Steven J. Cox, Developer in Kitchener, ON, Canada
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Steven J. Cox

Verified Expert  in Engineering

Embedded Software Developer

Location
Kitchener, ON, Canada
Toptal Member Since
July 27, 2021

Steven is a highly adept problem solver who cuts through business fog to find root causes and deliver pragmatic solutions. He has deep expertise in all aspects of the product lifecycle and 12+ years of varied industry experience, including medical devices, biotech, media, application development, legal and patents, mining, customer service, and consulting. Steven is a direct communicator and skilled collaborator across organizational and company boundaries.

User Experience (UX)C++AgileScrumSoftwareAlgorithmsSaaSWordPressEmbedded C++Visual StudioGitAssemblyOpenGLVisual Studio Code (VS Code)Websites

Portfolio

SJC Engineering
Microcontrollers, C++, Electronics, User Acceptance Testing (UAT), Testing
ClearEvent Inc
Agile, Scrum, JavaScript, TargetProcess, Testing, Product Owner, SaaS, Azure...
Life Technologies
Lean, Lean Six Sigma, Business Process Improvement (BPI)

Experience

Testing - 12 yearsMicrocontrollers - 10 yearsC++ - 10 yearsEmbedded C++ - 7 yearsTargetProcess - 6 yearsScrum - 6 yearsVisual Studio - 3 years

Availability

Part-time

Preferred Environment

Visual Studio, Git

The most amazing...

...system I designed, built, and coded is for blood pressure control for critically ill patients. It was tested successfully in the Royal Melbourne Hospital ICU.

Work Experience

Founder, Product Developer

2019 - PRESENT
SJC Engineering
  • Designed a system for servo controllers. The system is Atmega328p-based and controls up to 128 servos. I developed C++ libraries and main routines, including self-test diagnostics and the user interface.
  • Designed, manufactured, and debugged prototype circuit boards.
  • Completed successful acceptance testing with the client.
Technologies: Microcontrollers, C++, Electronics, User Acceptance Testing (UAT), Testing

Founder, CEO

2014 - 2021
ClearEvent Inc
  • Founded ClearEvent with partners in Ontario and San Francisco. ClearEvent is a full-service event logistics and collaboration platform.
  • Drove feature development based on customer demand, developed features and decomposed them into stories, and led backlog triage and grooming to focus work on the most valuable features.
  • Developed extensive Excel tools for business modeling and real-time analytics, which enabled me to efficiently drive business strategy, sales, marketing, product development, customer success, and investor relations.
  • Drove development of the company website and marketing materials.
  • Led sales efforts, demoed products, and nurtured prospects through completed sales.
Technologies: Agile, Scrum, JavaScript, TargetProcess, Testing, Product Owner, SaaS, Azure, WordPress, Backlog Grooming, Feature Backlog Prioritization, User Stories, Excel 365, Business Modeling, Analytics, Business Strategy, Product Development, Investor Relations, Startups, Product Demonstrations, Product Sales

Senior Director, Business Process

2008 - 2011
Life Technologies
  • Owned the post-merger integration of legal department systems and managed key department projects.
  • Served as the strategic IT interface to drive the integration of legal systems and development of custom software systems.
  • Architected and oversaw the development of custom software for accelerating the legal review workflow.
  • Led a Lean Six Sigma and process excellence project to streamline the workflow and decrease the cycle time for information disclosure statements (IDS). The streamlined workflow reduced cycle time by 50%.
Technologies: Lean, Lean Six Sigma, Business Process Improvement (BPI)

SaaS Event Management Platform

A web-based platform used by event management professionals to create, promote, manage, and monetize events such as conferences, trades shows, and exhibitions. I led the development of this system, which has been in commercial operation since 2015 and has thousands of users and millions in processed revenues.

Blood Pressure Controller

A dedicated, x86-based clinical hardware system for closed-loop control of blood pressure in critically ill patients. Blood pressure is measured, and the infusion rate of a vaso-active agent is adjusted by the system using PID control with continuous assessment of patient sensitivity. The system provides continuous blood pressure control, thereby freeing critical care staff to deliver higher-quality medical care. I designed, built, and coded this system.

Patient Simulator

A C++ model of a critical-care patient, simulating variations in key medical indicators, such as heart rate, respiration, blood pressure, temperature, and oxygen saturation. The patient simulator enabled debugging and testing of a clinical system under development for blood pressure control.

DNA and RNA Array Spotter Control System

A control system and database for an X-Y-Z liquid dispensing robot configured to create DNA and RNA arrays on microscope slides. The system processed input tray maps (raw DNA solutions) and array configuration maps (desired output) to create up to 64 spotted arrays for experimental use.

DNA Fragment Assembly for Array Sequencing

A software-based system for alignment and reassembly of 500 to 1,000 DNA sequences into an optimal aggregate sequence. The system was prototyped in Perl and rewritten into C++. Testing required the generation of many test sequence sets, both optimal (solvable) and non-optimal (not solvable without gaps in the sequence).

Microprocessor Interlocking Controller

A microprocessor-based system for controlling railroad interlocking plants. The system self-discovers the network topology from a list of plant components and a connection list. Routes are indicated by selecting start and end points. Candidate routes are determined via optimized search methods based on connections and occupancy.

User Configurable Control Panel

A C++-based system for user creation of control panels for sequential actuator control. The system is based on self-discovering, microcontroller-equipped tiles capable of learning their neighbors and deducing the corresponding network topology.

Languages

C++, Assembly, Embedded C++, JavaScript, C

Other

User Experience (UX), Microcontrollers, Office 365, Excel 365, Product Sales, Design, ICE, Project Scoping, SaaS, Software, Algorithms, Systems, Electronics, Product Owner, Lean, Lean Six Sigma, PID Controllers, Digital Electronics, Integrated Circuits, Reporting, Communication, Mesh Development, Networks, Websites, SEO Tools, Yoast SEO, Backlog Grooming, Feature Backlog Prioritization, User Stories, Business Modeling, Analytics, Business Strategy, Product Development, Investor Relations, Startups, Product Demonstrations, Business Process Improvement (BPI), Graphics, 2D Graphics, 3D Graphics

Paradigms

Scrum, Testing, Agile, User Acceptance Testing (UAT)

Libraries/APIs

OpenGL, Core Graphics

Tools

Visual Studio, Git, TargetProcess, LabVIEW

Platforms

WordPress, Azure, Visual Studio Code (VS Code)

1981 - 1985

Bachelor's Degree in Electrical Engineering

University of Melbourne - Melbourne Australia