Curriculum Vitae: Andrew John Ayre
Curriculum Vitae: Andrew John Ayre |
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| Personal Details |
| Name: | Andrew John Ayre | Marital Status: | Single | |
| Date of Birth: | 5th December 1975 | Nationality: | British | |
| Address: | 24 Skirbeck Road | Telephone: | +44 (0) 1482 709654 | |
| Gillshill Road | E-mail: | A.J.Ayre@e-eng.hull.ac.uk | ||
| Hull, HU8 0HR | ||||
| England | ||||
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| Education | ||||
| 1994-1998 | University of Hull | |||
| 1992-1994 | Wilberforce Sixth Form College | |||
| 1988-1992 | Malet Lambert Secondary School | |||
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| Educational Qualifications and Degree Work |
| A-Levels (1994): | GCSEs (1992): | GCSEs (1992): | ||||||
| Mathematics | A | Technology | A | History | C | |||
| Physics | B | Mathematics | B | English Literature | B | |||
| Electronics | B | Chemistry | B | German | C | |||
| English Language | C | Geography | B | |||||
| Physics | B | Art and Design | C |
| In
addition to the CCSEs and
A-Levels shown above, I am currently attaining an MEng (Honours) in Electronic Engineering
with Microelectronic Systems Engineering, with an anticipated grade of "2i" in
June 1998. My final year project involves developing a physical implementation of a virtual computer using an industry-standard microcontroller. The main application is to teach how computers work, but it can also be used for a variety of embedded applications. A more detailed description of this project is provided at the end of this resume. The IT skills I have developed and tools I have used include: C, Microsoft Visual C++ (programming for Windows 95/NT), Perl (programming for Web pages), HTML, Windows, UNIX, Cadence (schematic IC design), Leapfrog (VHDL IC design), HiLo (digital circuit design and simulation), pSpice (analogue amplifier design and simulation), and Matlab and Simulink (digital controller design and simulation). I have also gained familiarity with a variety of hardware products, including the 8051 microcontroller family (final year project and assembler), 80186 (embedded systems), and PLDs (producing ICs with specific logic functions). More specifically, I have taken part in two group IC design projects. The first was to design and simulate a network node IC. This IC would allow a computer to be attached to a network with other computers using the same IC. The specification for the operation of the IC as a whole was agreed upon, then the internal structure was divided up into blocks and specifications created for each block. Finally, each member of the group designed a block in schematic format using Cadence and then simulated it. The second project was to simulate a microprocessor using VHDL. The same approach was used and the IC was simulated as a whole, including vectoring to interrupts, instruction decoding, and execution. The software used was Cadence Leapfrog. I have also taken part in a group project to design and implement an embedded system based around an 80186 microprocessor. The software was written in C and each group member designed and built a portion of the hardware and wrote the software drivers for it. The complete system included a mouse, speaker, analogue input and output, MIDI input and output, and an LCD display. Other pieces of work I have undertaken during my degree were to design an analogue amplifier using pSpice to predict the gain and response, and to design a digital circuit to determine the direction in which a shaft was being turned using HiLo for simulation. In the final year of my degree I have chosen to specialise in Microelectronic Systems Engineering. This has enabled me to study VLSI design of both digital and analogue ICs, including such areas as fabrication, NMOS and CMOS processes, layouts and layout design rules, static and dynamic combinational logic, delays, BiCMOS, matching, analogue layout, and low power design. |
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| Other Qualifications |
| Full, clean, UK driving licence (since 1993). |
| Basic French and German. |
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| Relevant Work Experiance |
| In
the summer of 1996, I worked
as a web site developer for the Careers and Appointments Service at the University of
Hull. This involved the design and implementation of a resume and job matching system for
the students of the University. In order to achieve this, I had to learn the Perl
programming language and how to use this language in the context of Web programming. Using the finished system, students are now able to enter their resumes on a web page, and fill in a form detailing their work experience, skills, and requirements for jobs they are interested in. From then on, as new job bulletins are published by the Careers service, jobs are automatically matched to students and Emailed to them. In addition, employers can visit the University's web site and search through the resumes for students they may be interested in. As a result of this work, I won a regional award for the best IT project. |
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| Interests |
| Music: I listen to music most of my spare time. I enjoy
many forms of music, but my current favourites are Alternative, Popular and Rock. Computing: I find programming to be very enjoyable as I like the challenge of problem solving. I have been programming for 14 years, since the age of eight, and my main piece of work to date has been to develop a programming package for beginners, which allows easy creation of desktop programs. It has taken the last three years to develop this application to its current state. In fact, my application has been the subject of a series of articles in a magazine, and is known to be used in at least one school for assessed work. I also use computers to communicate with other people and produce technical reports and essays. Current Affairs: I follow the news regularly, and British politics can be very interesting at times. I like to know what is going on in Britain and the rest of the world. |
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| References |
| Dr. A. G. Hall | Dr. S. W. Hanson |
| Department of Electronic Engineering | STEP Project Supervisor |
| University of Hull | University of Hull Careers & Appointments Service |
| Cottingham Road | Cottingham Road |
| Hull. HU6 7RX | Hull. HU6 7RX |
| ENGLAND | ENGLAND |
| Clive Maxfield | |
| Maxfield & Montrose Interactive Inc. | |
| PO Box 857 | |
| Madison, Alabama 35758 | |
| USA |
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| Modules Studied for Degree |
| Year 1 (2i attained) | Year 2 (2i attained) |
| Mathematical Tools and Concepts | Computer and Digital Design |
| Systems Circuits and CAD A | Electronic Systems |
| Systems Circuits and CAD B | Servomechanisms |
| Workshop Theory and Practice | Industrial Studies I |
| Digital Systems I, Digital Systems II | Communications I, Communications II |
| Introduction to Communications Systems | Electronic and Optoelectronic Devices |
| Introduction to Control Engineering | Statistical Signal Processing and Reliability |
| Analogue Electronics | Control System Design |
| C Programming | Digital Systems Design II |
| Waves and Physics of Devices | Mathematics for Engineers III and IV |
| Year 3 (2i attained) | Year 4 (2i anticipated) |
| Optoelectronic and Environmental Technology A & B | VLSI Design |
| Digital Systems Design III | Modelling and Design using VHDL |
| Communications and Control I and II | High Speed Digital Systems |
| Business Finance | Digital Aspects of Communication Systems Design |
| Mathematics for Engineers V and VI | Mathematics for Engineers VII |
| Industrial Studies II | Machine Sensory and Image Processing |
| IC Design Exercise | Optical Data Storage |
| Discrete Time Signal Analysis | VHDL IC Design Exercise |
| Analogue and Digital Design |
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| Final Year Project |
| This
project is in essence the
physical realisation of a virtual computer that only existed in the pages of a book. This
computer, called the Beboputer (pronounced "Bee-bop-you-ter"), was
designed to teach how computers work from a very low hardware level up to the level of
assembly language programming. For my project I have designed and built a physical version of the Beboputer based around an 8051 microcontroller. The software to make the microcontroller emulate the Beboputer was written in C and programmed into the device. In addition, a serial link has been added to allow a PC, or any other computer, to directly control the Beboputer. Commands can be sent from the PC, as well as programs to be stored and executed. In order for this to work, I first had to write specifications for every aspect of the project, and then implement these specifications in software. Also, a Windows 95 and NT program was written in Visual C++ to provide easy control of my physical Beboputer. Programs being executed by the physical Beboputer can be slowed down to a point where an oscilloscope can be used to see the hardware operating. In addition, the Windows software can be used to ask the physical Beboputer what is going on via the serial link, and then graphically represent the signals of the hardware operating on the screen. Internet support has also been added, allowing control of a physical Beboputer from anywhere in the world. Commands and programs can be sent across the Internet to a machine which has a physical Beboputer attached. The software relays the command or program to the physical Beboputer, and then sends any reply back across the Internet. An optional analyser board has been designed which, when attached to the physical Beboputer, displays its main CPU registers. In conjunction with the ability to step through a program one instruction at a time, this allows easy debugging of programs and the teaching of program execution. [Note, this analyzer functionality was subsequently integrated into the main circuit board.] The result is a simple computer that can be controlled from a PC, and can be used for teaching assembler and how computers work at both the hardware and software level. The system is also a very general purpose embedded system, with the ability to add potentially 1000s of control lines to other hardware and various peripherals. In addition, it is also controllable and configurable from a PC or any computer with a serial port. |
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