Lawrence Pierce

Seeking remote work in which Python is a big part.

Tucson, United States

Summary

Thank you for taking the time to read this far. I have been working in software engineering for over 30 years (18 years in software development, 12 years in software configuration management, and 4 years in IT application support/deployment), and feel fortunate to have chosen such a gratifying career. Scientific programming, visualization, simulation & test equipment, database manipulation & migration, have all been party of the development journey. Over 20 years ago I became fascinated with Perl, and over 5 years ago I became similarly delighted with Python. Now for personal reasons I am seeking remote employment, which is not possible with my current employer. Please kindly consider how my experience and skills could play a role in your organization. Thanks again for your time!

Languages:

English

Favorite Python Packages:

re, sys, os, tkinter, json, time, subprocess, requests, hashlib, shutil, threading, logging, openpyxl, stat, win32api, win32con

Experience

Raytheon Missiles and Defense | Tucson, Arizona

Principal Software Engineer | 02/2015 - Present

Performed software configuration manager duties using Synergy/Change and more recently Azure Dev Ops with Git. Wrote pre-build audit Perl scripts for Synergy/Change, and developed pre-build audit Python scripts for Azure Dev Ops with Git. Other Python projects included: a Tkinter GUI that provides a Change-like interface to Azure Dev Ops work items; conversions between Excel and CSV formats; a duel-threaded build script to perform Visual Studio builds and display build log file output as it is generated; a tool to generate media contents from Git. Other Perl projects included: a “validator” tool to analyze the contents of a media card, display summary information, and generate diagnostics helpful in correcting all identified issues; scripts to dump baselines from Synergy databases to flat file format suitable for import into Git; a tool to list all file extensions, files, and SHA1s for a directory hierarchy; a helper script to start and monitor PC backups; Synergy database backup scripts for servers on isolated LANs. C/C++ projects included binary-to-text and text-to-binary conversions used by some of the Perl and Python scripts. Promoted from Senior to Principal in 2021.

Highlights:

• Authored pre-build-audit scripts in Perl and Python.
• Developed a Python/Tkinter GUI for editing Azure/Git work item.
• Developed Python build scripts using multi-threading to allow output from build log files as they grow.
• Authored Perl and Python and C/C++ suite to assist with media generation and media validation.
• Researched technique for remote Windows PC backups and implemented a Perl script to implement the technique.

 

Raytheon Missile Systems - IT Engineering Services | Tucson, AZ

Senior Software Engineer | 10/2011 - 02/2015

Provided enterprise application support for the IBM Rational Synergy/Change tool suite. Duties included end user support, installation support, and troubleshooting. Also, created the Virtual Machine Linux server for a new version of Synergy/Change, and assisted with migration of databases to the new version. Scripting efforts included Perl scripts to support multiple concurrent database backups, and Perl scripts to migrate databases to new Synergy/Change version. In addition, wrote an “EZ” Windows client installer using “compiled” Perl.

Highlights:

• Created virtual machine (Linux Synergy/Change application server).
• Developed "EZ" installer using compiled Perl for Synergy/Change Windows client.
• Developed efficient Perl scripts for Synergy database migration and backup.

 

Raytheom Missile Systems | Tucson, AZ

Senior Software Engineer | 07/2006 - 10/2011

Performed software configuration manager duties using Synergy/Change for various efforts. Developed Perl scripts to facilitate tasks related to an Excel-based tool and provided support for the Excel-based tool itself (including a bit of Visual Basic coding); also, developed training materials and led courses for using the tool and associated scripts. Performed Windows PC backup and restore operations.

Highlights:

• Developed and executed training course for Excel-based configuration management tool.
• Developed Perl helper scripts to aid with tasks difficult to perform within the Excel-based tool, such as choosing file sets spanning multiple folders within a hierarchy.

 

Raytheon Missile Systems | TUCSON, Arizona

Senior Software Engineer | 10/2003 - 07/2006

Supported software efforts for test equipment simulation software. Programmed in C/C++ to update software per requirements and scripted in Perl to distill data from other simulations. Also coded and scripted to support final qualification tests for the hardware and software in question.

Highlights:

• Developed Perl scripts to extract data from 6-Degree-of-Freedom simulation output and format input files for use in Computer-In-the-Loop simulation.
• Developed Perl scripts to assist with analysis of final qualification test results.
• Provided support at customer site on a few occasions.

 

Raytheon Technical & Training Services | Grass Valley, CA

Senior Software Engineer | 07/1998 - 09/2003

Note: for 3 of the 5 years this was a full-time telecommuting effort with periodic trips to the job site. Led a small team of scientific programmers to develop and maintain software used in the analysis of helicopter control systems. Performed system administration tasks and provided user application support. Provided programming support for a pilot AI effort. Programming and scripting efforts were in FORTRAN, C/C++, and Perl.

Highlights:

• Coordinated computer and software support for a class held in Montreal to train end-users on CIFER control system analysis software.
• Ehhanced scientific visualization demonstration software for Smithsonian by improving end-user experience of stereo vision by coding a relationship between eye separation value and zoom distance.

 

Sterling Software | Palo Alto, CA

Software Engineer | 02/1988 - 07/1998

Provided scientific programming and scientific visualization software support for NASA and other customers. Maintained state-of-the-art and legacy visualization tools. Provided end-user support, enhanced software capabilities, and authored new software.

Highlights:

• Authored software for a stereo visualization theater which rendered frames stored on high performance striped RAID disks utilizing multi-process/ring-buffer to maximize throughput.
• Received NASA Space Act Award for my contributions to the PLOT3D computational fluid dynamics visualization tool.
• Participated in trade shows, training, and demonstrations.

 

Avocational activities over the years:

• Created "Wordy Maze" app for iOS in Objective-C
• Dabbled with Android / Kotlin
• Python scripts for fun such as:
  • Wordle helper
  • Sudoku solver
• Perl scripts for fun such as:
  • Game playing bots
  • Puzzle game solvers
  • States in the USA game

Skills

Artificial Intelligence (AI), DevOps, Git, Jenkins, Linux, Microsoft Azure, REST, Test-Driven Development, Virtual Reality, Visualization