Tim Skirvin
Theoretical and Computational Biophysics Group, Beckman Institute
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
405 N Mathews Avenue, Urbana, IL 61801
Tel: 217/244-1855
Fax: 217/244-6078
Email: tskirvin@ks.uiuc.edu
Education
B.S. in Computer Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1999
Professional Experience
Senior Systems Administrator (SAGE Level IV),
Theoretical and Computational
Biophysics Group, Beckman Institute for Advanced
Science and Technology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign,
IL, USA [2000 - present]
- Administer, maintain, and secure a network of 100 users and 300
machines, running Solaris, Linux, HP-UX, IRIX, Tru64, AIX,
WinNT/2000/XP, and MacOS 9/X.
- Design, manage and upgrade group facilities including a 3D projection system and multiple Linux-based computation clusters.
- Lead a team of six to nine graduate aides and one to three
undergraduate assistants in troubleshooting and solving user
problems.
- Budget and plan for continuing system and network upgrades.
- Assist with and write grant proposals for research and equipment.
- Write and maintain system software,
ranging from internal backup solutions to web management tools.
- Write and maintain system and user databases and associated
frameworks.
- Develop and teach a series of workshops on designing and building Linux clusters.
- Manage web site design and content; maintain public technical documentation.
News Administrator (SAGE Level II-III), Center for Reliable and High-Performance Computing, Computer
and Systems Research Laboratory, University of Illinois at
Urbana-Champaign, IL, USA [1999 - 2000]
- Administered and maintained Usenet news software and hardware.
- Installed, upgraded and maintained department Windows95/NT, Linux,
MacOS, Solaris, and HP-UX systems and labs.
- Troubleshot other miscellaneous computer concerns.
Computer Consultant (SAGE Level I), Department
of Mathematics, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, IL,
USA [1995 - 1999]
- Assisted graduate students and professors in computer setup and
maintenance.
- Maintained, installed, and helped upgrade a computer lab of Sun
SPARCStations and printers.
- Maintained departmental web pages.
Research Assistant - United States Army Construction Engineering
Research Labs (USA-CERL), Champaign, IL, USA. [1996]
- Ran detailed noise-level tests and modeled the results in
order to create a new sound measurement scale.
- Maintained the computer systems at the Nevada test site.
Beta Tester - Parallax Software, Champaign, IL, USA. [1995]
- Tested Descent, a 3D flight-simulation game.
Professional Skills
Specific tools (especially strong skills are indicated
with italics):
- Languages: Perl, Bourne Shell, C, C++. Basic
knowledge of Java, Python, PHP, JavaScript, Scheme, LISP, Basic,
Intel/68k/MIPS assembly, VHDL.
- Operating Systems: Solaris, Linux, MacOS
X, IRIX, AIX, HP-UX, Tru64, Windows 95/98, Windows NT/2000/XP,
OpenBSD, Solaris x86, Alpha Linux, internetworking the above.
- Tools: Apache, sendmail, LPRNG,
DNS/BIND, OpenSSH, Samba, YP/NIS,
automounters, xntp, MySQL, UW/IMAP, CVS, license managers
- Protocols: TCP/IP (debugging), NFS,
NNTP, HTTP, SQL, DBI, LDAP, SMB, NTP, Appletalk.
- Documentation: HTML, POD, LaTeX, XML.
Intimate knowledge of Usenet News administration, design, and
development.
Strong knowledge of computation cluster design and
maintenance. Specific knowledge of queueing systems (DQS, SGE, Condor),
Clustermatic and Scyld Linux clustering solutions. Knowledgeble of
national supercomputer centers.
Experienced with SQL database use, design and
administration.
Management: experience with developing computational
facility budgets. Have managed up to ten part-time workers. Have been
involved in hiring consultants and part-time and full-time workers.
Experienced with basic switched network design. Basic
knowledge and experience with Cisco routers, RIP, BGP, and other
networking protocols.
Published Software
Professional Development
- Attended LISA 2002 conference at Philadelpha [2002]
- Tutorial on integrating MacOS X systems into a Unix environment
- Tutorial on implementing system-wide changes that affect all users
- Technical conference - spam control systems and social solutions,
printing environments, console management, DDoS attacks, Google's
technical environment
- Helped run computer lab during conference.
- Attended NCSA All-Hands Meeting at UIUC [2002]
- Attended LISA 2001 conference at San Diego [2001]
- Tutorial on LDAP (Lightweight Directory Access Protocol)
- Tutorial on network programming with Python
- Technical conference - authentication systems, diagnostic
skills, system maintenance under pressure, general systems
administration knowledge
- Helped run computer lab during conference.
- Attended ACM Reflections/Projections 2001 conference at UIUC [2001]
- Taught Linux clustering tutorial at NCSA Linux Revolution Conference
[2001]
- DBI database administration and design (self-taught) [2000]
- Attended USENIX 2000 conference in San Diego [2000]
- Tutorial on IDS (Intrusion Detection System)
- Tutorial on High Availability Systems
- Technical Conference - Java, Wireless Networks, other system
administration knowledge
- Helped run computer lab during conference.
- Attended tutorial on Oracle installation and administration - UIUC [2000]
- Attended ACM Reflections/Projections 2000 conference at UIUC [2000]
Other Professional Activities
- Co-Founder and Chair - Big-8 Management Board [2005 - present]
- Maintainer - Campus Usenet News Server [2003 - present]
- TCB Encap Package Collection [2003 - present]
- Co-Founder - ModNet
- centralized location for moderation discussion forums [1997]
- Founder - illini.*
- newsgroup hierarchy for UIUC students, staff, and alumni [2003]
- Founder - FreeNet
- foundation for unfettered discussion forums [1998]
- Founder - Usenet Volunteer Moderators [1999]
- Moderator (discussion facilitation and software design and maintenance)
- humanities.philosophy.objectivism [1995 - present]
- news.admin.net-abuse.policy [1996 - present]
- news.admin.net-abuse.sightings [1996 - present]
- news.admin.announce [2005 - present]
- rec.arts.comics.reviews [2005 - present]
- comp.std.announce [2006 - present]
- Technical Moderator (software and interface design and maintenance,
technical advice for other moderators)
- news.admin.net-abuse.bulletins [1998 - present]
- rec.games.mecha [1997 - present]
- rec.toys.transformers.moderated [1999 - present]
- rec.games.frp.moderated [2000 - present]
- USENIX (Unix Administration Society) - Member [2000 - present]
- SAGE (System Adminstrators Guild) - Member [2000 - present]
Technical Reports and Presentations
Grant Proposals/Reports
- NIH Annual Report 2006 - Coordinator
- NIH Annual Report 2005 - Coordinator
- NIH Annual Report 2004 - Coordinator
- 2004 Beckman Equipment Grant Proposal - Coordinator
- NIH Annual Report 2003 - Contributor
- NIH Center for Macromolecular Modeling - Contributor
- NRAC Proposal 2003 - Contributor
- 2002 Beckman Equipment Grant Proposal - Coordinator
- NIH Annual Report 2002 - Contributor
- NRAC Proposal 2002 - Contributor
- NIH Annual Report 2001 - Contributor
- NRAC Proposal 2001 - Contributor
- NIH Annual Report 2000 - Contributor
- NRAC Proposal 2000 - Contributor
Recognition
- Citation: RFC 2635 (A Set of Guidelines for Mass Unsolicited Mailings
and Postings), June 1999.
- Television Interview (Distributed Denial of Service Attacks) - WICD
News, Feb 9 2000.
- Citation: Schwartz and Garfinkel.
Stopping Spam.
O'Reilly and Associates, 1998.
- Citation: Grossman, Wendy. net.wars.
New York Univ. Press, 1997.
- Citation: Leonard, Andrew. 'Bots: the
Origin of a New Species. Hardwired, 1997.
Other Activities
- Usenet @ UIUC - President [2003 - present]
- Association of Academic Professionals - Member [2002 - present]
- College Libertarians - President [1996 - 2000]
- Like Disco...but not Really (Improvisational Comedy Troupe) -
Director [1997 - 1999], Performer [1995 - 1999]
- National Residence Hall Honorary - Member [1998 - present]