Thursday, September 26, 2019

Finxact - Job Opportunity

Finxact is looking for a Partner Integration Engineer.
We would prefer someone with experience, but are also taking more Jr / Entry level applicants that can be trained into the position.

Time would be split working with clients to troubleshoot issues via postman and restful APIs. The other half of their time would be spent developing in React and Golang.

If there is anyone you guys would recommend or is interested please let me know, or have them apply at the above link.

Contact kaitlyn.westfall@finxact.com

Thursday, September 19, 2019

Raspberry PII Project

First a little history. The 1402 is a 4x4 cube designed for a high end motor coach that contains a vehicle power converter, a backplane, a LON network to serial interface card, and an embedded 286 x86 PC running DOS 6.22. It is used to display the vehicle’s status and operating conditions on the vehicle’s various display screens.

The problem is that the PCs in these units have exceeded EOL (end of life) and are now beginning to fail. Of course this was the only part of the system that was purchased from a third party vendor and, not only is it no longer available, the company that made it will not even acknowledge its existence. So we designed an interface board to allow a Raspberry PII board to be plugged into its place.

The program running on the unit consists of an ASCII serial interface that does some minor "hello there" handshaking, then receives 64 variables and/or a "change page" command from the LON interface board. The active variables are mapped to 1 of 5 graphical pages that are scrolled when a "change page" command is received. Each page displays and updates its data until the next "change page" command is received at which time the next page in sequence is loaded.

As a first step, we would like to try using Linux running "DOSBox". This may allowing us to run the existing program without change to alleviate the immediate crisis. We do have a semi-functional version that was written by someone else using Windows IOT, but he quit half way thru the process. However he did advance to the point that the serial communication was working, so at least we know that the communication between the LON interface and the Raspberry PII is possible. The question will be whether the DOSBox serial driver functions correctly for our needs.

Another issue will be to assign a soft Linux shutdown to one of the unused Raspberry PII I/O pins, so we can try to mitigate the SD card corruption issue that can occur during un-scheduled power offs of the unit. We will be adding a loss of power detection circuit to the adapter board to generate the needed signal. We will need Linux coding to support this running in the background.

Display generation will be another issue. Ideally we would like to get outputs on both the composite and HDMI outputs. We need composite because most of the vehicles have old school composite video input backup monitors in their dashes. These are used to display the data when the vehicle is parked and the backup camera when in motion. Switching common signals is much more reliable then converting them in the vehicle environment. These monitors were made custom for this original purpose. Replacing them requires major rework of the dash and camera system in most cases.

We also need HDMI because most of the vehicles that have been forced into updating and have monitors with HDMI inputs. Switching, as opposed to converting, is still a better solution for these monitors too. Note: Most owners also like to display the coach data on their TVs as well as the dash display.

The second phase would be to duplicate the functionality of the DOS program in Linux and run it natively on the Raspberry PII.

The third phase would be to include the ability to view the coach data on hand held devices (phones etc.) using the local blue tooth or the Ethernet connection.

The final phase would be to add limited I/O control to the hand held devices by adding a second LON interface to the cube and sending out network commands. This would require the additional complication of having to program the second LON interface.

This project will be paid on a 1099 basis at $12.50/hour.

Contact information:

Susan Gabel
(610) 682-9764
Email: susangabel@techlon.com

Thursday, September 12, 2019

BRENNTAG - IT Application Programming

Internship: IT Operations
Position: IT Operations Intern

Company: Brenntag North America, Inc.
BNA IT Office: 619 Snyder Road, Leesport, PA 19605
Website: https://www.brenntag.com/north-america

Contact: Diane McCann, PhD, PMP, PMI-ACP
Phone: 610-916-3832 (office)

Salary Level: $12 @ Hour Plus Bonus for completing Internship
Approximate Hours Per Week: 20 (while taking classes) or 40 per Summer Session
Academic Credit: Brenntag North America, Inc will work with the Intern to be considered for academic credit
Academic Term: Align Internship with Academic Calendar with consideration for Final Week. Actual date based upon agreement with Intern and Brenntag IT Management. Typical calendar is:
• Fall Semester: Mid-August to Mid-December
• Winter Session: Mid-December to Mid-January
• Spring Semester: Mid-January to End-April
• Summer 10-Week Session: End-May to End-July

Apply via Email: BNA_IT_Internship@brenntag.com
• Include: Cover Letter, Resume with GPA and list of Courses Completed

Position Summary: Responsible for supporting the Network Services and Data Center Operations teams with the implementation of various IT initiatives. Intern will be given specific tasks with instructions on how the tasks are to be completed. Intern will report daily on progress on completing tasks and any issues they encounter during their work. Intern will work 20 hours a week (or 40 hours per week during Summer Break) and will be contracted for a period that will correspond with the University’s Academic Calendar. The Internship may be extended an additional Semester/Session(s) at the agreement of the Intern and Brenntag North America, Inc.

Responsibilities Can Include:
• Modifying screens to include additional features and functionality
• Clean Up code to make the program function more efficiently
• Document Changes within the program
• Input Help Desk Tickets for all programs modified
• Test changes to ensure they function correctly
• Promoting of programs to production
• Develop new programs based on specifications provided
• Completing of an Intern Evaluation of Internship at the end of each three-month period
• Performs additional duties and assignments as requested

Qualifications
• Relevant experience with information technology based on classroom, extracurricular, or work experience
• Motivated self-starter with ability to collaborate
• Strong and adaptable communication skills - both written and verbal
• Ability to interact with all levels of employees
• Critical thinking and problem-solving skills
• Strong understanding of SQL and other languages desired

BRENNTAG - IT Operations

Internship: IT Operations
Position: IT Operations Intern

Company: Brenntag North America, Inc.
BNA IT Office: 619 Snyder Road, Leesport, PA 19605
Website: https://www.brenntag.com/north-america

Contact: Diane McCann, PhD, PMP, PMI-ACP
Phone: 610-916-3832 (office)

Salary Level: $12 @ Hour Plus Bonus for completing Internship
Approximate Hours Per Week: 20 (while taking classes) or 40 per Summer Session
Academic Credit: Brenntag North America, Inc will work with the Intern to be considered for academic credit
Academic Term: Align Internship with Academic Calendar with consideration for Final Week. Actual date based upon agreement with Intern and Brenntag IT Management. Typical calendar is:
• Fall Semester: Mid-August to Mid-December
• Winter Session: Mid-December to Mid-January
• Spring Semester: Mid-January to End-April
• Summer 10-Week Session: End-May to End-July

Apply via Email: BNA_IT_Internship@brenntag.com
• Include: Cover Letter, Resume with GPA and list of Courses Completed

Position Summary: Responsible for supporting the Network Services and Data Center Operations teams with the implementation of various IT initiatives. Intern will be given specific tasks with instructions on how the tasks are to be completed. Intern will report daily on progress on completing tasks and any issues they encounter during their work. Intern will work 20 hours a week (or 40 hours per week during Summer Break) and will be contracted for a period that will correspond with the University’s Academic Calendar. The Internship may be extended an additional Semester/Session(s) at the agreement of the Intern and Brenntag North America, Inc.

Responsibilities Can Include:
• Assist Network Engineers and Data Center Operations teams with the implementation of various IT initiatives.
• Use appropriate tools to monitor and troubleshoot network and data center operations.
• Troubleshoot, isolate and resolve network and server-related problems
• Open tickets with providers and technology partners, taking ownership or the issue, and following escalation procedures to ensure timely resolutions
• Assist with software deployments and other routine maintenance tasks
• Completing of an Intern Evaluation of Internship at the end of each three-month period
• Performs additional duties and assignments as requested

Qualifications
• Relevant experience with information technology based on classroom, extracurricular, or work experience
• Motivated self-starter with ability to collaborate
• Strong and adaptable communication skills - both written and verbal
• Ability to interact with all levels of employees
• Critical thinking and problem-solving skills
• Strong understanding of Active Directory and Windows Server desired