Dr. Chris Uhlik 345 Love Lane Danville CA 94526 (925) 552-9844 home (650) 387-9870 cell chris dot uhlik at gmail dot com

Objective

Education

Japan: 2 years of cultural immersion in Japan, the Toyota Motor Corporation, and its factories; learning first-hand about Production Technologies, Kaizen, Japanese Management, Just In Time Manufacturing JIT, Total Quality Control TQC, Total Production Maintenance TPM, and the Japanese language.

PhD: Electrical Engineering with minor in Computer Science, Stanford University 1990. Discrete-time, nonlinear and adaptive control of flexible robot manipulators. Graduate of the Stanford Aerospace Robotics Laboratory (ARL).

MS: Electrical Engineering, Stanford University 1986. Dynamic systems control, computer architectures, and programming. GPA 3.86.

BS: Electrical Engineering, Stanford University 1983 emphasizing digital design. One of 13 Terman Scholars (graduated in the top 5% of the engineering class). GPA 3.88.

Experience

Engineering manager. Hilights include

• hiring / growing a fantastic engineering organization
• managing a team of the best engineers on earth!
• Gmail
• Google print
• Google Toolbar
• inter-property login
• and several things I can't talk about...

Responsible for technical oversight, new technology and Intellectual Property development. Architect for the RadioFire network for world-wide ubiquitous wired and wireless internet connectivity.

9/2000 to 6/2001 Director of Systems Engineering -- Redwave Networks, Inc. San Jose, CA

Responsible for system design, mechanical engineering, system integration, and testing of a Giga-bit-per-second point to point wireless IP router. This product is a fully outdoor edge router tower-top electronics package with two 150 MHz bandwidth LMDS point to point radio links suitable for building metropolitan area SONET-ring style IP networks. The system is based on resiliant packet ring protocols. Unfortunately all the CLECs (Redwave's customers) went out of business and the product concept failed.

4/1994 to 9/2000 Systems Engineer -- Software Team Leader, Software Manager, Project Manager, Chief Systems Architect, ArrayComm, Inc. Jose, CA

• Developed smart antenna radio base-stations and subscriber terminals. Holder of several smart antenna (adaptive array antenna (IntelliCell)) algorithm patents.
• Designed and built a PCS/GSM/DCS base-station that combines signals from 12 antennas to achieve 10 dB uplink gain, >40 dB uplink interference suppression, 21 dB downlink gain, and ~30 dB downlink interference suppression.
• Managed all of ArrayComm's software development.
• Led a system integration project to build a DCS-1800 smart antenna demonstrator with Alcatel SEL Germany.
• Architected and managed the development of the ArrayComm's IntelliWave Wireless Local Loop product which is currently manufactured by Kyocera in Japan as the Super WLL System. I conceived the product, hired the team (over 40 engineers), and brought the project from conception to field trials in 18 months. At one time, I had 42 direct reports. The system is a 16 carrier, TDMA wide-band digital radio system with 12 antennas. It contains 13 PowerPC microprocessors and over 100 digital signal processors. Both the base-stations and high-volume user terminals were prototyped and tested by ArrayComm in extensive field trials in several countries.
• Wrote many thousands of lines of Perl, C, Matlab, and DSP software. Performed detailed reviews of hundreds of pages of circuit schematics and mechanical drawings.
• Assisted in the design and implementation of ArrayComm's document control system for managing part numbering, engineering change orders (documentation updates), and system design releases.
• I was ArrayComm's chief systems architect in charge of new system designs. I designed the i-BURST Internet packet radio point-to-multi-point wireless data system. i-BURST delivers 1 Mbps of packet data to PCMCIA cards over a 2km radius cell (1 Mbps downlink, 300 kbps uplink).
• Conceived and architected the RadioFire wireless LAN interoperability protocol.

Responsible for servo control system design for Adept Robots. Designed and implemented a motor linearization algorithm. Wrote motor controller drivers, encoder interpolation drivers, assisted with power amplifier design, etc.

5/1990 to 8/1992 Research & Development Engineer -- Toyota Motor Corporation Japan

Designed major parts of the active suspension of the Toyota Celsior (Lexus LS400) and Soarer (Lexus ES400). System modeling; frequency weighted LQG and Hinfinity control design; nonlinear estimator design; nonlinear and gain-scheduled control design; Electronic Control Unit specification, design, and real-time software implementation; hydraulic servo-valve design, pump and actuator specification; test driving and evaluation. Computer network specification, installation, and maintenance --- I introduced the use of SUN workstations and VxWorks to Toyota Motor Corporation. Installed a real-time development system in the car for on-test-track development and testing. This system is comprised of VxWorks, Motorola MV167 boards, and a Toshiba laptop SparcStation. This system is now used for antilock brake, four wheel steering, engine, and transmission control development at Toyota. Managed 5 associate engineers. Wrote research papers, lectured extensively on topics such as: genetic algorithms, physical systems modeling, digital control, real-time software development, VxWorks operating system, C programming, UNIX system administration, laboratory automation, computer networking, and network programming. I also took advantage of my time at Toyota to explore Toyota's plants and study Toyota's production methods and technology.

6/1985 to 4/1990 Research Assistant -- Stanford University Aerospace Robotics Laboratory

Robot control research in Stanford Aerospace Robotics Laboratory (ARL). Research emphasis was nonlinear systems; nonlinear, adaptive, and learning control algorithms; real-time computer systems; digital electronics; and computer architectures. I did an experimental thesis controlling a nonlinear, flexible drive-train, robot subject to large payload mass variations. This control involved writing a multi-process real-time controller running on three computers under the UNIX and VxWorks operating systems.

6/1987 to 2/1988 Research Assistant -- Stanford University Aeronautics Dept.

Developed a computer exhibit for the Smithsonian National Air & Space Museum as an entry for a contest sponsored by Apple Computer and the NASM. Our program was selected and is on exhibit in several aerospace museums across the country.

10/1984 to 6/1985 Teaching Assistant -- Stanford University Electrical Engineering Dept.

Taught Analog Electronics Laboratory and Circuits II.

10/1983 to 9/1984 Associate Engineer -- Lockheed Missile & Space Co.

Wrote image processor firmware (1500 lines of 68000 assembly language). Microprogrammed a high speed digital signal processor. Other, low-level, real-time, embedded systems programming.

12/1982 to 6/1983 Electrical Engineer -- International Power Technology, Inc.

Developed analog electronic boiler controls and a dummy load for a 10 megawatt gas turbine cogeneration power plant.

9/1982 to 4/1983 Electrical Engineer -- Robot Technology Inc.

Designed and built a Unibus peripheral to control the motors and read the encoders for the Stanford/JPL three-fingered robot hand.

2/1982 to 9/1982 Electrical Engineer -- Stanford University Computer Science Dept.

Maintained development hardware in Stanford's Robotics Research Laboratory. Also designed and constructed new elements of hardware and software as required by the robotics graduate students. Assisted with early development of the first SUN workstation and Ethernet network interfaces.

5/1979 to 1/1982 Programmer / Technical Writer -- MicroFive Corp.

Wrote and documented various application software packages for an 8085/8086 small business micro, including a full-featured file editor and report generator. Also maintained and enhanced operation system, application and utility programs.

Skills:

• Excellent written and public speaking communication skills.
• Prolific software developer at all levels from micro-code up through C.
• Hardware skills at the FPGA and system block level. High level ASIC design and a strong familiarity with circuit design issues and VLSI ASIC requirements planning.
• Analog RF exposure; strong familiarity with RF components and system level design. Skilled with RF measurement equipment, link budget analysis, etc.
• World-class expertise in wide-band digital radio system design, wireless local loop, and packet radio telecommunications systems.
• World-class expertise in Internet protocols, encryption, security, transport, routing, etc.
• Mechanical aptitude for thermal analysis and design, RF shielding, enclosure design, etc. Modest expertise in hydraulics, especially high speed electro-hydraulic control systems. Vehicle dynamics.
• Genetic optimization algorithms, numerical analysis, digital signal processing, etc.
• Experienced writing patent disclosures, structuring claim trees, and defining intellectual property strategy.

References

Publications

• Engineering Assessment of Smart Antenna Applications AC-TR-1995-08. April 26, 1995.
• Copy weight calculation methods. AC-TR-1994-02. July 30, 1994.
• Algorithms for the AMPS demonstrator. AC-TR-1995-06. July 5, 1995.
• Experiments in High-performance, Nonlinear, and Adaptive Control of a Two-Link Flexible-Drive-Train Robot Manipulator PhD thesis, Stanford University, Department of Electrical Engineering, Stanford, {CA} 94305, May 1989.
• M.~Yamashita, K.~Fujimori, C.~Uhlik, R.~Kawatani, and H.~Kimura. Hinfinity control of an automotive active suspension. In Proceedings of the 29th Conference on Decision and Control, volume~4, pages 2244--2250, Honolulu, HI, December 1990.
• A Concept for a Future Transportation System. Toyota internal report, 1990. Proposal for a system of personal underground vehicles that could relieve a city's surface of ground vehicles.
• EWS + VxWorks + VME = No. 1 Real-Time Development System. SunWorld Magazine, No.~5, March 1992, Japanese, Also Proceedings of the Toyota Engineering Society, May 1991, English. Describes how engineering workstations (called EWS in Japan) can be combined with VxWorks and VME bus computers and interface cards to eliminate many laboratory instruments and streamline real-time software development.
• Nonlinear Estimators for High-Performance Control of an Automobile Active Suspension. Proceedings of the Toyota Engineering Society, May 1991.
• A Personal Vehicle Concept To Alleviate Traffic Congestion, Pollution, and Fuel Demand in the Los Angeles Basin. Toyota Idea Olympics contest application, 1991. Proposal to develop a one-person car using Formula 1 crash safety technology to produce an ultra-light, yet safe vehicle that would occupy only half a freeway lane.
• Hydraulic Servo Valve Modeling and Identification Toyota internal report, 1991. Report about modeling a Moog hydraulic servo valve.
• Integrated Vehicle Computer Control: How to get there from here. Toyota internal report, 1991. Report about how to use VxWorks to coordinate the work of several engineering groups within Toyota so that they can independently produce code that runs in one electronic control unit (ECU).
• Active Suspension Development Report. Toyota internal report, 112 pages, 1992. This is a summary of my control system design for the Lexus active suspension.
• A Very Fast, Single Stage, Hydraulic Servo Valve Suitable for Active Suspension. Toyota internal report, February 1992. A design for a low cost, very compact, 300 hertz bandwidth, low-leak hydraulic servo valve to be designed into future active suspension actuators.
• Vehicle Dynamics Analysis & Design by Integrated Simulations. Toyota internal report, May 1992. Description of meta-level system design by cost function design and automated optimization. Also included is a case study of the Lexus active suspension design illustrating the method and a description of the genetic optimizer used to find the best design.
• Active Suspension Power Requirements: A fundamental analysis. Toyota internal report, June 1992. This paper analyzes the power requirements of various active suspension functions and proves that semi-active suspensions are capable of virtually all of the performance of active suspension with no active power consumption.
• The Combined Design of an Active Suspension Actuator and Its Controller by Genetic Optimization. Toyota internal report, June 1992. Another example of combined hardware and controller system design by cost function optimization.
• A Variable Rate Gas Spring Mechanism. Toyota internal report and Patent application, June 1992. Description of a method for dynamically varying spring rate while preserving the bias force with no energy input.
• Rethinking Automobile Suspension: A Selective Compliance Approach. Toyota internal report, July 1992. Description of the fundamental goals of automobile suspension with an eye toward new methods which decouple roll, pitch, and heave stiffnesses.
• TRP GSM base-station hardware and software system architecture, ~100 pages.
• IntelliWave Wireless Local Loop hardware and software system architecture, ~300 pages.
• i-BURST IP packet radio hardware and software system architectur, ~300 pages.
• filed numerous patents which I am not authorized to disclose until they issue.
• TBD list of issued patents:
  • various smart antenna algorithm, calibration, and protocol patents