My family moved to Hicksville when I was very young, so I spent all my school years in Hicksville public schools, starting with Old Country Road Elementary. Having tested very well at the earliest age, I was placed in pilot language, reading, and music programs. Later I was a "Track One English' kid. In junior high, Larry Stabile (elementary school chum) and I established the first literary magazine, to which Larry, myself and others contributed. We published several issues in two years. My writing came to the attention of my math teacher, Miss Boylan, who passed it on to her fiancé Mr. Redican (of HHS). He edited, criticized and mentored my writing all through 9th grade, and had a great influence on me personally.
In high school my writing continued, and I was regularly published in the Particle, although I often used a pen name. Mr. Neal O'Doherty was the Advisor to the Particle, and I will always remember his spontaneous bursting into poetical recitations of Edna St Vincent Millay, G.M. Hopkins and Emily Dickenson. While I was a good student, I was vying for the title of best student with maximum cut classes, so I spent considerable time in Early Morning Detention; happily, it was run by Mr. O'Doherty, who 'tortured' us by playing German Lieder and other classical music. In 11th grade I had Mr. O'Doherty for 'Track One English'; he later recommended me for 'AP English' for 12th grade. In my senior year Mr. O'Doherty formed an informal group of former students, and we would go to movies and to Frank's Alibi for pizza and literary conversation. Between his love of literature and classical music, he had the most profound effect on my life of any teacher.
After high school I attended Nassau Community College on a Regents Scholarship, and upon graduation joined the US Navy. As an Electronics Technician in the Advanced Electronics Field, I provided hands on repair and maintenance of two Satellite Earth Stations in Hawaii . Occasional duties were assisting US Naval Observatory personnel, and maintaining Secure Spread Spectrum data communication equipment.
After the Navy I joined SPRINT. In positions of increasing responsibility I provided technical and engineering support to SPRINT's large complex at 60 Hudson St., and the National Network Control Center. After two years I was essentially on my own, working on special projects/network problems/conducting technical research as my interests led. Some of my recommendations led to a complete overhaul of the echo control systems and significant changes in the Network Transmission Plan. My research was utilized in negotiations with Bell Labs in setting industry-wide standards; and I often provided engineering support to the Regulatory Affairs Dept. My research was also introduced as evidence in US Federal Courts, concerning Bell System failure to provide proper service to competitors. I was acknowledged by Bell Labs to be an authority on network technical issues and standards. I played an essential role in developing an automated circuit maintenance system; and I regularly troubleshot and resolved network-wide problems such as clipping and dropped calls. At various times I was called upon as expert of last resort concerning customer data communications problems.
In order to be closer to my wife's family in Hicksville, I transferred to SPRINT Marketing in New York, to provide much needed technical expertise. Beginning as an individual contributor, I eventually oversaw the activities of all middle market technical sales support, (approx. 60 sales consultants) in the Eastern US. I personally recruited and trained many of these fine experts. Developing and delivering technical training to the sales force, my own consultants, and the public, in such topics as traffic engineering and T-1 fundamentals, was a monthly activity. I first met many of our future customers at these public presentations.
Simultaneously, I was the Field Product Manager for VPN Products and Fiber Optic T-1/T3 Products. Even in this capacity, I effected network wide improvements, such as reconfiguring all customer premise equipment for a quantum increase in usefulness during inevitable Telco outages. For 18 months I was seconded to a SPRINT/Telenet joint marketing venture concerning X.25 packet networking. I trained all personnel involved in this highly successful endeavor, and provided first level tech support. I was awarded numerous Employee of the Quarter Awards, and won President's Club twice, back to back. On the second occasion, my wife and I were honored by being seated at the President's Table.
Stepping out of the Fast Lane at this point, I earned a BS from SUNY Albany through independent study, and went on to do two years of Graduate Studies at Nova University. While in grad school I was approached by two executives I'd worked for at Sprint, each wanting me to join their new endeavors.
Starting with a one sentence description of one company's requirement for a Global Network, I produced all product documentation, provided full project management, and led a multidisciplinary team of engineers, programmers and marketers to on-time, under budget Product Launch. On several occasions I hosted large, multi-day coordination meetings with our international partners, and UK headquarters personnel.
This being an extended out-of-town assignment, I became an early adopter of the internet, and used it at home in the evening to teach myself the latest data communications technologies, such as Frame Relay, TCP/IP and ATM, and to increase my knowledge of Ethernet and LAN protocols. With 40 years of business experience in domestic and international telecommunications Engineering, Product Development and Product Management, I started my own consulting firm. During the DotCom boom I provided high level engineering seminars for clients such as NORTEL, Bell Labs North, and CW America. Dharma Consulting presently restricts its work to Pro Bono consulting for non-profit organizations.
Having always been financially supportive of Children's Charities, upon semi-retirement my wife and I sought out a way to make a 'hands on' difference. The opportunity soon presented itself in the supplying and organizing of the Youth Haven Library for children and teens. Youth Haven is a 24/7 residential facility for abused children. We're now providing books for children and teens for the cottage libraries, bi-lingual and Spanish books to the Mobile Outreach Program, self-help and test taking manuals and posters for the Runaway Drop In Center, sports and teen magazines for all the kids, and the latest Marvel and DC SuperHero comics. We also now provide the weekly Movie Night DVD for the teens and children's DVD's such as Disney and Pixar classics for the younger ones. Youth Haven's Library recently received a full page article in the Naples Daily News. The library currently contains 1283 books. In our spare time we enjoy Opera, Literature and swimming.
