Problem Solver
Jim McKay
I have many rears of experience in working in R&D in some of the most challenging fields and business environments. Small and large companies, small and large teams. My strengths are being flexible, willing to experiment, adaptable to different environments and circumstances, and looking for creative synergistic solutions.
Areas Jim McKay is Knowledgeable in:
Personal productivity tools and techniques.
Designing and implementing simple and effective business processes.
SQUID and fluxgate based magnetometer and gradiometer applications.
Non-invasive medical sensor technology.
DSP techniques, applications, and technology.
Finding buried or sunken artifacts.
Environmental magnetic field sources an cancellation.
Human propelled vehicles. Solar power and solar thermal heating.
Techniques of stimulating neural activity in auditory, visual, and somatosensory cortexes.
Designing and implementing simple and effective business processes.
SQUID and fluxgate based magnetometer and gradiometer applications.
Non-invasive medical sensor technology.
DSP techniques, applications, and technology.
Finding buried or sunken artifacts.
Environmental magnetic field sources an cancellation.
Human propelled vehicles. Solar power and solar thermal heating.
Techniques of stimulating neural activity in auditory, visual, and somatosensory cortexes.
Techniques Jim McKay Uses:
Mental simulation, sketches, brainstorming, numerical and mathematical analysis using Matlab/Octave, experimentation, prototyping, business analysis using Excel, providing constructive criticism and feedback to improve business processes, open collaborative discussions with all parties involved
Jim McKay's Problem Solving Skills:
- Applications for Matlab/Octave and other interpreted language
- Customer service management
- Business process design and implementation
- Filtering and processing low SNR signal data
- Multichannel DSP system design
- SQUID sensor applications
- Magnetic field and gradient measurement
- Medical eqpt site planning and installation project management
- Embedded systems
- Techniques of stimulating neural activity in auditory, visual, and somatosensory cortexes.
Jim McKay's Problem Solving Experience:
- Wrote SQUID channel parameter analysis programs for 150-300 channel systems. Allowed quick check that all parameters in normal ranges and did consistency checks for related parameters. Detected many tuning problems with SQUID systems using these programs, versions written in Matlab and TCL/TK.
- Senior electronics designer for portable satellite telecommunications stations. Designed, tested, and documented digital voice, signalling, and data channel circuitry.
- Design and implementation of several serverly processor constrained real time DSP algorithms. Involved intricately optimized assembly language code to rapidly filter 30 bit data on a 16 bit processor.
- Lead electronics designer for an underwater submarine detection system using SQUID sensors.
- Wrote Matlab/Octave program to automatically analyze data from magnetic site surveys, saving several hours of labour per survey.
- Design, creation, and production of 224 page yearly logbook for MEG/MCG labs (made available at lulu.com Dec 2008). Keeps all relevant info regarding use and maintenance of system in one place, in bound notebook.
- Lead designer of 1st large multichannel DSP-based MEG system using superconducting SQUID sensors to detect brainwaves.
- MEG system installed in Southern Germany had spurious line in freq. spectrum. Everything regarding shielding, grounding, and overall system performance OK. Effect had not been seen in similar system it replaced. I relaized one difference between new and old system was the sample rate, 192 kHz vs 125 kHz. I wondered if it could be aliasing of strong external signal. Did Google search of radio stations, found there was a radio station at 192 kHz connected to one of the largest antennas in Europe at ~100 km distance. Got the design engineers to change the sample rate by a few kHz and the interference was moved out of the signal acquisition band. Customer accepted system.