Personal Information

  • Name: Matthew James Emerson
  • Located: Los Angeles, California, United States
  • Contact: Linked In

Professional Profile

I have always been the type of person who will fill in a gap in knowledge by teaching myself something new. In high school I taught myself trigonometry so I could write a computer program with a flying spaceship. These days, I am constantly learning new methods and skills to improve my expertise, and I bring that expertise to every aspect of my life.

In my experience, the answer is never, “Because this is how we’ve always done it.” Change can be scary, but is necessary. I pride myself on finding unique solutions to problems, delivering a fresh perspective, assuming everything is possible with enough work.

I am passionate about using good design to improve SCADA and HMI user experiences. Too little thought is given to displays which are critical in operating expensive systems, and I find great operational gains can be made with just a bit of science-based improvements

I am ready to start helping you find ways to make those improvements.

Experience

Ongoing

Lead Programmer

Variable Log (VariableLog.com)

Envisioned, prototyped, and programmed a web-based operational Log Book under the open-source MIT License. Variable Log is currently handling the day-to-day operations needs of electric utilities. Tracking all work, trouble, and miscellaneous items with full auditing capability while being user configurable, easy to use, and fast enough for challenging real-time operations environments.

  • Unparalleled operator friendliness due to an easy-to-use User Interface
  • Over 50,000 Log Entries saved in real-time operations
  • Zero down time

Ongoing

SCADA Screen Designer / Database Administrator

Using the OSI Monarch software I design the displays used by real-time operations. These mission critical displays are designed using the philosophy that abnormal event should demand the operators attention while normal systems should look boring and not catch the eye. Operator displays are routine described as clean, easy on the eye, and simple to determine the problems.

  • Intimately familiar with OSI Monarch Design Studio
  • Produce quality displays which enhance operators response to events
  • Perform all tasks related to Site Acceptance Testing and commissioning

2017

Situational Awareness Presentation

at North American Transmission Forum

Twice requested / presented to NATF member groups on Situational Awarness tools and SCADA screen design. Presented an in depth look in industry shortcomings and scientific based improvements that could be made to reduce errors and increase operator awareness. Topics included:

  • Using color to highlight abnormal situations
  • Minimizing barriers to operators required actions
  • Avoiding the trap of requiring that nothing change during an upgrade
  • Visual examples of various screens and methodologies for SCADA / HMI screen design

Technical Skills

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Html5 & Css3

Expert, 9 years

Strong web design background. Focused on fast, responsive designs that utilize web standards

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Javascript

Advanced, 9 years

Experienced in jQuery, Moment.js, Vis.js. Quick to understand new scripts.

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PHP 7+

Advanced, 8 years

Over 70,000 lines of PHP code written. Experience with the Symfony framework including Doctrine ORM.

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Adobe Photoshop

Expert, 13 years

Expert photo retoucher and manipulator. Can produce small high quality output images for quick loading on web pages.

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OSI Monarch

Expert, 11 years

Experience in the operation and administration of the OSI Monarch suite of products, including Design Studio.

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OSII PI ProcessBook

Advanced, 12 years

Well versed in PI ProcessBook design and usage. Have written many scripts access PI data via VBA for Microsoft Excel

Contact

I look forward to hearing from you on Linked In:

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