An experienced technical writer specializing in writing developer documentation and managing large documentation projects.
Technical Communication Experience
Blackboard Inc.
Developer Publications Specialist, 2009 – present
Writing API (Application Programming Interface) documentation
and user guides.
Member of an agile development team.
Autodesk Canada
Developer Publications Specialist, 2004 – 2009
Created developer documentation for a highly technical audience.
Wrote API references and developer's guides for commercial and open-source users.
Developed hundreds of code samples to demonstrate the APIs.
Provided tool support for other writers in divisions across the company.
Wrote FrameScripts to expand FrameMaker's built-in commands.
Saved three months of writers' time by developing a suite of Perl scripts to manipulate FrameMaker XML files to support Autodesk's custom online help enhancements.
Participated in a team to develop company-wide best practices for producing API references. Helped establish my department as one of the leaders in the company.
Led a team of three other writers to produce high-quality developer documentation for three products. Annual documentation releases consisted of nine developer's guides, eleven API references, and twenty technical notes.
Gathered requirements, created documentation plans, assigned work, and tracked progress.
Worked closely with developers, QA staff, and the Product Marketing Department.
Worked effectively in a geographically widespread team including colleagues in six cities in three countries.
Won an award in the publications competition of the Northern California Chapter of the Society for Technical Communication
Established and managed the Technical Publications Department (three writers).
Created departmental procedures, analyzed documentation requirements, and coordinated with other departments in Calgary and California. Worked closely with developers, QA staff, field sales engineers, trainers, the Marketing Department, and the Technical Support Department. Participated in software design reviews, project scoping and planning meetings, and UI design meetings.
Planned documentation projects and strategies. Tracked schedules and progress. Determined staffing requirements, prioritized projects, and allocated resources.
Managed a large, complex documentation set. A typical quarterly release involved eight user guides, four API guides, and six release notes.
Wrote:
user guides and administration manuals
API documentation for both internal and external users
online help
release notes
Won an award in the publications competition of the Alberta Chapter of the Society for Technical Communication.
WOW Media
Senior Technical Writer, 1997 – 1999
Established and managed the Technical Publications Department (two writers).
Planned documentation projects and strategy. Tracked schedules and progress.
Wrote:
internal documentation (API documentation and software design notes)
operation manuals for end users
online HTML guides
marketing and promotional material
Valmet Automation
Technical Writer, 1995 – 1997
Wrote:
operation and management manuals
online help files
internal API documentation
Assisted in managing the Technical Publications Department (ten people) and supervised a three-person writing team.
Rewrote from scratch, in six weeks, a manual that a previous writer had been unable to complete in six months.
Rainbow Technologies
Software QA Manager, 1993 – 1995
Planned and executed Software Quality Assurance testing.
Helped implement the SEI Capability Maturity Model for improving software quality.
Other Experience
Writing
Have written book reviews, newsletters, publicity campaigns for volunteer organizations, and articles in The Cryptogram and the Canadian Journal of Physics.
Co-authored Cosmic Ray Intensity Records, a book published by the University of Calgary.
Training
Developed and presented day long "Introduction to FrameMaker" and "Power FrameMaker" courses.
Taught adults returning to university and assisted teaching undergraduate courses. My supervisor wrote, "Phil was one of the best TAs I have ever had."
Tutored physics and math privately for high school and university students, including students with learning disabilities.
Programming
Master's Project, University of Pittsburgh, 1993
Wrote programs to investigate numerical models of scientific inference.
Master's Thesis, University of Victoria, 1990
Wrote programs to find and analyze numerical solutions of a nonlinear system of second-order differential equations.
Physics Department, University of Calgary, 1982 - 1986
Wrote data analysis software to analyze solar-intensity data.
Developed geothermal simulations, climate models, and supercomputer applications.
Professional Development
Senior member of the STC (Society for Technical Communication)