2 Cobble Glen Ct. Travis D. Sparks 919-493-8404
Durham, NC 27713 sparkst@gmail.com
OBJECTIVE
I am seeking a Software / Systems Project Management position where I can lead software product
development and/or IT projects.
WORK EXPERIENCE
GlaxoSmithKline Research Triangle Park, NC
Project Manager / Architect / Strategy Consultant July 2004 – Present
• Project manager for preclinical pharmaceutical software systems with responsibilities for three concurrent
projects, +$5mil total budget per year, and matrix management of +150 resources worldwide. • Managing and architecting a +$3mil project to build a chemical material definition, warehouse management,
and genealogy system to support preclinical drug development. This included managing a 45+ team
of .NET developers, QTP automated testers, and business analysts located in India, the UK, and the US.
Also, it includes managing 50+ worldwide business users in soliciting requirements and establishing
change management processes. Successfully met all project budget and time milestones to date. • Successfully introduced agile methods, as well as significantly greater configuration management
capabilities to preclinical software development.
• Managed a $500k upgrade of a Materials Management System. This included developing requirements
based on input from 17 business users / analysts and managing development and testing with 8 developers
in Italy and the US. Successfully delivered this project on time and within budget. • Managed the initial development of a $500k Opinion Leader Management system. This included
stakeholder management among 10 business units, requirements development, and vendor selection. • Managed a $2mil IT budget for new projects in the Global Commercial Strategy business unit.
University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill Chapel Hill, NC
Research Associate – Computer Science Department August 2002 – May 2004
• Co-developed a 3D tele-immersion (i.e. teleconferencing) system that captures a scene using 27+ cameras,
transmits the data to a supercomputer over Internet2 for reconstruction, and transmits the scene over
Internet2 to a remote rendering system with a stereo projection display.
• Developed a reliable, congestion controlled, coordinated UDP protocol, using C on Red Hat Linux, to
transmit all of the frames and depth fields, synchronously, between all of the subsystems. • Led the development of a server for capturing images from four IEEE-1394 Firewire cameras using C++ on
Red Hat Linux.
• Developed and researched various indoor and outdoor location sensing techniques that used 802.11 network
card signal strength, GPS, and Radio Frequency Identification (RFID).
Sensor Systems Herndon, VA
Software Engineer February 2002 – August 2002
• Developed an imagery catalog system for Sensor’s RemoteView satellite image viewer product, which was
capable of managing thousands of images distributed across multiple networked machines. This system
used MSSQL server and was developed in Visual C++ using MFC, STL, ADO, COM, and MSXML.
Invicta Networks Herndon, VA
Configuration Manager / Software Engineer August 2001 – February 2002
• Managed the integration, test, and release of three InvisiLAN network security tool product versions. • Developed tools in JAVA, Perl, HTML, PHP, and C that streamlined and automated the integration and test
process.
User Technology Associates / Percuity Arlington, VA
Software Engineering Product Manager June 1999 – August 2001
• Released 5 versions of three Asset360 desktop software and hardware management tool editions on time
while coordinating a 9-member C++ development/test team located in Virginia and South Korea. This
included translating the product from Korean to English; re-architecting the product to work in large
enterprises; and integrating Visual Basic for Applications.
• Managed 4 international sites, 5 developers, and 6 testers while developing an enterprise web application
using JAVA, VB, and C++ that integrated Asset360 into Citicorp’s global network of 140,000+ computers.
• Directly consulted Citicorp’s Technology Vice President on IT asset management issues for over a year.
• Consulted the U.S. Department of Labor on their design of a timesheet management web application. • Successfully managed the integration of the 12-member software development team acquired with the
purchase of Angel Lake Software.
OTHER PROJECT AND WORK EXPERIENCE
• Developed an enterprise web application used to coordinate volunteers for the Piedmont Wildlife Center
using IBM WebSphere, WSAD, J2EE, JSP’s, servlets, and EJB’s. (2003)
• Led 4 Computer Engineers in a 5-month contracting engagement to develop an operating system, written in
C and assembly, for a PIC microprocessor on-board an Integral Technologies Video Frame Grabber card.
(1998-1999)
• Led a 4-man team, consisting of 2 Computer Engineers and 2 Mechanical Engineers, to build a prototype
zero-gravity autonomous vehicle and to test that prototype on NASA’s KC-135 (Vomit Comet). Leading
this project required finding funding of over $5000, winning a slot on the KC-135 from the Texas Space
Grant Consortium, building the prototype, and running a PR campaign to promote the project and NASA to
the community. Building the prototype included building an aluminum frame, designing a navigational
computer using a Motorola HC-12, writing command and control software in C, and connecting two power
sources for the computer and DC motors that spun alternate-axis flywheels. (1998-1999). • Developed a peer-to-peer distributed hash table system using JAVA and XML. This system was capable of
maintaining multiple hash tables, balancing load, and restoring state when nodes failed. (2002) • Developed a basic web server and a proxy server from scratch using C++ on Linux and Free BSD. (2002) • Developed the website for Naval Surface Warfare Center, Crane, IN. (1997)
• Developed websites, managed ISP dial-in & customer management servers, covered first-line tech-support,
taught computer / Internet courses, and built PC’s for Custom Computers & Networks. (1996-1997)
RELATED SKILLS
• Platforms: Linux, Windows XP, Windows 2000, Mandrake, RedHat, SLAX, .NET
• Programming Skills: C/C++, JAVA, Visual Basic, ASP, PHP, XML, HTML, SQL, assembly
• Other: Visual Studio, gcc, MySQL, Eclipse, J2EE, Makefiles, xUnit, MS SQL Server, Oracle, Access,
PowerPoint, Project, FrontPage, Adobe Photoshop, Visio, Visual InterDev, Macromedia Flash, Maple V,
Matlab, Test Director, Continuus, Change Synergy, Borland Caliber RM, Borland Star Team, RFID,
IEEE1394, 802.11 Wi-Fi, TCP/IP, UDP, Dreamweaver, Wink, and many more…
EDUCATION
University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill Chapel Hill, NC May 2004
• Master of Science in Computer Science. Note: UNC CS does not provide GPA’s.
• Focus on multimedia networking, distributed systems, and mobile computing
• Courses Related to Degree: Mobile Computing & Peer to Peer Networks; Multimedia Networking;
Distributed Systems; Distributed & Concurrent Algorithms; Graphics, Imaging, & Vision; Software Design
& Implementation; Enterprise Computing; and Spanish
Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology Terre Haute, IN May 1999
Ranked #1 Undergraduate Engineering School by U.S. News & World Report 2000-2007
• Bachelor of Science in Computer Engineering, with a minor in Economics.
• Graduated Summa Cum Laude with a 3.9/4.0 GPA and ranked first in the Computer Engineering Dept.
• Received the General Electric Award and the Outstanding Senior Award in Computer Engineering.
OTHER ACCOMPLISHMENTS & AWARDS
• Directed, edited, and produced a commercial for the 2005 & 2006 Carolina Hope Fest which aired on TV
stations in the Raleigh-Durham area.
• Filmed and edited several short ministry videos as Director of the Video Ministry at the Chapel Hill Bible
Church. This included using Canon GL-1 cameras to shoot interviews and scenes, as well as using Adobe
Premiere to edit and produce the final videos. (2003-2005)
• Volunteer IT manager for Bear Lake Church Camp: http://www.bearlakecamp.com. (2002-Present)
• Volunteer webmaster for the UNC’s Graduate Intervarsity group: http://focus.unc.edu. (2003)
• Developed a web-enabled member tracking system for the First Baptist Church of Alexandria’s Singles
Department using ASP, HTML, JavaScript, FrontPage, and IIS. (2001-2002)
• Promoted space causes, oversaw the Dr. Soffen Memorial Fund, and promoted the 300+ members of the
NASA Academy Alumni Association, as Vice President of Operations. (2001)
• Coordinated over 20 speakers, professional development programs, and community service projects as
President of the 107-member Rose-Hulman branch of the IEEE. (1998-1999)
• Received 3 UTA “Going the Extra Mile” (GEM) Awards. (1999-2001)
• Received the UTA President’s Special Achievement Award. (2000)
• Directed the award-winning, short, science-fiction film Mirimar, which included a cast of over 40 actors,
scriptwriters, foley-artists, editors, set designers, lighting designers, and camera operators. (1995)
22-Aug-2007