Academic and Professional Background

I have completed my higher education in England. To satisfy the prerequisite for university entrance, I completed a normal two-year full-time course in one year, in mathematics (Advanced General Certificate of Education, G.C.E., A-level). I, then, began a four-year course in mechanical engineering, which lead to a B.S. degree with Commendation. Following an intensive two-year M.S. program in Combustion and Energy in Leeds University, I studied advanced concepts in combustion science, jet engines, air pollutants and emission control.

After teaching mathematics and physics at Kitson College of Technology, in Leeds, I became interested in robotics and moved to London in 1985 to embark on a Ph.D. program focused on force sensor advances in the context of industrial robotics.

I successfully researched and presented numerous publications in the international conferences and respected journals until Feb. 1992 when I defended my thesis for which I earned a Ph.D. (C.N.A.A.) degree in robotics under the Royal Charter of the Council for National Academic Awards.

In 1993, I moved to California and worked for UC-Davis on several projects funded by California Department of Transportation (CALTRANS). My research was focused on the application of robotics to highway maintenance and construction which lead to several accomplishments detail of which are on my resume.

In the meantime, I obtained my professional registration (P.E. Mechanical) in the state of California in 1995 as a complement to my British qualifications and professional development.

Given my job contract ended at UC-Davis, I got a new job opportunity in an oil refinery which exposed me to process control and plant information data acquisition system. As such, I obtained my certification from Honeywell to install PlantScape, Honeywell's premier hybrid Distributed Control System (DCS) technology. In addition, I also obtained my certification in both PI-System Manger, and PI-Client Server from OSI, the leading supplier of software products for collecting and analyzing process data in the manufacturing industries, San Leandro, California.

Due to rapid development in data communication and the Internet back in the early '90s, I continued my education in network technology and cybernetics which lead to completion of three A.S. degrees in network communication and information system from Solano Community College.

In June 2000 I obtained a new position at the California Department of Transportations.  My first opportunity came along with an exciting project which required to replace the existing outdated data acquisition system on the six bridges in the Bay Area with an integrated, state-of-the-art system using unified protocols. I was acting as a project engineer for deploying such a system on Richmond Bridge.

By October 2003 I obtained my professional engineering license, this time, in Electrical Engineering (P.E. Electrical) in the state of California as a means to my professional growth and development. I am looking forward to new challenges and opportunities ahead.

H. Kochekali, Ph.D., Dual PE (ME,EE)