A Computer Scientist Learns AWS - Paul Brebner: Who am i?

CV

30 April 2017

Paul Brebner, MSc (1st class honours)

Permanent Australian Resident, Australian, New Zealand and UK Citizen.
Working with Vulnerable People (General registration card holder)
Certified AWS Solution Architect

Objective

To solve interesting challenges (research, engineering, development, management, consulting and education) at the convergence of software architectures, technologies and applications, focusing on trending technology spaces such as cloud computing, data analytics, digital performance management (APM), IoT, micro services, DevOps, mobile, etc.

Education

Msc (1^st class honours) | University of Waikato (NZ) | Computer Science Department: Autonomous Machine Learning in a simulated robot block stacking world (Thesis), Logic Programming (Prolog).
BSc | University of Waikato (NZ) | Computer Science/Philosophy/Physics

Skills and Abilities: Software Architecture & Technologies, Cloud Computing, Predictive Data Analytics, Performance Engineering, Technology Innovation

Summary

Theoretical and Experimental Data & Model Driven Design; Design, Analysis, Evaluation, Tradeoffs, Evolution of Software Architectures; distributed systems technologies and applications; performance engineering focusing on performance modelling; benchmarking; distributed systems technologies (e.g. Enterprise Java, Grid, Cloud, sensor networks); Java; web services; complex algorithm design and prototyping; model based development; generative systems; predictive analytics for performance; data analytics and visualization (use of, working with and advising clients, background in AI/Machine Learning etc); Application Performance Management/Monitoring (APM, E.g. Dynatrace, AppDynamics); software engineering methods and tools; skills related to startup roles as CTO (e.g. spinout process, IP and product development, consulting, etc); research and development, reviewing and writing, education (e.g. courses, presentations, organizing, etc),

Performance engineering

20+ years experience in performance engineering R&D and delivery of results via consulting and software tools, conferences and published papers. This recent report (https://techbeacon.com/new-roles-responsibilities-redefining-performance-engineering-enterprise ) documents the increasing scope (e.g. evolving roles and coverage during life-cycle including business analysis, architecture, design, development, modelling, infrastructure, capacity planning, disaster recovery, testing, monitoring, metrics) and importance of performance engineering in the enterprise (e.g. for security, cloud, mobile, big data, DevOPs).

Leadership

Over the last 10 years I have been multi-tasking between managing, conducting and publishing research and development of performance modelling tools and methods driven by real client problems and data, keeping up with complex technology and architectural trends (e.g. cloud, data analytics, APM, etc), productizing a performance modelling tool, solving real complex client software performance problems that typically cannot be solved by APM data alone, business development (pre, post-sales support, project and client management, delivering solutions, preparing and presenting results, etc), and running a business (involved in NICTA spin-out process, development and management of IP, SOW, contract and legal negotiations, discussions with potential partner organization and funders, financial management, etc).

Previously I have served on the boards of a Canberra based non-profit association and ANU/AFES affiliated association (500+ members, 10 staff,  100s of volunteers, multiple locations) [complex strategic, financial and policy decision making, spin-out of independent child organizations, co-ordination with other Canberra and Australian government and non-profit bodies, hiring and firing of staff, training and performance management of staff, decision making, chairing and public speaking at meetings including AGMs, managed evaluation of cloud hosted CRM/MRM involving complex privacy and security  and vendor issues and discovered significant security flaws], on the parish council of St Matthias church Sydney (10+ staff, 10+ locations, also experienced at running small groups and teaching), and president of the largest student club on the University of Waikato (TSCF/IFES affiliated, ran local club, participated in/ran national conferences, training and governing body, edited national magazine).

Interests

Cycling, travelling, bushwalking/hiking/small mountain climbing (e.g. Cradle Mountain, The Castle, Tongariro, Routeburn track, Y Garn, Half Dome), gardening, cooking, reading, wine appreciation, beer making, photography, music, art (appreciation), museums, electronics & robotics.

Programing languages

Pascal (from: “Algorithms + Data Structures = Programs”,  Niklaus Wirth), BCPL (wrote complete operating system for 6809 microprocessor, utilities, optimizing cross-compiler), LISP (English language parser), Prolog (wrote interpreter, used Prolog extensively for Machine Learning research), FORTH (RPN language, wrote a simulation game environment), Rete (AI tuple/rule pattern matching system, wrote a very fast implementation of a rules-engine based on CRC codes), C (extensive use for UNIX programming), Z notation, Design by Contract (Java-based), Java (since 1996), J2EE (architectural and vendor benchmarking and analysis, SPEC Java committee), Processing (Java-based language), prototyping and evaluation of data analytics and stream/event processing platforms/query languages (e.g. SPLUNK, Coral8 and Esper CEP, OGC Sensor Web Standards, Apache Hive, Spark, etc), EMF, Eclipse, currently learning Python for Java programmers.

Experience

CTO/Chief Scientist | Performance Assurance Pty Ltd | 2013-2017

·      CTO/Chief Scientist/Director of NICTA startup company commercializing the ePASA Software Performance Modelling Tool and consulting services.

·      Clients and projects included: Telstra (Cloud Migration), Department of Employment (Capacity planning from Cloud testing to in-house hosting from Dynatrace APM data), NBN Co (end-to-end Performance modelling of Fulfilment system from SPLUNK and AppDynamics data), Family Court (performance modelling from ManageEngine APM data), Department of Immigration and Border Protection (Performance modelling of Visa processing system from in-house Compass APM data, for improved DevOps), AUSTRAC (architectural risk evaluation of data analytics platforms, including Data Lake, Kafka, Elasticsearch, Greenplum data warehouse, Oracle, blue/green deployment, Kappa architecture), ATO/Deloitte (performance modelling of the ATO eCommerce platform from IBM and Dynatrace APM data), NZPost/Datara (capacity prediction, load forecasting and failover modelling of tracking system from Dynatrace data). pre-sales/POC modelling of NSW government fuelcheck.nsw.gov.au and stateplus.com.au websites for accessHQ, and DHS (modelling performance and business impact of proposed online chat system, e.g. improvement in online transaction completion rate, reduction in phone calls, etc).

·      R&D of automatic performance modelling from APM Data (Dynatrace, Compass, SPLUNK, AppDynamics), published and presented papers at ICPE2016, LT2016, and WOPR25 (2017) invitation only workshop, innovation patent holder, represented us at Dynatrace partner events in Spain and Munich, visited Dynatrace development lab in Austria to discuss integration options.

·      Conducted cloud benchmarking for a client (March 2017, including AWS, Azure, Vault systems), developed VM benchmark for a client (Telstra private cloud).

·      Developed and taught 2 semester high school programming course (using the “Processing” language).

·      Invited to Dagstuhl seminar on “Software Performance Engineering in the DevOps World” (2016).

·      Invited participant at WOPR25 workshop, Wellington, NZ February 2017 (integration of performance modelling into APM+DevOps) and discussions about internet/cloud scale performance testing and engineering (e.g. with Dynatrace, flood.io, Xero and Facebook experts).

·      Wrote proposal resulting in our successful qualification for the Digital Transformation Office’s (DTO) Digital Marketplace for government procurement of digital services.  Participated in ongoing post-process review involving surveys and interviews over 6 months.

·      Software Architect, meta-model framework and complex algorithm developer and road map planning for our SaaS performance modelling tool technology stack.

o  Architecture consists of meta-model with model-driven transformation (model-XML, model-model, model-to-run-time-solvers transformations), custom model-driven run-time discrete event simulation (patented) and analytical solvers, GUI including support for model development, validation, network graphing and visualization.

o  Technology stack consists of javascript (Dojo, D3, React, mobx, NPN, gulp), Grails, Java 8, groovy, grails, Gradle, MySQL, Cassandra, Docker, REST APIs to Dynatrace XML and Compass/AppDynamics JSON, Apache Hive and Spark processing of APM data, Apache Maths library for linear and non-linear regression analysis, error margin statistic, and correlation analysis for load dependent analysis.

o  Also uses generative modelling for exploring long-tail/network-scale effects, automatic sensitivity analysis, bin-packing algorithms over multiple variables for deployment optimization, Markov chains for modelling load arrival rate distribution, complex business processes and user web interactions, and experiments with Spline interpolation and Bayesian inference for extrapolation of data. Experiments/prototypes with model-free transformation based approaches (data-to-data), simulation-free modelling using Markov models only (accelerated with GPUs), and sophisticated incremental/dynamic data sampling strategies to build models from the smallest possible sample size given constraints such as: enormous data sizes (TB), data from long time periods (e.g. months), or a time limit to build models in.

·      Invited attendee at Dynatrace partner advanced APM Bootcamp, Sydney, 2015.

·      Attended AWS Summit and training sessions, Sydney 2014.

·      Detailed and ongoing vendor and client-supported, experimental evaluations of APM products (e.g. Dynatrace, AppDynamics, NewRelic, CA, ManageEngine) for ability to support performance modelling (e.g. transactional metrics depth of coverage, availability and semantics, APIs, etc).

Senior Research Scientist - NICTA (Software Systems Research Group) | Adjunct - ANU (College of Engineering and Computer Science) | 2007-2013

·      Working in Emeritus Professor Ross Jeffery’s Software Systems Research Group, conducted “Use” inspired R&D with multiple government and enterprise clients to develop a tool and method to reduce risk for large scale software “system of systems” projects, focusing on performance, scalability, capacity, and reliability. Outcome was a model driven tool for performance modelling (Service Oriented Performance Modelling).

·      Clients and projects include: CBA (mobile internet banking platform modelling), VW (Germany) pre-sales modelling of interactive web-site (car configurator) focusing on html5 framerate, Queensland Department of Health (Integrated Radiology service pilot performance evaluation), Department of Defense (RPDE/DSTO/CIOG, ISR Integration solution validation, complex project involving multiple stakeholders, multiple sources of data including conducting performance testing of ESB topologies in our lab, and modelling of alternative ESB architectures, and number and locations for services and servers), Department of Health and Ageing (health emergency web site performance assessment), Department of Climate Change (Emissions Trading Scheme tender evaluation, performance analysis of auction performance requirements and submissions), Pre-sales model for financial trading platform migration from single broker to distributed sharded broker architecture, Department of Education (performance modelling the migration from mainframe to mid-range solution), Department of Immigration (performance and capacity evaluation of Visa processing system), Department of Defense (performance modelling and problem diagnosis of online security vetting system), ARC (performance modelling of new research management system developed using “model driven development”),  IP Australia (Patent search), online government security system (VANguard).

·      Supervised the development of a prototype web based enterprise java monitoring tool.

·      Supervision of NICTA research, engineering, students, and contract staff.

·      Published and presented results at industry and academic conferences (e.g. ICSE, ICPE, QoSA, ISCOC, WICSA, ASWEC, etc) and NICTA run workshops and training courses, member of international conference and workshop program committees (including SPEC Research Group), invited referee for journals and international funding bodies.

·      Negotiated an international collaborative research project between NICTA and the INRIA Galaxy Project on Model Driven Performance Management.

·      NICTA Impact award; Represented NICTA at TechFests and CeBIT industry conferences.

Visiting Research Fellow | UCL | Computer Science Department | 2004

·      Project manager UK EPSRC funded Grid OGSA evaluation research project working with Professor Wolfgang Emmerich (NB This technically a postdoc position as a PhD in s/w engineering or distributed systems was advertised).

·      Managed multiple part-time staff and interacted with stakeholders for evaluation of OGSA infrastructure across multiple sites, presented results at different forums and published results.

·      This project developed and experimented with solutions for automatic and scalable deployment and resourcing of services across distributed shared resources, and identified many features that became common in public cloud computing including use of economics (e.g. resource usage measurement and billing) to prevent unfair greedy resource hogging, and use of virtual machines for improved and more scalable/agile security, resource isolation and deployment.

Senior Research Engineer | CSIRO | ICT centre | 1999-2003, 2005-2007

·      ICT Centre Software Integration Architect (2005, working for Dr Ross Wilkinson, Research Director). 2005 CSIRO student research scheme (project proposal accepted and supervised 2 research students). 

·      Managed technical evaluation (standards, architecture and technology) of OGC Sensor Web Enablement (SWE) standards and implementations (2006/2007); Project manager for sensor data GUI (based on Jabber/XMPP protocol, discovery and subscription to distributed streams and seamless integration and visualization of historical and new events, c.f. Apache Zeppelin), organized ICT Centre seminar program, evaluation of commercial and open source Complex Event (Stream) Processing technologies, participated in RFID/IoT reading group.

·      Grid/cluster project technical architect (2003); Developed proposal for QoS/SLA ensuring platform for Web Services (elements of which have now evolved into public cloud computing).

·      Software Architecture and Component Technologies/Middleware Technology Evaluation Project (1999-2003, working with Professor Ian Gorton), Supervised performance and scalability evaluation of Enterprise Java architectural alternatives and containers, editor of final report published by Cutter and CSIRO publishing, presented results in industry forums, consulting for NSW Department of Planning, ATO, Sun, Fujitsu and Borland, CSIRO representative on SPEC Java and Enterprise benchmarking committees (contributed to SPECjAppServer benchmark), Australian Academy of Science/French Embassy international fellowship grant for performance evaluation of novel middleware architectures (CSIRO, INRIA, ObjectWeb), supervised CSIRO staff and students, published and presented papers at conferences.

·      Technical expert representing the CSIRO Staff Association (and by default CSIRO) during the Senate committee of enquiry into IT outsourcing (2001).

Senior Software Process Improvement Manager/Engineer | CSIRO | Cross Divisional Software Engineering Initiative, CSIRO Soils, CSIRO Land and Water | 1996-1999

·      Software process improvement manager/engineer across multiple divisions and projects

·      Discovery, development, trial and application of best practices for scientific software engineering process, tools and methods; assisted hands-on with specific technical problems (e.g. distributed model protocols, re-architecting program to client-server, etc).

·      Technical architect and project manager for a java software project, java evangelist to other projects
·      CSIRO Y2K technical compliance and remediation manager (cross-divisional)

Senior Software Engineer Consultant | Softway Pty Ltd | ABC TR&D | 1990-1995

UNIX kernel and systems programming engineering, R&D of UNIX resource management system, distributed system development (e.g. mirrored Oracle databases, integration of Optus voice-mail system with enterprise systems), developed model driven automatic testing system and protocol generator, developed and presented advanced C and UNIX courses, R&D of a temporal logic based multi-media file system (ABC D-Cart), software engineering process improvement.

Doctoral Researcher/Senior Tutor | UNSW| Computer Science Department, Sir Philip Baxter college | 1986-1990

Doctoral researcher (commonwealth postgraduate scholarship award for priority area) in Machine Learning (First order inductive learning), research assistant Sydney Expert Systems Group (1^st order clustering), Senior Tutor in Networked systems (computer science department), resident academic tutor (Sir Philip Baxter College).

Lecturer | Waikato University | Computer Science Department | 1985

·      Lecturer in computer architecture (3^rd year course)

·      Part-time work during MSc/BSc tutoring, programming remote data logger (Solid State Equipment Ltd), design and programming of electrical ripple control system (Tauranga Electric Power Board), programming for DSIR, and extra-curricular MSc project: design and implementation of 6809 based shared-memory multi-processor and programming of O/S and application programs in BCPL.

Continuing Education

Ongoing continuing education in best-practices, current challenges and promising solutions (E.g. in Software architecture, software engineering, cloud computing, computer science, performance engineering and testing, APM, middleware, service oriented computing, grid computing, security, data management, Machine Learning, etc) in association with professional activities such as conferences and workshops (academic, professional and industry). I have actively participated in international and Australian conferences/workshops that I’ve presented papers/talks at or attended (30+), and typically participated in co-located workshops, conferences, tutorials, etc. (E.g. attended ICPE tutorials including: Best practices for writing and managing performance requirements; Introduction to Queueing Petri Nets: Modeling Formalism, Tool Support and Case Studies; Automated Parameterization of Performance Models from Measurements; and Analyzing Measurements from Data with Heavy-tailed Distributions).

I’ve also participated in extra-curricular training, in some cases up to a week or longer. E.g. Advanced XML, advanced requirements analysis, User interface design, first-aid, fire warden training, advanced lectures and practical course in digital photography, photoshop and printing (3 months). I have maintained other profession activities since the start-up role (e.g. observer status on SPEC RG until 2017, https://research.spec.org/). Attended AWS Summit in Sydney (April 2017). Certified AWS Solution Architect (and wrote extensive blog about certification material from computer science perspective). Also keep up with current industry trends via academic and industry journals and TED talks, Wired, blogs, etc. Currently learning Python for DA/ML.

Complete online courses: AWS Big Data Technology Fundamentals Online, and started full online course.

Published Papers

Published and/or presented papers in over 40 internationally recognized peer-reviewed journals, conferences, workshops, standards bodies, and patents in areas including software engineering, performance engineering, testing, software architecture and engineering, service oriented architectures and engineering, cloud elasticity, monitoring, middleware, grid, benchmarking, enterprise java, distributed systems, web standards, machine learning (E.g. the International Conference on Software Engineering (ICSE) and International Conference on Performance Engineering (ICPE), IEEE Computer, and Cutter). See:

DLDP: http://www.informatik.uni-trier.de/~ley/pers/hd/b/Brebner:Paul

ResearchGate: http://www.researchgate.net/profile/Paul_Brebner/

Google scholar profile: http://scholar.google.com/citations?user=tHcwzM8AAAAJ&hl=en

Detailed publications and reports

Reports, Conference presentations, open source contributions, courses.

Authored/co-authored/edited and presented/published/ran more than 70 technical reports, contracted client consultancy reports, invited industry conference presentations, workshops, educational courses, open source contributions, seminar series, and educational institutions ranging from High Schools to Oxford and Cambridge Universities.

Paul Brebner, “A computer scientist learns AWS” (A new Blog I’ve started in 2017): https://acomputerscientistlearnsaws.blogspot.com.au/

Memberships, Program Committees, Reviewing, Conferences

Member/organiser/chairperson/invited reviewer/invited participant for more than 40 internationally recognised Academic & Industry conferences, workshops, funding bodies, standards bodies, journals  and government including SPEC Primary representative for CSIRO/NICTA (Java 2002-2003/RG 2011-2013), ICSE 2012/2013 Committee Member, IEEE Transactions on S/W Engineering 2006-2010, and Australia Government Senate Committee Witness (Senate Finance and Public Administration References Committee, Friday, 16 March 2001, The government’s information technology outsourcing initiative, Technical witness for the CSIRO Staff Association, 2001).

Awards

• Australian Innovation Patent, 2015. 
• ACT iAwards, New Product Category, 2013.
• Australian Computer Society (ACS) Innovation Award, 2012.
• NICTA Impact Award, A. Richard Newton Excellence in Wealth Creation, 2011.
• NICTA Software and Systems Research Group Impact Award, 2010.
• Australian Academy of Science/French Embassy Award, 2003.
• CSIRO Superior Performance Rating (2002, 2003)
• "A Superior Performance Rating means that an officer at a career plateau has demonstrated superior achievement relative to other officers in their functional area at their current classification level in the preceding 12 months".

Links to a selection of more detailed topical summaries:

• Detailed publications and reports

• Performance Engineering

• Cloud and Internet Scale Technologies

• AI/Machine Learning/Data Analytics

• Middleware (part 1), Middleware (part 2)

• "Scientific" Software Engineering

• Teaching and Training

• Software Architecture

• Technology Innovation

• Domain experience