Project Manager Engineer

Lila D. Houston

**** ***** *** *******@*****.*** 410-***-**** Home

Eldersburg, MD 21784 410-***-**** Mobile

PROJECT MANAGER PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT & VALIDATION

~ Experienced in every phase of development for commercial and government

projects ~

Solutions-oriented professional experienced in the management and oversight

of concurrent engineering projects. Broad and extensive experience

includes fiber optic networks, satellite communication, data

communications, real-time embedded radar, and electronic warfare systems.

Presided over on-time delivery of a $25M technology project with short time-

to-market constraints. Strong team builder and facilitator; fostering an

atmosphere that encourages talented technical professionals to apply skill

sets to achieve maximum productivity. Managed cross-functional and multi-

site teams from concept to delivery and acceptance. Experienced in system

analysis, specification, design and implementation, integration and

verification, field installation, and customer support. Skilled in the

creation and maintenance of project schedules, budgets, resource

management, and briefing executive management and stakeholders. DOD Secret

Clearance.

EDUCATION

Master of Science-Computer Science

Johns Hopkins University, Applied Physics Laboratory -

Laurel, Maryland

Bachelor of Science - Computer Science Engineering

(Electrical Engineering Minor)

University of Virginia - Charlottesville, Virginia

Project Management Institute - 35 PDUs of Project Management

Professional (PMP) training

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

Ciena Corporation - Linthicum, MD 1999 - Present

SYSTEM VALIDATION AND TEST MANAGER, TRANSPORT DIVISION 2009 -

PRESENT

. Led team with on-time delivery of 40G and 100G offering, as well as,

the ROADM on the Corestream long haul transport platform.

. Validated several maintenance releases to resolve customer field

issues. Verified products for cost reduction initiatives saving an

estimated $300K in 2010.

. Ensured adherence to product verification best practices and

procedures.

Project Manager, Program Office, Transport Division 2006 - 2009

. Managed $25M project with multi-site engineering teams in United

States, Canada, and India.

. Led and directed multi-disciplined engineering team. Facilitated

cross-functional communication ensuring that stakeholder's internal

needs were met following the PLC process.

. Identified performance, schedule, interface and cost risks; mitigated

risks by planning and implementing resolution strategies for technical

and programmatic issues.

. Project manager for successful Ciena Corestream long haul 40G product

offering and CN4200 metro releases.

Principal Engineer, System Engineering, Transport Division 2004 -

2006

. Specified system requirements for Ciena's first security suite across

multiple interfaces in Transport product line with two-factor

authentication, authorization, encryption, security logging via PKI,

SSL, and RADIUS technology.

. Validation testing of Metro (ONI) product.

Principal Engineer, System Integration and Test, Transport Division

1999 - 2004

. Acted as lead integration and test engineer on various projects

involving system software and hardware for optical transport systems.

. Analyzed requirements documents, functional specifications, software

design specifications and interface control documents. Developed and

executed integration test plans and strategies. Developed automated

test suites, drivers, and procedures. Verified compliance to system

requirements

. Led and mentored junior test engineers through the integration cycle.

Alta Systems - Baltimore, MD 1997 - 1999

Consultant, Owner

Consultant for on-site support of customers for fielded ground data

communication system using a geo-satellite for Telenor's NORCOM Networks,

Reston, VA. Troubleshot system problems and provided corrective measures

to ensure uninterrupted quality of service to mobiles and hosts. Trained

system operators and provided knowledge transfer to incoming system

engineers.

Northrop Grumman (Acquisition of Westinghouse) - Linthicum, MD 1992 - 1997

Principle Engineer, Mobile Satellite (MSAT) Data Services & Communications

Ground Data Hub (DH)

. System Integration and Test Lead for a satellite based data hub ground

station and mobile terminals. "Hands on" day-to-day technical

leadership coordinating integration and test activities for system and

formal testing for across 3 sites. Liaison for configuration

management and product assurance for customer verification. Solely

responsible for help-desk and on-site customer support for the NORCOM

datahub.

. Software lead for the Satellite Network Access Control System (SNACS),

a packet switched data system offering basic (X.25 based) and

connectionless oriented services to North America for mobile terminals

using geo-satellites. Tasked with leading eight engineers and managing

a subcontractor (Westinghouse Canada) for the development of SNACS.

Acted as the liaison for requirements traceability, configuration

management, and product assurance, as well as, for internal reuse

customers. Supported system integration and formal test for customer

verification.

Westinghouse - Linthicum, MD - 1992

Progressed from Lead Engineer to Joint Venture Software Manager

. Various government contractor programs, experience included:

. Joint venture software manager for a passive multi-sensor electronic

warfare system with situation assessment and response. Interfaced

with customers to provide technical leadership in developing the

operational concept and system specification.

. Developed software management plans and procedures for programs,

proposals, and the software engineering department.

. Lead software system analyst for multi-sensor threat analysis, fusion,

tracking, and response.

. Specified requirements and design of radar timing and control, and

post mission analysis for project to intercept incoming ballistic

missiles during the terminal phase.

. Developed signal processing software for the High Resolution Mapping.

TECHNICAL SKILLS

Transmission SONET/SDH, G.709, Gigabit Ethernet, X.25

Protocols:

Tools and SW: Applications: Various CASE tools, Microsoft

Office (Word, Access, Excel, Power Point,

Project), DOORS, CTM, Perforce, Rational

DDTS; RADIUS, SSL/TLS, Procomm+, Unix, VMS,

DOS, pSOS+ Operating Systems, XRAY+ source

level debugger; Ciena Family of Products -

CoreStream, OnCenter, Node Manager, OME 6500

Site Manager, CN4200, Online Metro;

Languages: TL1, TCL/Expect, C, C++, Epilogue

Technology SNMP Agent, MIB, Ada, FORTRAN,

Jovial, Pascal, COBOL

HW and PLATFORMS : Ciena Family of Products - CoreStream,

CoreDirector, Online Metro, CN4200; Nortel

OME 6500; Infinity PPC603

KEY PROFICIENCIES Strategic & Tactical Planning Remote Management SDLC

. Methodologies Budget Management Team Leadership Mentoring &

Empowerment Decision Maker & Closer Communication & Organization

Time Management

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