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Karl Podesta, B.sc.(hons) CLP CLE CNI LPIC-1
Address, references, and personal details are available on request.
Academic:
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2002-2005 M.sc. by Research, School of Computing, Dublin City University
"Partitioning data: Analyses on a Cluster of Workstations"
Full time (2 years), Part time (1 year). Thesis not submitted.
1998-2002 B.sc.(hons) in Computer Applications, Dublin City University
Final Year Project: Parallel Analysis of Digital Video (A grade)
Professional:
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November 2004 - present
Systems Engineer, Securelinx Ltd., Dun Laoghaire, Dublin
* Provide implementations, migrations, and support based on enterprise
Linux distributions, particularly SuSE/Novell
* Deliver general and specific Linux training, including customised
training solutions & certification preparation
* Specialist experience with HA & Red Hat Cluster Suite (versions 2,3,4).
Other products include Novell Open Enterprise Server (OES), Groupwise,
Aduva OnStage. Hardware experience with Linux includes HP, IBM, Dell.
September 2002 - September 2004
Research Assistant, National Institute for Cellular Biotechnology, Dublin
* Maintained a 23-node Linux HPC cluster, designed a commercially purchased
system (capital equipment purchased through a tender process)
* Gave parallelisation advice & support for researchers developing models
of biological systems (development with UNIX shell scripts, MPI)
* Linux and cluster-based problem solving for Bioinformatics & Chemistry
research groups elsewhere in the institute
* Design/Development of the institute's website (www.nicb.dcu.ie) as
well as for my own research group, Modelling & Scientific Computing
(www.computing.dcu.ie/~msc)
April - September 2001, June - September 2002
E-commerce Software Developer, Mentec Ltd., Dun Laoghaire, Dublin
* Development projects involving ASP, CSS, XML, XSL/XSLT, Javascript, Java
* Included projects for the Institute of Education, Coillte, OSI
* Troubleshooted in-house CSS problems in current and legacy code
April - September 2000
Contract Web Developer, Logica Mobile Networks, IFSC, Dublin
* Development of an intranet website for Supply Line Management division
* Some scripting of an internal CGI calendar and news section
June - September 2000
Technical Consultant, Horizon Open Systems, Eastpoint, Clontarf, Dublin
* Staging of Sun/Solaris based systems (Solaris Jumpstart)
* Developed log rotation scripts (perl) for launch of Esat's "DOL" ISP
* Installed telecoms systems used in the Sydney Olympics
* On-site work in Logica, Bank of Ireland, Citywest
* Development of intranet website
November 1999 - March 2000
Technical Support Representative, AOL UK, Eastpoint, Clontarf, Dublin
* Troubleshooting home user technical problems (dialup, networking,
application) over the phone, in a busy call centre
Certification:
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* Novell - Certified Novell Instructor (CNI)
* Novell - Certified Linux Professional (CLP)
* Novell - Certified Linux Engineer (CLE)
* Linux Professional Institute - Junior Level Certification (LPI Level 1)
Technical Skills:
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Programming: C, C++, MPI, Java [familiarity]
Scripting: Bash/Zsh, Perl [familiarity]
Web Development: HTML, CSS, ASP, XSL [familiarity]
Web Administration: Apache [familiarity]
Systems: Linux (RedHat, SuSE, Debian), Solaris (2.6+), FreeBSD
Particularly strong with clusters (HA & HPC, theory & practice). Experience
with Beowulf clusters (design, administration, programming) used for
computational purposes. Particularly Bioinformatics, and software
modelling of biological systems. Wide knowledge of software packages and
design strategies used in HPC cluster computing.
Publications:
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2004 Podesta, K., Crane, M., Ruskin, H.J.: "A sequence-focused
parallelisation of EMBOSS on a cluster of workstations".
International Conference on Computational Science and its
Applications (ICCSA 2004), Assisi, Italy. Lecture Notes in Computer
Science, Springer, Vol. 3045, pp 473-480.
Awards:
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2002 Gold Award ("for outstanding achievement in extracurricular
activity"), Uaneen Awards (Autumn Graduation), Dublin City University
2001 Best National Society (Networking Society - Chairperson), Board of
Irish College Societies (BICS) Awards, held at Dublin City University
2001 Best Individual, Best Society (Networking Society - Chairperson),
Clubs & Societies Awards, Dublin City University
1998 Student of the Year (Graduation), Ardscoil Ris, Griffith Ave., Dublin
Volunteer:
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2003 Founding Committee, Postgraduate Society, Dublin City University
2003 Technology Volunteer, Special Olympics World Games, Ireland
2002 Societies Executive Committee (SPC), Dublin City University
2001 Chairperson, Networking Society (Redbrick), Dublin City University
2000 Webmaster, Networking Society (Redbrick), Dublin City University
2000 Public Relations Officer, Debating Society, Dublin City University
Other:
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Research Visits:
- Visiting Researcher, Rosalind Franklin Institute for Genome Research,
Cambridge, UK - http://www.hgmp.mrc.ac.uk/ (July 2003)
- SFI Funded Delegate, TeraGrid Meeting, NSF, Washington D.C (2002)
Affiliations:
- Irish Association for High Performance Computing (IAHPC)
- Irish Computer Society Student Member (ICS)
- System Administrators Guild of Ireland (SAGE-IE)
- Dublin City University Networking Society (Redbrick)
Tutoring:
- Introduction to Programming, 1st Year B.sc. in Applied Physics, DCU (2003, 2004)
- Biodata Analysis, M.sc. in Bioinformatics, DCU (2004)
- Biocomputing, M.sc. in Bioinformatics, DCU (2004)
Projects:
I have had a breadth of experience with extra-curricular projects, mostly
in undergraduate and graduate involvement with the DCU Networking Society
(aka Redbrick), which includes:
- Organised http://semnet.redbrick.dcu.ie/ 1-day conference, DCU (2003)
- Organised press conference with An Taoiseach Bertie Ahern, DCU (2002)
- Construction of a Linux Cluster at School of Computing, DCU (2001)
- Linux student projects on IBM S/390, School of Computing, DCU (2001)
- Secured largest sponsorship to a DCU society (Sun E450 mainframe) (2001)
- Open Labs for school children, School of Computing, DCU (2000)