Ron Cook

Self-motivated systems and applications engineering professional with 16 years of experience leading and developing electronic hardware/software platforms for RF centric products in high-tech startup companies. Demonstrated flexibility to concurrently provide development leadership for small teams and hands-on technical contribution under dynamic work environments. Known for steadfast, personal investment throughout a product or company lifecycle. Attracted to cultivation and productization of unique, emerging technology.

Areas of Capability

Team/project management
RF/analog/digital/optical board-level design
RF systems analysis
Lab instrumentation/measurements
Low-level driver C code
Hands-on hardware/firmware debug
Customer applications support

·System/platform specification
CPU/FPGA/software integration
Radio PHY-level conformance testing
Schematic capture & PCB layout
Component sourcing & evaluation
Test automation development
Technical demonstrations

Tools

MS Word /Excel /Powerpoint /Project
MatLab/MathCAD
LabVIEW
RF network/spectrum/vector analyzers
Oscilloscopes

·Orcad/PADS
Visual Studio (C/Basic)
Eagleware/Genesys
RF vector/signal generators
Logic analyzers

Professional Experience

June 2011 – present

Principal Applications Engineer, octoScope; responsible for octoBox RF and system design, customization and related consulting projects

Independent Consultant Sept. 2010 – May 2011

Bitwave Semiconductor, Lowell, MA Sept. 2005 – June 2010
Director of System Applications Engineering

Lead development of reference designs and evaluation platforms for various wireless standards (GSM, WCDMA, CDMA2K, LTE, WiMax, Wi-Fi, DECT) in the 700MHz to 2.7GHz frequency range for a semiconductor startup company developing a programmable RF-to-digital transceiver.

Drove and developed all radio reference designs for customer handset & femtocell applications
Developed multiple board-level RF/analog/digital hardware designs (PAs, LNA’s, switches, filters, power regulation, mixers, converters, digital interface, FPGA)
Directed and performed technical integrations with customers and partners (LG Electronics, Midas Communication Technologies, picoChip, Vanu, Sandbridge, General Dynamics, RadioFrame Networks, Global Wireless Technologies)
Performed back-end, advanced level technical troubleshooting while managing first-line support
Supervised all customer software development (Windows GUI, C driver, 8051 firmware) and evaluation platform deliveries
Coordinated and implemented front-end and transceiver chain/block-level configurations for various wireless standards
Executed compliance testing (compliance matrix, measurement procedures, LabVIEW automation software development) for various test standards ( ETSI, 3GPP, 802.11b/g, 802.16)
Performed RF system measurements (EVM, ACLR, sensitivity, mask, spurious, noise, blocker)
Hands-on troubleshooting and debug of silicon, hardware and software in the lab
Specified and constructed applications lab infrastructure
Managed design outsourcing with third-party developers and contractors (Elektrobit)
Developed and executed technical demonstrations for trade shows (MWC, CTIA), investor due diligence and customers
Supported transceiver architecture definition and design reviews
Responsible for team hiring, scheduling and performance evaluations
Prototyped initial customer PC application in Visual Basic

Engim Inc., Acton, MA March 2002 – August 2005

Director of Systems Engineering

Directed development of reference and characterization designs for a semiconductor startup company developing multi-channel, WLAN, 2.4GHz and 5GHz chipsets.

Drove and developed reference designs for two mini-PCI radio cards and two access point platforms
Developed chip-level characterization boards and performed bench-level verification
Coordinated and drove third-party contractors for PCB layout, mechanical design, antenna modeling, thermal analysis & EMC testing
Developed automated test scripts (C code) and fixtures for board/system verification (802.11 a/b/g compliance)
Implemented and managed build process for delivery of customer development kits
Prototyped discrete transceiver with off-the-shelf components (FPGA/ADC/DAC/mixers/PA) to facilitate early testing of core MAC\PHY DSP implementation
Provided on-site and remote integration support to customers and ODMs (Accton, Symbol)
Responsible for team hiring, scheduling and performance evaluations
Procured equipment and setup lab environment
Wrote embedded (Linux OS) C control code for converters, PLLs and other transceiver blocks

Agilent Technologies (formerly Hewlett Packard), Marlborough, MA April 2000 – February 2002

R&D Manager

Managed team of engineers and contractors developing hand-held test equipment for copper and fiber optic LAN systems.

Released two major software upgrades and one new Ethernet QOS analyzer (FrameScope 350) to production
Coordinated all departmental activities – including budgeting, hiring, resource allocation and performance evaluations
Researched and developed requirements specifications for new products
Attended relevant TIA/ISO and IEEE (802.3, 802.11) standards meetings

Hewlett Packard (formerly Scope Communications), Marlborough, MA October 1998 – March 2000

R&D Project Manager / Design Engineer

Provided project leadership for team developing low-power, embedded hardware and software for a hand-held cable analyzer (WireScope 350).

Architected, designed and prototyped RF circuitry (front-end switch matrix, amplifier stages, PLL synthesizer, oscillators, 1 to 350MHz narrow-band discrete transceiver)
Wrote embedded C code (pSOS OS) for low-level interface drivers and RF measurement state machines
Coded (Visual Basic) automated test utilities and developed fixtures to qualify RF circuits
Managed and performed PCB board layout for critical RF sections

Scope Communications Inc., Northborough, MA June 1994 – September 1998

Design Engineer

Independently designed and released a fiber-optic cable analyzer (Fiber SmartProbe)

Designed all interface hardware (linear, mixed-signal, logic, LEDs, laser diodes, photo-detectors, transimpedance & log amps)
Wrote embedded (8051) C code from low-level drivers to UI
Developed manufacturing tests and procedures

Education

Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering September 1990 – May 1994
Worcester Polytechnic Institute
Graduate summa cum laude

Patents

“Crosstalk Test Unit and Method of Calibration”, #6,198,292 March 2001
“Method and Test Unit for Far End Crosstalk Measurements”, #6,259,258 July 2001
“Cable Tester Error Compensation Method and Apparatus”, #6,496,014 December 2002