is a 300W boost converter. Operating off a battery supply of 24 Volts, a regulated 28 Volt supply is generated. This was a prototype whereby the magnetics could be reduced in size significantly.

 

 

 

 

Combining my electronic design skills with software experience, I have done numerous integration of hardware and software. I have worked with several different languages such as BASIC, assembly, Fortran, HTML, and C. Projects that have required the merging of electronics and software has included a gas analyzer and aircraft missile simulators.

 

As I look back, marketing skills started when I first interviewed for a job; this is marketing oneself to future employers. Since then I have learned to show customers what I can do for them to make their design tasks easier. This logically branched into technical marketing work. Understanding what the customer really needs, applying it to a broad market, and developing the solution are the keys to what I do. I have also performed market studies in the computer segments and power supply market in order to determine feasibility of new product development.

 

My technical writing started when I realized that knowing what one knows is nice, but communicating that knowledge is more important. Writing in a simple, clear to understand method that guides the reader to solutions is what I offer. I prefer to keep to topics that I can bring true knowledge and added value, not just knowing the terms and catch phrases of the market. Some of the papers I have written are listed below.

 

 

I also participated in the first Bob Pease Show, by National Semiconductor, as guest speaker. (If the link does not work, try this one first Bob Pease Show.)

 

To review my resume

 

I am available for consulting in several fields – electronic design, hardware integration and marketing. Rates vary depending on the contract requirements. E-mail me with your needs and we can discuss further about rates, time frames and task details.

 

To contact me, click here. (Note, to minimize spam you will need to modify the email address.)

 

 

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