Frederick M. Picroski

fred-at-nibbleandbit-dot-com
Objective Education Software Knowledge Professional Exp.Other Exp. Prof. Affiliations Interests

Software Engineer / Legacy Systems Support & Integration

I enjoy programming for the end user. When working with the end user, I learn about their job while teaching them a little about programming. By doing such, the end user and I can improve upon a product or service.or together a job can be automated. 

Education

Classical High School, Springfield, MA

June 1985
Studied BASIC, Pascal and participated in the making of the school's yearbook in photojournalism class. After school I ran the school's terminal room and participated in the chess club. Graduated Cum Laude.

Northeastern University College of Computer Science Boston, MA.

June 1991
Bachelor of Science in Computer Science
I chose Northeastern because it had the best cooperative education program available. I was also a member of the Student Chapter of the Northeastern University Association for Computing Machinery (NUACM) and was a speaker in its lecture series. I worked in the university's computer rooms as a user assistant and for the office of Handicapped Affairs as a note taker for deaf students.

Concentrations / Studies

Continuing Education Classes

Software Knowledge

Operating Systems

Languages

Database

Utilities

Applications

Other Skills

Professional Experience

Programmer / Legacy Systems Analyst & Integration

 September 2000 - Present

Town Fair Tire Centers, Inc East Haven, CT
Wrote and enhanced many programs in Tibol (A proprietary database language which resembles 68000/Vax-11 Assembler) I have also enhanced the auto ordering, truck scheduling and wholesale pricing systems. I have added data integrity routines to many other programs.
I also rewrote the Tibol compiler in Delphi 7 adding stronger data typing, improved cross reference tables and error classes as to reduce development time. 
In Visual Basic 6 I wrote a data warehousing application which connects the office with live store data and store archives. Customer service surveys and recall notice modules were added to the data warehousing application. With the data extract module, users are able to select what data they need to create add-hoc reports.  By exporting to CSV files, data importing to applications like Excel became seamless to the end user.
I also integrated our legacy systems to work with the child support systems in CT, MA and RI.  I am also using VB 6 to integrate vendor electronic billing with our back bone legacy accounting system.  I have also written VB 6 programs that act as the "go betweens" the  email server and the remote locations POS program written in C for MS DOS.
I also used a combination of PHP, JavaScript and Google Maps API to enhance the company's store locater web pages.

Database Specialist / Programmer

June 1999 - September 2000

Subway World Franchise Headquarters / Computer Register Associates, Inc Milford, CT
I started designing a system to manage multiple computer registers remotely using VB 6.0. Assisted in the creation of a Computer Register system which will be both a fully configurable user friendly cash register and Subway Store management system. I used Visual Basic 6.0, Sybase SQL Adaptive Server 6 and Crystal Reports 8 to accomplish this task. .

Database Specialist / Programmer

November 1997 - May 1999

Latex Foam Products, Inc. Ansonia, CT
Wrote a custom "point and click" user interface as to track orders through the plant using Visual Basic 5.0 & 6.0 to directly access the MS SQL Great Plains database. Reporting is done from those same tables using Crystal Reports. Involved in real time inventory and quality control projects which integrated manufacturing systems and bar coding systems with the accounting system. Supported over forty workstations on a NT 4.0 network running a variety of front office software (word processors, spreadsheets, databases), payroll systems along with canned and custom manufacturing systems.

PC Trouble Shooter

August 1997 - November 1997

Web Page Designer / Network Specialist

June 1997 - October 1997

UniBiz, Inc. / Computer Hospital, Inc West Haven, CT
Set up NT networks with the Vinca Standby Server system. Researched various Web / Database connectivity products with a focus on maintainability, portability and compatibility with other products. Chose Borland IntraBuilder and Netscape Web Server combination. Edited and rewrote HTML code by hand which was generated by Microsoft Front Page.
On site client work for The Computer Hospital included diagnosing hardware and making cables to trouble shooting software installations and system upgrades.

Database Programmer / Customer Support / Technical Writer

September 1994 - June 1997

Cosmic Computers, Inc. Norwalk, CT
Developed custom software packages for utility and locater companies to manage One Call Center work orders using FoxPro for Windows and DOS. Created user documentation using Word Perfect and MS-Word. Provided support for a variety of other PC applications written by both companies. Also provided on line technical support using PC Anywhere.

Consultant

May 1994

Compass Systems and Programming, Exeter, NH
Analyzed a situation which developed at a client's remote client site in Pittsfield MA when the Bank of Boston bought up Multi-Bank. The situation worsened when the Pittsfield company had 4th party custom changes made to the Real World Corporate Accounting Package and the 4th party refused to continue supporting the modifications. Explored a variety of options and their costs as to arrive at a temporary cost effective solution.

Associate Analyst

November 1991 - April 1994

Coop Student / Part Time Programmer

June 1986 - November 1991

Bay State Gas Dispatch Center and L.N.G. Plant, Ludlow, MA.
Programmed and maintained a UNIX system which gathers information from a SCADA system and other field based machines then distributes reports in a Lotus like spreadsheet format. Frequently analyzed coworker tasks as to update current systems and develop new applications which increased productivity. Other projects included setting a Novell 3.11 network with Windows 3.1 workstations. Other tasks included electric and telephone wiring.

User Assistant

September 1987 - December 1990

Computer Resource Center, Northeastern University, Boston, MA. & Dedham, MA
Assisted a variety computer users in defining and understanding computer related issues and arriving at solutions by the selection of appropriate documentation. Supported applications / languages included Minitab, SAS, Kermit, WriteNow,Xywrite, DOS 3.x, EDT, DCL, VMS, UNIX, MacIntosh System 6.0.X, MUMPS, COBOL, FORTRAN, Pascal and BASIC.

Database Programmer (Co-op Assignment & Part Time Position)

January 1990 - August 1990

Massachusetts Electric Company, Worcester, MA.
Created and modified user interfaces and reports for a variety of dBase III+ applications. I created a forms generator in dBase III+. Also worked on programs which parsed flat ASCII files for data import / export between dBase on a 386 and IBM mainframe applications.

Programmer (Co-op Assignment)

April 1989 - June 1989

Digital Equipment Corporation, Littleton, MA.
Updated a VAX / VMS 4.7 based debugger, XDS (Generic Development / Debugging System) for network devices using the 68000 and 68020 processors. Updates included adding "S-record" capability and creating a user interface similar to the VAX Debugger. Wrote user, maintainer and developer documentation using VAX Document.

Relational Database Programmer (Co-op Assignment & Part Time Position)

July 1988 - February 1989

Aetna - Employee Benefits Division, Middletown, CT
Enhanced a forms based interface for a marketing information database written in Dataflex. Updated a group of departmental standard screen based procedures to a "pop-up" forms based system.

Systems Conversion Consultant (Co-op Position)

 Jan. 1988 - Mar. 1988

State of CT. Correctional Industries, Enfield, CT.
Investigated the discrepancies between two systems running parallel, an NCR system which was being phased out while an IBM mini running MAPICS was being phased in. The conclusion reached was that the newer IBM system was the accurate, resulting in a manual re billing effort as to collect money due the department.

Student Assistant

October 1984 - June 1985

Classical High School, Springfield, MA.
Supervised the school's computer room after hours during my senior year. Assisted other students learning BASIC.  Pascal and EDT.

NON-PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

Hardlines Sales Associate

July 1995 - October 1995

Sam's Club, Orange, CT
Assisted club members with purchasing computer equipment, software, stereos and other electronic equipment along with videos, power tools etc...

Electronic Sales Associate

 April 1995 - July 1995

Office Max, Orange, CT
Assisted customers purchasing computer equipment, software, fax machines, telephones, copiers and other electronic equipment.

Cashier

July 1994- September 1994

Grossman's, Indian Orchard, MA
Used a Windows 3.11 based cash register / inventory management system and answered customer questions about the store's products and services.

Temporary Employee

April 1994- September 1994

Career Group / United Personnel, Springfield, MA
Performed a variety of odd jobs. Manual labor jobs included truck unloading, food processing and print shop tasks. Office jobs involved routing interoffice mail and faxes.

Class Note Taker

September 1990 - December 1990

Office of Handicap Affairs, Northeastern University, Boston, MA.
Took notes for deaf students in a suburban campus night school C class.

Jewelry Sales

November 1987 - December 1991

The Silver Cart / Hart of Gold, Holyoke. MA
Sold jewelry at a small cart in the cafe section of a mall for a friend's family business.

Game Attendant

May 1987 - June 1987

Riverside Park, Agawam, MA
Supervised patrons of a shooting gallery. Duties included making change, showing people how the amusement operated and attracting passer-bys.

Cashier

Schwartz Parking, Bay State West Shops, Springfield, MA

July 1985 - December 1986

Schwartz Parking, Central Business District Garage, Malden, MA

 July 1989 - December 1989
Collected parking fees based time and deducted any parking validations. Security responsibilities included making sure that patrons had a legal right to be taking the car out of the garage and dispatching security guards in the evening hours.

Handy Man

July 1984

St. Rose's Terminal Cancer Home, New York, NY.
Performed building maintenance tasks such as painting and garden care. Also assisted in serving snacks and meals to terminal cancer patients.

Professional Affiliations

Other Interests