Technology

Artificial Intelligence Minor

At Carnegie-Mellon, I had good fortune to learn from Dr. Herb Simon, Nobel Prize winner for his work in Artificial Intelligence (AI). Dr. Simon was a kind and wonderful human being to learn from as a student, if you could get into his gated classes.

A fond memory of Dr. Simon was the first day I met him. It was a PhD class and all of us immediately pulled out paper and pen to write down all pearls of wisdom and knowledge we could. He immediately said "Put down your pens and pencils. If you want to take notes in my class, you have to write me a note explaining why you feel you need to do so!" We were all dumbfounded. He then went on to give us our first lesson about how humans think serially and not in parallel so if we took notes then we were not listening as we wrote. He backed off the position a bit by discussing "switching" which humans are also very good at, but his point was made. We of course later applied the ideas of serial and parallel processing to our Artificial Intelligence programs mimicking human thinking and vision.

At CMU, I had the opportunity to develop AI based manufacturing systems that were far ahead of their time, such as an AI feature-based design program for Caterpillar’s flexible manufacturing system (FMS).

Software Usage Capabilities

Below is a list of all the software packages, systems and networks I have used in my career. I provide outdated software in some cases to represent the journey. I know what it is like to code in Fortran 77 for example, as well as more recent versions of C++. )The list is not exhaustive, but it gets the idea across.)

Operating Systems: DOS, Windows, UNIX, VAX/VMS, Linux. Languages: Fortran, C++, Cobol, LISP, HTML, Basic, PHP. Networks: Novell. Statistics: SAS, SPSS, Systat, Minitab, StatGraphics, Unifit. Math Models: GAMS, GINO, LINDO, What's Best. Artificial Intelligence: CLOS, Scheme. Simulation: SLAM, SIMAN, GPSSH, @Risk, XCELL+, Extend. Project Management: Microsoft Project, Time Line, Super Project. Management Science: QM for Windows, Expert Choice, DS for Windows. Operations: Storm, POM for Windows. ERP: Oracle, Alliance Mfg, Peoplesoft, SAP Database: Access, Dbase. Presentations: PowerPoint, Google Slides, Harvard Graphics. Spreadsheet: Excel, Google Sheets. Suites: MS Office, Adobe Creative, Google Docs,. Word Processing: Word, Google Docs, Wordperfect Online Storyboards: Articulate. Web: Google Sites, Front Page, Internet Assistant, Home Page. eLMS: Moodle, Blackboard, Google GSuite. Graphics: Coreldraw, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Illustrator. Video: Adobe Premier Pro, Window Movie Maker.

Software Development Management

My days of coding entire programs from start to completion are behind me I hope. I prefer to outsource coding to others and manage teams in development of software. My background in engineering with Fortran code, then artificial intelligence, creating AI programs for companies like Caterpillar, and in the last decade C code programs for Oil and Gas Industry for companies like Honeywell and GE, has made me qualified to work with and lead software development teams.

Measurement Software for Oil & Gas

I served as President of Starling Associates, Inc. (SAI) technically for 16 years, but actively for only 6. SAI was started in 1978 by my father, Dr. Kenneth E. Starling. My father was one of the most brilliant PhDs I have ever met, but it was his kindness that people usually mention first in remembrance of him.

SAI software products for Oil and Gasare grouped into three categories: Natural Gas Measurement products, Phase Behavior Suite of products, and one Natural Gas Properties product. 1. Natural Gas Measurement - The Natural Gas Measurement group consists of four independent software options: GOFW2015, GOFXLV5, GOFIntranet2015, and GOFLIBC2015. 2. Phase Behavior Suite - The Phase Behavior Suite of products may be used independently or together depending on the end user’s needs. The Phase Behavior Suite has three software options: PRDewPointCurveXL2017, PREnvelopeAndLiquidDropOut, C6PlusHCDPMatch. 3. Natural Gas Properties – GasProps2008. GasProps2008 accurately calculates 21 natural gas properties using equations in the gas industry standards AGA Report No. 8 and AGA Report No. 10.

Flexible Manufacturing Systems

A Flexible Manufacturing System (FMS) is a system introduced to produce high quality products with reasonable price and lead time. Some of the main devices used in FMS are robots, CNC machines, sensors, computers, etc. Although the cost of implementation is high, it has increased system reliability, machine efficiency, and quality.

My main work with a FMS was with Caterpillar. Work with Caterpillar dates back as early as 1994 when I and Dr. Therani of Carnegie-Mellon University moved to Decatur, Illinois for a 6 month project to improve Cat's Flexible Manufacturing Systems that were cost sinkholes at the time. I first gathered data on the processes and identified wasteful activities. In doing so, the causes were traced back largely to the Design Process., which is the segway for the next section of Design Software.

Design Software for Manufacturing

At Caterpillar while working with their FMS, Dr. Therani and I decided with Cat management to develop a Artificial Intelligence interface for designers of piece parts to estimate the Costs of Quality from a Life Cycle Costing approach. The work was initially published as "Feature Based Costing AI Prototype at Caterpillar." Internal Caterpillar publication in conjunction with Carnegie-Mellon University. The software equations and methodology also became a major part of my PhD dissertation.

Of course some software need not have AI aspects. I also developed software for Printed Circuit Board design at DSC Communications (bought later by Alcatel), such that a designer's board design would automatically have Costs of Quality and Life Cycle Costs estimated by embedded formulas as the designer changes the design.

High Tech Manufacturing Systems

High technology is often referred to as high tech and less often but correctly referred to as frontier technology or frontier tech. Regardless of the name, we are referring to technology that is at the cutting edge: the most advanced technology available. High tech can be defined as either the most complex or the newest technology on the market. After my PhD in the "Rustbelt" of America (that is now another high tech region), I was sure to move to the Silicon Valley area so I could work with the best companies in the world, including: Alcatel, IBM, SIlicon Graphics, Philips Semiconductor, Agilent, Toyota/GM, Solectron, Cisco Systems, Sun Microsystems, 3Com, Palm and others.

Low Tech Manufacturing Systems

The opposite of high tech is low technology. Low tech refers to simple, traditional or mechanical technology such as lathes, grinding machines, and welding. Low tech systems are often human labor intensive. Since most factories in the world are still labor intenstive, I want to make it clear that I love to work with these companies. I encountered many of them still operating in the Pittsburgh region during my PhD. For every high tech facility, there are probably a dozen low tech facilities providing services and supplies to the high tech facilities. I have worked with many low tech manufacturers, TRACO, Metaltech, Thermal Industries, Pacific

Commerce Web Site Development

Commerce web sites are as common as mud at a stock car race, but we felt compelled to list it here since it is an important "hygeine" factor for many companies. By "hygeine" we mean if you need to have one then it better be there and work well or your customers will notice like someone having bad breath close by you .

Proprietary Moodle eLMS Mods

Hackers will hack. A great thing about open source software is you can hack it to customize it to better fit your needs. Since we are the "Roadmaps" Institute, we changed the evaluations of comments in discussion forums into stoplights so a user knew a really cool comment was a green light and ones not worth your time were rated as red. We since moved away from Moodle at the request of customers who preferred Blackboard and other eLearning Management Systems, but the experience with Moodle was terrific and we would revisit it if a client company wanted us to do so.