Lionel E. Deimel
828 Rockwood Avenue
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15234
Let me introduce myself
My name is Lionel Deimel, and
I’m a multi-talented generalist whose most tangible skills are related to
computers and to writing. I like to be where I can employ a constellation of
skills to accomplish a goal, and where quality work is valued.
What I can do for you
I can fill any of a number of
roles, including that of teacher/trainer, analyst/critic, software engineer,
user consultant, writer, and editor. A position that uses me most effectively
would require that I play several related roles. In a smaller organization, this
could mean doing several jobs for which it is impractical to hire more than one
person. In a larger organization I could take on a more complex assignment or be
a resource to others. Although it would be attractive to work in a software
development environment where my software engineering and communication skills
could be combined, I could also help end-users be more productive with their
computing resources, as I have found this to be a satisfying activity as a
consultant. In the right environment, I could be fulfilled in a more purely
communications position.
Who I am
I am a computer scientist with
a strong background in science and mathematics. I am also an excellent writer,
editor, reviewer, and critic, who values clear thinking and is acutely sensitive
to the subtleties of expression. I am a good teacher, trainer, and organizer.
Because I both enjoy working with colleagues and appreciate the synergy arising
from collaboration, I prefer leadership to management. I have a talent for
teasing the best out of individuals or small groups by asking critical questions
or by offering unexpected insights. I try to resolve conflicts so that everyone
achieves more than he or she thought possible.
I am interested in
ideas, art, and music, and I have always thought of myself as an
intellectual. I enjoy working with a variety of people, however, greatly
appreciate the practical, and, people tell me, have a good deal of
common sense. Because I enjoy helping others, people find me a patient
teacher.
What I really care about
My academic background, and particularly my
mathematical training, has made me into a problem-solver. When possible, I will
generalize and model a problem to deal with it. When working with others,
however, especially in less technical contexts, I often find that the two most
important questions are “what problem are we solving?” and “what would an
acceptable solution look like?”
Ultimately, I like to build things, and I get
a deep sense of satisfaction from the beauty that they can exhibit. I
appreciate the elegance of a clever proof, the transparency of a
well-designed user interface, and just the right shade of meaning
communicated by the proper word in an essay. This aesthetic extends to
those things I cannot produce—a perfectly proportioned steam locomotive
or a Prokofiev piano sonata—but I particularly appreciate getting the
details right myself, be they architectural or engineering details. They
should work together harmoniously, balancing elegance with usefulness
and economy.
Two examples will serve to illustrate how my concerns
manifest themselves and to suggest how they play out in the workplace:
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I am one of the rare programmers who actually likes to
annotate code, a process I have reflected upon and studied
empirically. I enjoy the challenge of explaining concisely what
I have written, but I also know that articulating precisely what
my program is doing forces me to verify that against what it
should be doing. Also, careful examination of the code after
it is written sometimes suggests alternatives and economies that
did not present themselves earlier.
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The documents for which I did technical editing at the
Software Engineering Institute were largely written for
academics unfamiliar with the topics treated. I quickly learned
the limitations of using expert reviewers, who were much better
at evaluating technical correctness than the accessibility of
the text to the intended audience. Experts, I found,
unconsciously fill gaps and correct minor errors in the text
without recognizing that the author has not been explicit or
precise. Developing a kind of studied ignorance helped me
uncover such lapses in the text and negotiate changes with the
authors. In the case of a document on intellectual property
protection written by two attorneys, I virtually rewrote the
text to make it acceptable to computer professionals, yet I
still managed to satisfy the authors. |
Where I’ve been educated
I entered the University of Chicago as a physics
major, intending to get a firm grounding in theory before pursuing electronics
engineering. I was already interested in computer hardware, and, when I took a
computer course in my third year, I became hooked on programming. After
receiving an excellent liberal education and earning my A.B. in physics, I went
to Georgia Tech, where I earned an M.S. and Ph.D. in information and computer
science. My graduate work was interrupted by a stint as an Army bandsman, which
advanced my musical education. At Georgia Tech, I discovered the joy of
teaching, which entailed both organizing the material for myself and sharing my
insights with others Although my doctoral dissertation was in automata theory
and my minor was mathematics, my subsequent professional interests have
invariably involved the pragmatics of software development and use. I have four
decades of hands-on experience with uncounted computers—from second-generation
behemoths to the latest PCs and Macs—operating systems, programming languages,
and applications.
Where I’ve worked
After earning my Ph.D., I held faculty positions in
computer science departments at North Carolina State University and Allegheny
College. I was recruited as a Senior Computer Scientist by Carnegie Mellon
University’s then-new Software Engineering Institute. At the SEI, my
responsibilities were to promote the discipline of software engineering to
universities, to produce materials for software engineering education, and to
manage the production of those materials, which were mostly written by outside
authors. Since leaving the SEI, I have worked as a private consultant and as
Manager of Special Services for a computer services firm. I have done corporate
and individual training, assisted several organizations in their transitions to
upgraded computer networks, and acted as an IT resource for individuals and
small firms. I develop and maintain Web sites and relational databases. I am
especially pleased with my work with Microsoft Access databases, which allows me
to develop complex, user-friendly interfaces, often for mission-critical
applications. In the past five years, I have
volunteered a good deal of my time to Progressive Episcopalians of
Pittsburgh, for which I served as its first president. My work with PEP
has exercised my computer skills and provided valuable experience in
leadership, marketing, and public relations. I have written position
papers and press releases and regularly dealt with reporters from the
national media. For PEP or with its encouragement, I have also written
influential pieces of analysis and advocacy. What
I’ve accomplished
Here is a list of a few of my accomplishments:
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I received two service awards from the Association for
Computing Machinery for my work over eight years with the
Scholastic Programming Contest. I served as Director of this
high-visibility international student competition three times
and as Chief Judge once. I managed the contest budget and a
staff of volunteer professionals. Innovations during my tenure
include bringing the contest to the site of the ACM Computer
Science Conference, the substitution of Pascal for FORTRAN as
the contest language, and the introduction of a local area
network to the contest environment.
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I have published more than a dozen papers on computer
science/software engineering education. The topics of these
papers are varied, but they include issues of curricula,
standards, test item construction, and teaching facilities. I
have also published papers on program comprehension, algorithms,
and other topics in computer science and engineering.
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I managed the development of curriculum modules for the
Software Engineering Institute. For many of these subject area
guides to software engineering and software engineering
education, my most important role was that of technical editor.
I am co-author of one module, Unit Analysis and Testing.
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As one of three former academics responsible for most of its
publications, I have helped Progressive Episcopalians of
Pittsburgh gain a reputation as a source of reliable information
and responsible opinion within a beleaguered Episcopal Church.
Personal posts on my Web site and blog have also been
influential within the church.
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When my church began a renovation project, leaders were
concerned that the chaos of construction would cause
parishioners to stay home. To keep people informed and
interested, I created and maintained a “Construction Update”
bulletin board for the duration of the project. This
wall-mounted newsletter was so popular that I was asked to
re-create it during another construction project several years
later. I published an article about the project in a church
journal.
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In developing a database for a steel fabricating company, I
discovered that the geometry of its products was only being
estimated. Although it was not specified explicitly as a job
task, I developed a rigorous mathematical model of the product
and incorporated corresponding calculations into the database.
This resulted in better cost estimates and inventory control.
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One of the educational materials packages I created for the
Software Engineering Institute is Scenes of Software
Inspections: Video Dramatizations for the Classroom. It
consists of a videotape containing 11 brief scenes related to
software inspections, and a report analyzing the scenes and
suggesting how they can be used in the classroom. The
professionally acted scenes had been created for another
project, but the interactive hardware on which they were to be
displayed was never developed commercially. I proposed and
developed the repackaging that proved popular, particular in
commercial environments.
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I consulted as a technical expert for SAS Institute Inc. in
connection with SAS v. S&H Computer. I developed evidence
of copyright and license violations by examining program
listings and other materials. I also developed the framework
within which evidence was presented at the trial that ended in a
ruling in favor of SAS. |
What else
I’m interested in
I love music, particularly the works of
Prokofiev and Bach, but also jazz and folk. I follow developments in politics
and science closely, and I am addicted to National Public Radio. I am a baseball
fan, railfan, and photographer. I read too much of what I must read and too
little of what I would like to read. I am active in my church, particularly so
once I discovered that I could serve others with the talents I do have, which
are not the stereotypical “pastoral” ones. I sing in the choir, serve on the
Worship Commission, and work with lighting and sound. Since launching my own Web
site, “Lionel Deimel’s Farrago,” I have become an active essayist, poet, and
composer.
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