NEI/Tekelec, Morrisville, NC

Typical Responsibilities -

• Technical liaison between NEI and customer Tekelec.
• Selected telecom-grade rack mount equipment and design integration into frame.
• Coordinated solutions to technical issues between NEI and Tekelec.
• Produced system power and networking cabling diagrams and cable part numbers.
• Handled resolutions to quality non-conformances.
• Headed up periodic and as-needed inter-company conference calls, inviting appropriate departments/personnel.
• ECO management.

Skills Attained -

• Telecom rack design.
• Server thermal analysis.
• Network Equipment Building Standard (NEBS) requirements.
• Agile.
• Inter-company liaison skills.

General Observations -

• This was the most unique position Jerry ever held. He was officially working for NEI - the equipment supplier, while physically working in the building of Tekelec - the equipment customer. The position was being funded by Tekelec. Jerry did his best to work for and represent both parties uniformly - delivering whatever message was needing to be delivered to whichever party needed to receive it. At times, this certainly did present unusual challenges. And different individuals had different opinions as to who Jerry was actually working for. Still, Jerry did enjoy his time in this position, and learned a great deal about navigating the waters of the liaison ocean. Fortunately for him, there were some from each of the corporate entities who understood the difficulties he faced in trying to keep everyone happy, and tried to make his job easier for him.

Notable Accomplishments -

• Developed and managed an ECO process which involved sign-off by both companies.
• Produced cabling diagrams for approximately 15 racks of equipment. Each cabling diagram had in the range of 100 to 600 cables. Each cable was documented in to/from format in a system block diagram and in a cable-by-cable listing. The listing contained cable start and finish stations, cable number, cable part number, cable color, and any necessary comments covering items unique to the cable.
• Managed to work for two companies at once, while only receiving one paycheck!