andries holtzhausen

engineer • inventor • designer • developer

Qualifications  Employment  Interests

Summary

I graduated at The University of Pretoria in 1987 and received a Bachelors degree in Electronic Engineering. My first employer was Grinaker Electronics, who sent me off to Israel for two years, after which I returned and worked locally until 1994. I presented a microprocessor course for one semester to 3rd year students at UP, while contracting in GSM communications for Siemens until early 1996. During May of 1996, I found employment at Quatrosense Environmental Limited in Canada for two years. I developed an ultrasonic level instrument for the CSIR from 1998 to 2001. I returned to Quatrosense remotely (2001 to 2004) and in Canada (2004 to 2006). From 2007 I was an embedded developer for Global Telematics on a Vehicle tracking system. At the end of 2009 I established an electronic and web development company, contracting for the web industry and developed a product for restaurants.

Qualifications

B (Eng) Electronics and Computers - UP - 1987
Introduction To HTML - CSIR - 2000

    Experience   

Electronic Design

Concept to production. Research, schematic capture, circuit board layout, prototypes, production, CAD and 3D modelling, enclosures, packaging, production support and qualification (CSA).

Embedded Systems

Small to medium processors. Embedded code development in Assembler and C/C++. ARM and PIC. Temperature measurement, gas detection, ultrasonic (distance), Voltage/Current monitoring.

Vehicle Tracking

GPS combined with GSM. Machine to machine communication. Distance measurement algorithms. Spike elimination algorithms. OTA Updates. Real time position tracking. Optimization of GPS parameters.

Web Development

HTML, CSS, PHP, Ruby On Rails and WordPRess. Virtual and Bare Metal Servers. Server installation and maintenance. MySQL/PosgreSQL databases. Apache Virtual Hosting. Webhosting/Domains.

Employment

Employment history from most recent to earliest.
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Bedrock Embedded Systems (2009 - Current)

Bedrock Embedded Systems
Bedrock Embedded
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Orchid Telematics (2007 - 2009)

QEL
Orchid Telematics
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Quatrosense Environmental Ltd (2001 - 2006)

QEL
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CSIR M&M (1998 - 2001)

CSIR
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Quatrosense Environmental Ltd (1996 - 1998)

QEL
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University Of Pretoria/Siemens (1993 - 1996)

UP/Siemens
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Earlier Positions

Grinaker Electronics (Jun 1993 - Jul 1993)

Promoted to Digital Development Engineer Grade 2 and tasked with a Processor Card Hardware Design for an Airborne HF Radio (TR2800).

Grinaker Electronics Systems (Jul 1992 - May 1993)

Promoted to Software Development Engineer Grade 2 and tasked to develop a device driver and ISA Interface Card for a Helicopter Cockpit Communication System.

Grinaker Electronics (Jan 1985 - Jun 1992)

National service while being employed by Grinaker Electronics from Jul 1991 - Jun 1992 at 5 Air Depot, South African Air Force as Embedded Development Engineer. Tasked with Hardware Design on an Electronic Warfare System Pulse Position Data monitor.

Promoted to Embedded Development Engineer from Feb 1991 - Jun 1991 for Software Development on a 100W HF Power Amplifier and ATU Controller.

Promotion to Laboratory Engineer in December 1987 and was tasked with Embedded Hardware Design for an Analog CODEC Switching Matrix for Aircraft Cockpit Communication System.

Posted to Israel under the umbrella of South African Armaments Corporation May 1989 - Jan 1991 as development engineer and was tasked with hardware and software development, as well as documentation.

First permanent staff position in 1987 after graduating as Engineering Assistant and was tasked with Hardware and Software Development for a PC-based DSP Development System.

Started at Grinaker Electronics as student and documented the test jigs for the TR-400 tranceiver system. This served as a good introduction to the company and provided exposure to all departments due to the diversity of the different modules in the radio.

Interests

Here are the interests and technologies that enhance my creativity.


HTML

I have learned this simple markup lanuage in 2000 and it still is a valid markup for web pages 16 years later. HTML is simple to use and powerful formatting can be done using CSS. I like the flexibility of HTML and prefer sometimes doing a website in raw HTML, combined with CSS.

WordPress

For websites, where the client wants to update and create their own pages, WordPress is the best solution. I like the stability of WordPress, as well as the WordPress JetPack module for addding multiple extended features. The underlying PHP can be used to add powerful features to the website.

Ruby On Rails

Ruby On Rails is my favourite development environment. I have commisioned a number of Linux servers for Ruby On Rails and like the stability of these servers, they simply just work. Ruby On Rails running on a Raspberry Pi provides an embedded environment to manage remote systems.

HTML + PHP

I often combine HTML with PHP for sending email from normal HTML websites. PHP is fast and simple to use. I use PHP to simplify HTML websites by serving the common parts of pages (menus, footer, etc.) using PHP includes. PHP is available on most virtual hosting servers.

When Not At The Keyboard
I like spending time in nature, on a trail, swimming in a lake, sitting on a high spot to ponder life. My Jeep Cherokee is the other woman in my life, she takes me places where others are not able to go. Every 5 years my windsurfer gets wet in a real lake. I am an amateur photographer and have an extended collection of Meccano.

Contact

PO Box 22664, Scarborough, 7975

sales@bedrockembedded.co.za

+27.76.052.9053

Copyright © 2015, Dries Holtzhausen for www.holtzhausen.org. All rights reserved.
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