Peter Cresswell – World Traveler

Summary

Your software sucks. I know this because all software sucks. It's not your fault really. It's an immensely complex, fast moving and highly immature industry. Realizing this, being humble and moving forward trying to make it better each day is the key to success. Anyone that tells you otherwise hasn't written enough code or wants to sell you a new fancy plugin to the latest cool IDE. I'm a software craftsman which means that I embrace my ignorance while trying to help other understand theirs. I look my deficiencies in the face and find ways to improve every day. I get the most out of people when they realize they aren't alone; that they get all the support they need to grow, learn and succeed. Ultimately, I'm a believer that people want to win and I try to create the conditions and atmosphere in which that success can blossom. I've setup build systems, built installers, refactored entire frameworks, developed complex UI and domain models, trained teams on User Centered Design and Test Driven Development. I've done all of this because I know what good software (and good software teams) should look and smell like.

Experiences

Sep 2011 – Feb 2012
World Traveler, Everywhere and Anywhere
Computer Software
I've decided to travel the world instead of pursuing a full time traditional employment. I expect to be back online by Jan 2013. If you'd like to follow my travels, check out my blog at http://petercresswell.ca

May 2010 – Sep 2011
Software Team Lead, Healthscreen Solutions Inc
Health, Wellness and Fitness
Responsible for managing the EMR software development (10 onshore members + 10 offshore members) team including: -Team Recruitment -Managing technology direction -Management accountability -Team mentoring. Guiding technology team to improve development processes, meeting KPI, working to make architectural improvements across company's EMR application. Responsible for obtaining EMR certification from OntarioMD CMS v3.0 and currently CMS v4.0. Ultimately responsible for software quality and driving Healthscreen's technology platform forward in the competitive Ontario EMR market.

Apr 2008 – Apr 2010
Senior Software Developer, Healthscreen Solutions Inc
Health, Wellness and Fitness
Performed operational data extractions and manipulations for Healthscreen's various services. Responsible for developing internal business solutions particularly around the area of internal data management using java/hibernate/mysql. Projects included developing a documentation generation platform, various bug fixes, training for sales team members on various tools such as Sugar CRM. Introduced a fluent api around the data extraction library to make the "code" more human readable. Migrated unit tests from junit 3 to 4. Migrated from CC to Hudson CI. Trained team on TDD benefits and refactoring strategies. Cross trained into Healthscreen's EMR and played key role in Healthscreen's OntarioMD 3.0 EMR certification including overseeing offshore development team of approximately 15 devs + 4 QA in Bangalore, India. Developed installation software and strategies for software upgrading. Introduce liquibase migration sets into development practices. Guided team in introducing DUnit framework to legacy Delphi software development project.

Sep 2002 – Apr 2008
Controls Designer, husky ims
Machinery
Wrote motion control and touch screen user interface software for controlling injection molding machinery and robotic auxiliary systems. Supported field technicians in troubleshooting problems. Onsite support as needed. Developed quality standard documents for software processes. Acted as ISO 9000 Internal QA auditor. Led introduction of User Centered Design and TDD practices in the controls group. Contributed extensively in Husky's internal rewrite of their touch screen software, migrating from VB6 to c# and ruby with a strong emphasis on TDD. Played various roles such as customer, User Story author, developer and at times QA.

Sep 2001 – Dec 2001
Editor in Chief, Iron Warrior Newspaper
Newspapers
Editor in Chief of the University of Waterloo Engineer student newspaper. Edited and published newspaper, responsible for advertising management, staff recruitment.

Education

Jan 2003 – Jan 2006
University of Waterloo
M Eng in Management of Technology
Investigated the feasibility of using UI controls in a VB6 application to predict LOC for the purposes of feeding into the COCOMO prediction engine. Other activities included studying User Centered Design, strategic management practices in the technology sector and various team motivation strategies. Completed degree part time while working full time.

Jan 1997 – Jan 2002
University of Waterloo
BASc in Systems Design Engineering
Held co-op positions at firms such as Merril Lynch (IT department), Husky IMS (robotics division) and ATS Automation. Course work emphasized control theory and obtained minor in mechatronics.

Languages


English: Native or bilingual proficiency

French: Limited working proficiency

Certifications


P Eng

Personal interests

Hockey, software, travel

References

Martin Ross
Peter is a thoughtful, passionate, and dedicated leader who is always willing to question assumptions and drive towards excellent results. He stepped into a difficult situation and rose rapidly through the ranks and eventually took responsibility for running the EMR development team. He implemented many new processes, methodologies and controls that refined the software development process at Healthscreen to industry leading practices. He did not shy away from adversity when times were tough, nor did he deflect blame on subordinates. He was always willing to stay the extra hour or review a plan one more time to ensure the success of whatever endeavour he was working on at the time. The Healthscreen EMR product is immeasurably better for his efforts.

Peter reads voraciously and you can be assured that he will not hesitate to implement a new best practice (in a practical manner). I recommend Peter without reservation to anyone looking to fill a technical managerial role and would hire him again in a second.

Martin Ross VP Technology, Healthscreen Solutions Inc.

 

It is my pleasure to write these few words about Peter. A young professional with the view for the future, reliable, focused on the whole picture as well as the detail. With his seasoned approach to work he will be always an excellent addition to any organization both on professional and sociable levels.

Waldemar Wieczorek Technical Specialist, Husky Injection Molding Systems Ltd

Peter is extremely enthusiastic about his work and he demonstrates a high degree of expertise. When Peter first joined Healthscreen, he was able to adapt quickly and made immediate contribution by giving us valuable recommendations that helped us improve the way job processes and the software quality. Peter is very resourceful and is always willing to help out. He is highly respected, as both a person and a professional, by colleagues and customers. I really enjoyed working with Peter. He is a great team player and would make a great asset to any organization.
Teresa Brzozowski Owner, JT Associates

Peter was an amazing manager to work for. He kept us clued in on organizational-wide details that affected the team. He somehow struck a balance between enabling us to work independently without interruption and siting down and pair-program if we needed help troubleshooting, while staying approachable throughout. I thoroughly enjoyed working under Peter at Healthscreen
Ashiq Alibhai Software Developer, Healthscreen Solutions Inc.
Dmitri Karshakevich

Peter did an outstanding job as a Team Lead at Healthscreen Solutions – a very dynamic and high-demanding IT organization.

Peter is highly successful in variety of managerial actions: strategic and day-to-day planning, coordinating all the activities of two development teams in different time zones – Toronto and offshore in India, leading simultaneously several projects in multiple programming languages, working with key clients and corporate structure, interviewing candidates to hire, conducting performance review, providing guidance to developers.

Besides his vast technical knowledge, engineering talent and project management capabilities, he is excellent in organizing development processes properly and efficiently.

Peter has a talent to motivate people, encourage creativity, innovation, and personal improvement.

At last, Peter is friendly and easy to work with. He is highly respected, as both a person and a professional, by colleagues, employees, and clients.

It was a pleasure working with Peter, and I would be happy to work with him again.

Any organization would be lucky to have him as a manager and colleague.

Dmitri Karshakevich Sr. Software Developer, Healthscreen Solutions Inc

It is my pleasure to write these few words about Peter. A young professional with the view for the future, reliable, focused on the whole picture as well as the detail. With his seasoned approach to work he will be always an excellent addition to any organization both on professional and sociable levels.

Waldemar Wieczorek Technical Specialist, Husky Injection Molding Systems Ltd