 while ice fishing on cold Montana day. People say I used to be cute. |
Yadda, yadda, yadda. I suppose a person absolutely has to post their professional pedigree on Web pages like this one. After all, someone who hires you to do a job for them really wants -- and needs -- to know that stuff. So it's there down below for your professional perusal.
As to the real me? I'm a native of Montana and grew up over east of the mountains at Park City, a little town about 20 miles west of Billings. (Now, you're supposed to say, "How little was it?" And I'm supposed to say "It was so small that we had to share the town drunk with the next town down the road!" Yuk-yuk-yuk). I went to high school there and a really good teacher of mine, Mr. Bob Hogemark, got me started in computers.
I also played football (both ways -- fullback and linebacker -- it was a small school), lifted weights and was a competitive rifle and pistol shooter, participating in state and national shooting events. (In shooting, I actually made it to the National Junior Olympic Shooting Championships something like seven years in a row and made it onto the National Junior Development team, one step shy of the U.S. Shooting Team. Naw, I really don't have time to shoot anymore -- but back then, for a teenager, it was fun and I got to go to many places around the country, enough of them, in fact, to know that I really wanted to live back here in Montana.)
Life moved on after high school graduation and I went to Dickinson, N.D., State University and played football there (I was really too small to be a fullback) for a couple of years and continued on in my learning about computers.
You can read about the rest of what I've done in my professional life below. And I should mention that along the way, I learned a strong work ethic and how important it is to be as good as your word and to make sure you deliver all you promise -- and then some.
As to other parts of the real me? I love the outdoors. I love to fish. I love to hike. I love to camp. I love to backpack. I love to bicycle. I love to hunt. I love to watch wildlife. I float rivers and love to be out in boats on lakes and reservoirs. Most of all, I really love my family and the opportunity to teach my two young boys about the outdoors and Montana really excites me. I can't wait for them to explore all the things I was lucky enough to explore in Big Sky Country. -- Andy
Helped start and operate companies that have established reputations of quality and customer satisfaction.
Goal-oriented with special attention to quality and time constraints. Achieved company goals by consistently working extra hours to satisfy sales quotas. Carries specialized knowledge of systems design and implementation. Seasoned network professional with pro-active approach.
Professional experience:
MICROWAVE ENGINEERING SERVICES TECHNICIAN, TransAria, Missoula April 2004-2006
Directly involved with monitoring, responding to, repairing, and building a multi-state network involving thousands of nodes; Routers, switches, firewalls, VPNs, servers, radios, users, etc.
Responsibilities include:
-
24x7 Response Western MT, Idaho, Eastern Washington
Installation of equipment in central offices, fiber hotels, distribution sites, and local businesses
Installation and configuration of high speed wireless links
Site surveys, path analysis, and fade margin calculation related to wireless links
Tower and remote site construction
Scheduling and coordination, hourly activity log
-
Tower climbing certification
Experience building redundant networks, Renovating sites
Merging infrastructure from one company to another
Started company with Tim Dodge and Eric Rublein. Provided the technical background to start an ISP, become a CLEC and co-locate in a telephone utility central office. Involved in the design, installation, and configuration aspects of building wireless network. Supported users, administrators, and other computer professionals, and configured devices that ranged anywhere from the Internet backbone to their desktop.
Responsibilities include:
-
Design wireless network Missoula-Bozeman
Build and administer wireless network Missoula-Bozeman
Build and administer DSL network Missoula
Generate revenue through network consultation and administration for local businesses IT infrastructure
-
Relationships with landowners and industry professionals established and maintained
Design, configuration, and installation of one of the first DSL networks in Montana, Co-location with US West
TransAria/Cutthroat communications purchases MultiBand
Co-founded with Tim Dodge. Opened computer retail store in downtown Bozeman. Specialized in configuration and installation of point of sale systems, accounting packages, computer repair, and networking.
Responsibilities include:
-
Built custom computer systems and redundant servers for business and individual use
Repair computer systems, software problems
Manage networks for businesses
Manage retail computer shop
-
Establish relationships with businesses and customer base
Gain hands on experience in the computer and technology field
Research in emerging technologies
Implement security and disaster policies for businesses
-
COMTRAIN, Tower climbing and safety certification, 2005
Dragonwave, Equipment training, 2004
Orthogon Systems, Partner training, 2005
YDI, Wireless network design and implementation training, 2001
MCP, Microsoft Certified Professional, 2000
Dickinson State University, ND Computer Science - 1995-1998
Park City Schools, MT 1982-1995
Trained to configure and support a wide variety of equipment that includes: wireless equipment, DSL equipment, switches, server operating systems, and desktop operating systems. Directly involved with installation and repair of hardware and software problems related to the following areas: banks, accountants, specialty retail software/hardware packages, SNMP monitoring and graphing, insurance companies, hospitals, fire departments, television and radio stations, telephone companies, construction, demolition, and small business.
Possess the ability to investigate problems encountered with systems and provide intelligent translation between operators, owners, and technical support staff.
Versed in different task tracking programs, their implementation and practice. Extensive experiences creating documents, forms, diagrams, and spreadsheets. Proficient typist. Experienced with security appliances, wireless security, and encryption.
