itty bits

Ian MacRae -- Software Developer and Product/Project Manager

A software developer for over 40 years, Ian has created many high-level software applications (command-line, GUI) and low-level software (firmware, driver, board support packages) for a range of markets (space and ground systems, database, telephony, modeling) on a variety of hardware (PC/Mac, mainframe, client/server, embedded µ-processor) and operating systems (Windows, Mac, Linux/Unix, RT-11/VMS) in both government and private sectors.

A product/project manager for 15 years, Ian has used both traditional waterfall SDLC methodologies and modern techniques such as RAD, XP, Agile and Scrum, and is proficient in many software and system development phases: interpreting end-user needs, specifying and analyzing requirements, estimating resources and scheduling; hiring, mentoring, and firing; design, coding, debugging, system integration and testing; writing technical and user documentation, problem tracking, and post-sales support.

Canadian citizen. English, some French (BAA).

PWGSC Cleared: Level II (Secret), expires August 2028.

An expert in ergonomics and human-machine interfaces, using:
  • device drivers, firmware, embedded systems
  • system programming and operating systems
  • databases, mathematical models, simulations
and with recent interest in:
  • Raspberry Pi and Arduino tinkering
  • developing Android and iPhone apps

See my software & network and hardware & systems projects page
Download my résumé, either (Word 97 to 2003) or (Office 2016) format or (PDF) format
See me on Linkedin
Send me email

News (June 2023).

Accepted current position, now as term employee at CBSA.

Experience (Summary):

BA (Math) Carleton University (Ottawa, Ontario) 1978.

Experience Summary
Specific Skills:
C/C++ (Microsoft, gcc, Borland, Mac MPW, Think C, Mark Williams, …)45 yearsExpert
Windows (3.1, NT3.5, 95/98, NT4.0, 2K, XP, Vista, 7, 8, 10, …), MS-DOS40 yearsExpert
Linux (RedHat, BSD, SUSE, Ubuntu, Debian/Raspbian, …), development (Gnome, KDE)35 yearsExpert
Visual Studio (MFC, SDK, Basic, VSCode, …), OLE/COM, DDK/WDK(WDM/WDF) …35 yearsExpert
SQL (Access, DB2, Oracle, SQL Server, Sybase, Ingres, Informix, mySQL, …)35 yearsExpert
Unix (SunOS/Solaris, HP/UX, AIX, OSF/1, Ultrix, SCO, …)30 yearsExpert
Assembly (x86, Mac 68K, DEC PDP-11, Sun SPARC, Z8000, DSP56303, …)25 yearsExpert
VB6, VBA (Excel, Access, …), Perl, Python, …20 yearsExpert
SCSI (host adapters, jukebox, magnetic/optical, WORM, CD-ROM, DVD, …)15 yearsExpert
Java, Microsoft .NET (VB.NET, C#, ASP.NET, ADO.NET), JavaScript, …12 yearsIntermediate
COBOL, Fortran, LISP, Smalltalk, FoxPro, Forth, JCL, …6 yearsHardly ever
X/Windows, OpenWindows, PowerBuilder, SQL/Windows, ERwin, …5 yearsPretty rusty
Experience (Timeline):

See my résumé page for work experience details.
Scroll sideways to see where I've been.
References available upon request.

See my projects page for fun stuff.