Mark W. Eichin
411A Highland Avenue #331 Somerville MA 02144
eichin@thok.org
Objective
High level technical position emphasizing network and systems engineering and new technology in a small, intense startup.
Education
Massachusetts Institute of Technology Cambridge, MA Undergraduate Sep. 1984 - Dec. 1988 S.B. in Computer Science and Engineering Feb. 1989 Courses included Software Engineering, Computer Systems Engineering, Signals and Systems, Computation Structures. Student Information Processing Board Cambridge, MA Member, Core Staff Jan. 1987 - present Built programming and managing experience on MULTICS and a Vax 11/750 Unix, as well as consulting skill. More recently, administrated AFS, helped port the Athena environment to Linux, and helped run one of the first hundred web servers on the Internet. The SIPB is a group of MIT students who are interested in using computers and helping others to use them. The SIPB provides computer accounts, consulting, and programming help, as well as general information on computer services available at MIT. More recently, lectured on Ada, XML, SGML, and PalmPilot development to MIT audiences.
Experience
FastEngines, Inc. Cambridge, MA Systems Architect and Hacker May 1999 - present Sixth employee in a product-based, technology oriented startup. arepa.com, inc. Cambridge, MA Security Engineer Nov. 1997 - Apr. 1999 Sixth employee in a startup that grew to 60 employees in the following 15 months. Responsible for detailed design of the Arepa "Software On Demand" product, a large scale system providing secure delivery of software titles over broadband networks to paying customers. Designed, implemented, and verified security architecture and implementation details of scalable secure client server communications, content protection, and secure server infrastructure. Performed detailed performance analysis to identify concrete scaling parameters and critical bottlenecks for future development attention. Produced architectural and implementation security analysis and review. Wrote extensive design documentation for customer white-papers, engineering reviews, patent and export license applications. Communicated effectively at technical, operational, and executive levels. Guided consensus among engineers through technical documentation and design review. Provided technical validation in customer-specific feature negotiations. Served as engineering resource for systems, network, and machine-level programming. Performed and documented release engineering of initial product releases. Served as Technical Consultant to in-house system and network administration staff. Managed CVS, INN (news), Kerberos, VNC, and reliable backups, in a mixed Solaris and Linux environment, with an emphasis on low maintenance overhead. Managed transition of these duties to full-time sysadmin staff. Cygnus Support Cambridge, MA Member of Technical Staff Aug. 1991 - Oct. 1997 Joined as 16th employee of a self-funded Silicon Valley based consulting and development firm, which grew to over 150 people by 1997. Cygnus is the original Open Source company, with products in the software development tools, embedded system, and network security areas. Helped establish first remote office, with direct customer support, high intensity software development, and product development responsibilities. Developed the MIT "Kerberos" Network Security system into a commercially supportable product (Cygnus Network Security). Worked cooperatively with MIT on further development, leading to the second generation KerbNet product. Supported domestic and international customers directly, including installation, bug fixing, and porting. Participated in IETF Kerberos-related standards activities. Operated booths at Interop, Connectathon, and Usenix trade shows. Primary technical contact for over 30 development tools customer sites at once (direct phone and email support, final responsibility for problem resolution.) Constructed and performed pre-sales demos (for both embedded development tools and Kerberos) and tradeshow booth operations. Worked with Sales staff as technical backup. Developed expertise in cross compilation environments, embedded systems, remote debugging, configuration and maintenance of large software releases, automated testing. Developed expertise in SGML and DocBook, served as focus and implementation aide for document unification project. Served as Network Engineering expert in support of in-house systems administration staff. Hewlett-Packard/Apollo Computer Systems Chelmsford, MA Software Engineer Mar. 1990 - Aug. 1991 Participated in design and implementation of Aurora, a C++ environment for a proprietary distributed object model (an early step on the path to CORBA.) Enhanced the Apollo Network Computing System RPC to support higher level objects. U.S. Department of Defense Ft. Meade, MD Computer Analyst Jan. 1989 - Mar. 1990 Introduced X11 and C++ programming to a multiplatform networked software development team environment. Demonstrated the value of object-oriented techniques for portability, software quality, and performance analysis. Worked with Apollo 9.7 and 10.1 operating systems, and DSEE, as well as Sun 3 and 4, SunOS 3.5 and 4.0, GNU software, and C++. Created portable software and maintained it under Sun and Apollo environments, and GPR, X11, and Sunview graphics systems. MIT Project Athena Cambridge, MA Watchmaker (Student Systems Programmer) Jun. 1987 - Dec. 1988 Developed user interface and security components of the Zephyr secure instant message delivery system for the Athena Workstation Environment, leading to later contributions to the IETF IMPP working group. (Zephyr is still in use today for system and personal messages at a number of universities as well as some commercial sites.) Developed Unix system level and machine level software in C and assembler for the VAX and IBM platforms. Contributed to early development of X Window System. Developed and enhanced various X applications. Ported software between IBM and VAX Unix environments. Maintained MicroVax and VS2000 systems. Foundation - Athena Writing Project Cambridge, MA Head Programmer Jan. 1986 - Jun. 1988 Created a large text editing system for use under the X Window System, with full font control, multiple cross coupled window support. Worked with a Project Athena staff programmer and several other programmers; was responsible for much of the original low and high level design and coding. MIT EECS Department Cambridge, MA 6.001 Lab TA Sep. 1985 - Dec. 1985 Tutored students in a 50 person lab for the MIT course Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs. Used Scheme, UCSD p-System on HP ``Chipmunk'' computers. Diagnosed system bugs and student programming problems. The Tech Cambridge, MA Night Editor Jan. 1985 - Feb. 1987 Produced The Tech, the MIT semi-weekly newspaper. Was final authority for printed copy, responsible for scheduling, staff, and system maintenance on a per-issue basis. Did graphic design for advertisements. DOKAD Incorporated New Milford, CT Senior Software Engineer May 1983 - Dec. 1985 Head programmer for a small startup company, responsible for product design and development, programming, field service. Also involved in selecting staff. Programmed in assembler and machine language on the 8080, Z80, and 8086, under CP/M-80 and TurboDOS. Ported TurboDOS to the Radio Shack Model 4 series computers.
Presentations
MIT Student Information Processing Board Introduction to XML Jan. 1999 Two hour lecture on XML modern abstract markup concepts, history, and real-world applications, for an MIT audience. MIT Student Information Processing Board Introduction to SGML Jan. 1998 Two hour lecture on SGML abstract markup concepts and real-world applications for an MIT audience. MIT Student Information Processing Board PalmPilot Software Development Jan. 1998 One hour lecture on software development for the 3COM PalmPilot PDA. Covered interfaces, concepts, and example code, with visual demonstrations; arranged guest lecture by noted PalmPilot system developer Ed Keyes. MIT Student Information Processing Board Ada95 for Programmers Jan. 1997, Jan. 1998 Two hour lecture on Ada95 aimed at an MIT audience with background in the use of high level languages. Western Institute of Computer Science Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA Adding Kerberos to Applications, Introduction to Network Security Aug. 1995, Aug. 1996 WICS professional education series, a pair of three hour lectures to a large mostly-commercial audience of CS and networking professionals, introducing Kerberos from architectural and software development perspectives. Cygnus Support Cambridge, MA Security Issues in Embedded Networking Oct. 1993, Apr. 1994 One hour lecture at the 1993 Embedded Systems Conference and the 1994 Embedded Systems Conference-East on small-scale application of network security techniques, to an audience of software and hardware professionals. U.S. Department of Defense Ft. Meade, MD Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs Aug. 1989 Using video and course material from the MIT course (6.001), lectured and tutored DoD employees in an intensive 2 week full-time workshop.
Publications
Implementing the X Protocol Spring 1997 The Perl Journal, Issue #5 (Volume 2, Issue 1) http://www.tpj.com/tpj/contents Security Issues in Embedded Networking Oct. 1993, Apr. 1994 Embedded Systems Conference http://www.mit.edu/people/eichin/embedded-kerberos.html "With Microscope and Tweezers --- an analysis of the Internet Worm" Jun. 1989 CACM The CACM version has been reprinted in several collections and translated in to Japanese. ftp://athena-dist.mit.edu/pub/virus/mit.PS "With Microscope and Tweezers --- an analysis of the Internet Worm" 1 May 1989 IEEE Symposium on Security and Privacy Jon Rochlis, MIT Telecommunications ftp://athena-dist.mit.edu/pub/virus/mit_ieee.PS The Zephyr Notification Service Feb. 1988 Proceedings of the Winter 1988 USENIX Technical Conference 213-220 ftp://athena-dist.mit.edu/pub/ATHENA/zephyr/doc/usenix.PS A Digital Logic Simulator (S.B. Thesis) Jun. 1988 http://www.mit.edu/people/eichin/thesis/thesis.html
Personal
Hobbies include model railroading, science fiction, antique automobiles, and chocolate. Proprietor of private ISP and software development operation known as "The Herd Of Kittens", THOK.ORG.