Resume Helen Kourous Harrigan - Electrical Engineer, Software, Web Dev/Design, Systems Thinker

Résumé of Helen E. Kourous-Harrigan
M.S. Electrical Engineer/Software+Web Developer

Monroe, Michigan · hkourous at excite dot com

Objective

Obtain a part-time or contract position in engineering, physics, or technical education

Summary of Qualifications

Hard-working, persistent systems thinker who successfully grapples with the broad view of problems and challenges as well as handling low-level details

Experience in a broad range of technical and cross-functional areas including computer programming, optics, physics, image processing, neural networks, data acquisition, proposal writing, web design

Versatile with numerous computer systems, APIs, and languages, including Windows, UNIX, Mac, C/C++, IDL; HTML/XML; MatLab, LabView, Perl, Python; Office suites, web design suites, graphic design

Experience leading team facilitating and teambuilding exercises; leadership and recreation training

Education

B.S., Electrical Engineering, June 1990, University of Toledo
B.S., Engineering Physics, June 1990, University of Toledo
M.S., Electrical Engineering, June 1995, University of Toledo
E.I.T. Ohio Engineer-in-Training (1991)

Work Experience

June 2002 - present	Full time home parent / part time web design Part time telecommuting status at Veridian Part time writing, web management, e-business developer, Search Engine Optimization
Nov 1998 - June 2002	ERIM International (Veridian Systems), Ann Arbor, MI (Now General Dynamics Advanced Information Systems) Research Engineer, Advanced Information Systems Group Synthetic Aperture Radar phenomenology Optical signal processing laboratory Software & algorithm development, MSTAR project DDB, MTFP Image & signal processing UNIX systems; MATLAB, Khoros, LabVIEW
July1995 - November 1998	Edison Industrial Systems Center, Toledo, Ohio Electrical/Software Engineer, Advanced Imaging Group One of two lead engineers for $7.1M joint venture NIST/ATP project
	Identified and evaluated temperature measurement technology for die casting Specified and purchased $220K automated X-ray fluoroscopic system Identified and applied digital data collection systems for sensor fusion Interfaced with factory personnel, including floor and engineering Implemented data acquisition and analysis software Applied project management skills, including software for project tracking Focal point for joint venture team communication Presented paper at SPIE Aerosense/Thermosense 98 Machine Vision Systems Integration & Development Assisted in software development and maintenance of Vision Lab software libraries (C/C++) Assisted in performing demonstrations and project evaluations Developed project proposals, user manuals Assisted in the design, specification, and implementation of vision systems Assisted in designing and proofreading proposal and marketing materials Maintained Vision Lab Intranet Web Server (Microsoft) Experienced with Windows NT and Windows 95 workstation and network
March 1991 - July 1995	NASA Lewis Research Center, Cleveland, Ohio (Now Nasa Glenn Research Center) Electro-optical Engineer, Optical Measurement Systems Branch
	Research engineer for installation and operation of Rayleigh optical diagnostic system in testing of vertical lift aircraft in Lewis wind tunnel incl Designed fiber optic power delivery system and data acquisition system Performed project planning, resource management, and team facilitating Presented paper at ASME Fluids Engineering meeting Received NASA Lewis Group Award Designed prototype machine vision computer interface for automatic servo control and stabilization of optical interferometer, using frame-grabber and analog output boards Member of Total Quality Facilitator network for Center Involved in educational and outreach programs, speaking engagements, History Committee Participated in many technical, management, group skills, and Quality training courses (list available)
Previous positions	Moraine Valley Community College; Palos Hills, Illinois Math/Physics tutor in pre-engineering program Tutoring Lab Argonne National Laboratory, Chicago, Illinois Science and Engineering Research Semester participant, Materials Science Division, Experiments in high-temperature superconductivity, data acquisition systems University of Toledo Physics Department, Toledo, Ohio Student Assistant, FORTRAN programming for astronomy projects Space Physics Research Laboratory, Ann Arbor, Michigan Research Experience for Undergraduates, IDL programming for Dynamics Explorer satellite magnetospheric data Prestolite Electric, Inc.; Toledo, Ohio Student Co-op, PM Motor Design Group Motor testing (thermal, dynamometer), magnetizing fixture design, performance modeling, Design of Experiments, testing flowchart design

General Skills

Excellent writing, communication, group skills, creativity skills
Skills in hardware, software, optics, data acquisition
Familiar with availability and proposal writing process for SBIR, ATP, federal programs, NASA
Familiar with manufacturing practices
Project management, including software such as Microsoft Project
Development and proofreading of user manuals, proposals, letters, technical marketing material
Detailed report writing skills
Comfortable with group presentations
Internet/Intranet administration skills
Versatile with numerous computer systems, platforms, developer environments, and languages, including Windows, UNIX, VMS, IBM, MAC, Borland C/C++ and C++ Builder, Perl, Python, FORTRAN, Pascal, IDL; CAD; Internet/Ethernet standards, HTML (designed web page for Light Works)

Hobbies and other interests

Board Member of Supercamp (Director 1995 - 2005) - a not-for-profit annual weekend camp for kids aged 9 to 13. Responsible for designing promotional materials, maintaining an extensive database, contacting donors, recruiting, selecting and training counselors, registrar, camp schedule and curriculum, and generally running things

Member of IEEE; Technical Society of Toledo; past president of Tau Beta Pi National Engineering Honor society; member of Eta Kappa Nu Electrical Engineering Honor Society; Sigma Pi Sigma Physics Honor Society

I enjoy feeding the voracious mind of my 3-year-old daughter Elizabeth, in-line skating, reading, running, rock climbing, writing, traveling, cycling, boating, herbs, organic gardening, camping, black and white photography and darkroom processing, designing web pages, and tasting foods from all over the world.

Desert Island Picks

Joshua Tree, U2
A Kind of Blue, Miles Davis
Kid A, Radiohead
Megatop Pheonix, Big Audio Dynamite
The Lord of the Rings, J. R. R. Tolkein
Dune, Frank Herbert
The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, Robert A. Heinlein
Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, Stephen R. Donaldson
Shards of Honor, Lois McMaster Bujold
Warprize, Elizabeth Vaughan