Sr RF Hardware Engineer/manager
Resume:
Robert J. Zavrel Jr.
PO Box ** Elmira, OR ***** - 541-***-**** - ****@****.***
Wireless/RF Engineering Executive
Unique combination of top-tier RF engineering expertise and top-tier business management, sales, marketing and technical support.
Accomplished RF Engineering Executive with 30 years of applicable experience and a verifiable consistent record delivering technical innovation, streamlined operations, increased productivity, and exceptional leadership and mentoring. Strong background in technical sales and customer service. Natural leader with strong entrepreneurial spirit and special talent for transforming strategy into action and achievement. Highly effective team building and motivational skills. Life-long dedication to RF/wireless technology and business. Seasoned international businessman (3 years total overseas). Excellent business negotiating skills.
World-class Accomplishments:
- Initiated major trends in wireless technology and business
- Won very large OEM business
- Five awarded patents
- Over 50 published technical papers
-Over 1M miles traveled on customer visits, over 1,000 RF customer visits logged
-Managed international software/firmware/hardware/systems development teams
-Extensive experience in all facets of Customer Service, Sales, Marketing, competitive anlaysis
-founding member SDR FORUM, early 802.11, WINFORUM, FCC/NTIA appeals processes
Areas of Qualification:
Business
“C” level – Director level - RF engineering manager – Start-up experience
OEM sales – OEM market strategy – New product development - International
Strategic planning – Contract negotiation – Vendor management – VC investors
Product development cycle – Technology development – R&D – Standards bodies
Customer Technical Support
Fortune 500 companies
Technical
RF semiconductors – Wireless/RF Systems – PLL – DDS
Mixers – Power amplifiers – Filters – EM modeling – Schematic capture
RF Layout – RF simulation – Microwave – Antennas – OFDM – CDMA
TDMA – Spectrum analyzer – Network analyzer – Anechoic chamber
Guest lecturer at UC Berkeley, Stanford University and University of Alabama
RF test – 802.11 – WiFi – DSP – EMI – Medical electronics
Military radio – Spread spectrum – Antenna modeling – Information theory
Link budget – Public safety – Avionics – MIMO – FCC – NTIA – WLAN
Microwave Office – NEC – CADSTAR - digital broadcast
Professional Experience:
2001-present: Plum Valley Systems, Elmira OR: initiated and built my own successful RF business and engineering consulting company. Clients have included: the Government of Sweden (advised on acquisition of an RF semiconductor fab), Tektronix, Helic, Athens Greece (3D EM simulation tools), City of Eugene (public safety radio engineering, also worked as an employee for 6 months), EDX (radio propagation tool), Pipeline Communications, Honolulu, (anti-IED jammer development). Cobham Avionics: completed high level SDR design for advanced avionics communication/navigation system. RF Engineering consultant for Eugene Water and Electrical Board (utility company), Taught electronics part-time at Lane Community College, Eugene, Significant contributor to the PTC radio architecture for Meteorcomm, Inc., Renton WA
1998-2001: ATMEL, Colorado Springs, Director SiGe Bi-CMOS technology, built a design group, devised and implemented marketing strategy that won Nokia as an OEM customer ($1B/year TAM), directed development of a SiGe-based SDR system, directed customer services for SiGe design support: technical seminars, telephone and e-mail support, and direct sales/marketing support
1995-1998: IBM, RTP, NC., Director SiGe business development. Supported key customer interfaces, motivated senior management to move SiGe from R&D into production, today is a major business for IBM Microelectronics Division. Directed C-level contacts into Ericsson and Nokia in Sweden and Finland.
1994-1995: Metricom Inc. Los Gatos, CA., Director product development. Designed simple modification that increased system data throughput, encouraged Casio to invest in product development supporting Metricom’s system, wrote first capacity program for a MESH wireless system on MATHCAD. Extensive interface with the FCC and NTIA. Negotiated consumer product agreement with Casio, supported customer development.
1991-1994: GEC Plessey, Scotts Valley CA., won a co-development contract from Apple Computer to build the first effective WLAN, co-designed the first effective WLAN. Promoted to world-wide program manager. Active member 802.11, co-founder WinForum standards group.
1990-1991: Stanford Telecom, Santa Clara, CA., wrote and published two engineering handbooks on DDS and Spread Spectrum. Published first paper using DDS for HDTV transmission, now industry standard. Extensive direct telephone support of the product line.
1988-1989: Digital RF Solutions, Santa Clara, CA., helped develop new technology and applications for DDS. Published extensively. Wrote first paper using DDS for FM stereo broadcast, now industry standard. Wrote first paper describing a software defined radio.
1984-1988: Signetics/Philips, Sunnyvale, CA., first RF applications engineer in CA. made NE602/604 chip set industry standard. Traveled and published extensively to support a new business, today over $1 billion in revenue. Extensive technical support for sales and marketing to place Signetics into a top tier RF components vendor.
1983-1984: Siliconix, developed SD8901 FET-ring mixer, still being marketed as one of the world’s best mixers. Developed wave transmission line matching circuit for FET RF power amplifiers, now industry standard, direct customer support of RF product line.
1976-1982: Broadcast engineer, AM ,FM, TV, designed, installed and maintained radio and television broadcast facilities in Oregon and Washington.
Education:
B.S. Physics, University of Oregon, Eugene, 1983, emphasis on advanced electronics courses + year of MBA courses. Numerous courses and seminars taken in management, CAD tools, and RF technology.
Leisure: designed and built my own log home, design and construction of log structures, cutting and splitting fire wood, design and construction of amateur radio antennas, working in my vineyard, garden and orchard
Addendum to Resume
Robert J. Zavrel Jr.
Summary of Major Technical Achievements:
...1983, designed world’s first passive FET-ring RF mixer, Si-8901, very high IP3 device.
...1983, designed 1/4 wave matching network for VHF power-FET amplifier, held world’s record for power output from two transistors, (365 watts from two DVD-150Ts. at 146 MHz.)
...1984, completed design and working prototype of a programmable audio synthesizer, using the HP-32 hand-held calculator as a controller.
...1985, designed high performance IQ mixer using NE602 devices.
...1987, published world’s first description of a software defined radio (SDR), I called it “Digitized Radio of Tomorrow”. SDR is now regarded as a key area for wireless communications development.
...1988, published first paper on using direct digital synthesis for FM stereo generator broadcast applications, the method is now the industry standard.
...1989, published first paper on using DDS for HDTV applications, now the industry standard.
...1992, designed world’s first 802.11 (frequency hopper) WLAN transceiver (also won development contract from Apple Computer for the program).
...1994, wrote complex capacity calculation program on MATHCAD for Metricom’s Ricochet wireless network (first comprehensive analysis of a wireless "mesh" network).
...1996, invented and patented an advanced speech compression/recognition technique.
...1996-2000, did extensive work on SiGe design and applications issues including an advanced semiconductor packaging project for wireless applications.
…2000-2006, senior-level management and wireless technology and business consultant involved in hands-on RF design engineering over a wide range of applications.
…2006, developed OJAC (omni-directional jamming and communications) a system that permits jamming of IEDs while simultaneously permitting tactical communications in the same band. Endorsed by the US Army (Fort Monmouth, NJ).
…2007, solved a key problem in allowing simultaneous EEG and MRI measurements for brain diagnostics (particularly for Epilepsy and emotional diseases).
…2008/2009, performed extensive research and published results on improving efficiency of ground-mounted vertical antennas
…2010/2011, wrote algorithm for AGC system on PTC-220 radio system, corrected several errors at the component-level design, initiated “virtual” common channel scheme for PTC-220.
Patents:
6,218,729 Apparatus and method for an integrated circuit having high Q reactive components
5,987,405 Speech compression by speech recognition
5,812,930 Information handling systems with broadband and narrowband communication channels between repository and display systems
5,585,953 IR/RF radio transceiver and method
5,479,176 Multiple-element driven array antenna and phasing method
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