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Steve Discher's Resume
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Stephen Discher
706 Putter Court – College Station, Texas 77845
sdischer@gmail.com (979)412-1609 cell
Entrepreneurial experience with a record of turning original ideas into revenue. Proven ability to start successful companies and manage multiple projects in highly technical and challenging fields. Widely diversified practical expertise in the areas of business startup and management in the fields of technology, engineering and aviation. Extensive experience in starting and building successful operational teams, developing and maintaining relationships with vendors, and delivering the highest level of customer service with every opportunity.
EDUCATION
* Graduated from Texas A & M University, College Station, Texas, Bachelor of Science Industrial Technology with Mechanical Specialty, 1987. * Institute of Electronic Science, Texas A&M University, 1980.SPECIALIZED TRAINING
* Certified MikroTik Trainer. * FAA Certified Flight Instructor. * FAA Certified Airline Transport Pilot rating, Commercial Pilot and Instrument Pilot Ratings. * Completed experience eligibility requirements for FAA Certified Airframe and Power Plant certificate. * Successfully completed MikroTik Basic RouterOS training, June 2007. * Successfully completed MikroTik Advanced training, Certified Routing Engineer, May 2008. * Successfully completed MikroTik Advanced training, Certified Wireless Engineer, May 2008. * Successfully completed the Jeppesen Flight Instructor Refresher Courses in September 2008, September 2006, September 2004, June 2002, June 1998, June 1996. * Successfully completed Fiber Optic Engineering Fundamentals course at TEEX, Telecommunications Training Division, January 2000. * Successfully completed the GNNetTest and Exfo Fiber Optic Testing curriculum in December 1999. * Successfully completed the Gene Mason & Associates pilot proficiency flight program in the Piper Cheyenne II April 1999, flight training and type rating in the Cessna Citation June of 1996. * Successfully Completed the Society of Automotive Engineers Vehicle Rollover Training Curriculum in Detroit, Michigan, 1994.PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
June 2006 – Present
Wickson Wireless, Bryan, Texas. Started wireless internet service for rural areas in Brazos County. Grew the business from startup to over $500,000 in annual sales in two years with only one full time and two part time employees. Currently the business is growing at a rate of about 20 customers per month with no debt.
May 2008 – Present
LearnMikroTik.com, Bryan, Texas. Started a MikroTik RouterOS training program, teaching students the MikroTik RouterOS to achieve their certifications. Classes are taught periodically on-site in major cities around the U.S. Wrote the curriculum for the three day class and lab and have taught the class to numerous students who have successfully passed their certification exams, currently with a 100% success rate.
August 2005 – Present
FIBERTOWN, Bryan, Texas. Vice President of Operations for a Tier IV Data Center and Disaster Recovery Campus.
Responsible for managing the entire data center operations team, facility maintenance team, and network operations teams.
Responsible for building from the ground up, all processes required for the daily operation of a Tier IV data center.
Assembled a team on network engineers, physical plant technicians and maintenance personnel to staff and operate a Tier IV Data Center.
Responsible for all aspects of leading the operations team.
Fully trained in the operation of all data center systems including generators, UPS’s, PDU’s, electrical switchgear and distribution, CRAC units, chillers, and facility monitoring solutions.
Contributed to the planning, design and construction phases of a 15,000 square foot addition to the current 3,000 square foot collocation space built inside an existing structure in less than 8 months, on time and on budget.
Wrote all processes for the successful completion of SAS 70 type I and type II audits for the collocation data center.
In June of 2008, transferred operational responsibilities to one of my primary team members and began building a sales and marketing process for the sales team and began working actively working in data center sales, calling customers, preparing proposals and negotiating contracts.
June 2004 – June 2006
ZingNet Wireless, Navasota, Texas. Started a wireless internet service provider as a division of American Cable Services to deliver wireless network connectivity to customers in the Bryan and College Station, Texas area and to deliver “hot spot” internet services at various Texas locations. Designed and built the infrastructure to deliver the services. Worked directly with American Cable Services’ technicians to turn up new customers and manage the network. Rebranded ZingNet as Wickson Wireless and expanded the operation.
April 2003 – Present
American Flight Services, LLC, Bryan, Texas. Started an FBO (fixed base operator) at Coulter Airfield. Managing partner responsible for all aspects of starting and maintaining the company including interior construction of the FBO building, designing and implementing accounting, billing and information technology systems, day to day management of personnel and resources and customer relations.
November 2002 – Present
GigaBiz Internet Services, Navasota, Texas. Started an internet services and web hosting division of American Cable Services to provide VPN, managed modem, web and email hosting, e-commerce, off site backup, connectivity and other value added services with a collocation facility in a Bryan, Texas data center. Built a backup point of presence in College Station, Texas.
November 1999 – May 2005
American Cable Services, Inc., Navasota, Texas. Stockholder and employee in a telecommunications service company with offices in Dallas, Houston and Navasota, Texas. Responsibilities include working as the Engineering Manager designing and building fiber optic networks, LAN’s, WAN’s (wide area networks), fiber splicing, acceptance testing, documentation and turnover of fiber optic networks. Other duties include customer relations, network and workstation hardware support for customers, overseeing the financial operations of the company, managing the information technology assets of the company and investigating new business ventures.
July 1993 to November 1999
Waltman & Grisham, Attorneys at Law, College Station, Texas. Worked as a legal investigator and pilot for the firm. Investigation duties included investigating and developing cases utilizing my engineering and manufacturing experience, trial preparation and support, graphic exhibit and settlement preparation and computer/network system administration. Pilot duties include flying the firm’s aircraft as required. Other job duties included building and managing a WAN between Houston, Salt Lake City, Little Rock and Bryan, Texas offices. Managed workstations, Windows servers, and Linux servers. Managed expert witnesses, consultants and contractors that were providing various legal support services to the firm.
December 1992 – July 1993
John L. Pierce, Attorney at Law, Navasota, Texas. Worked as a legal investigator and pilot, investigating personal injury cases and flying the firm’s aircraft as required.
August 1991 December 1992
Steve Discher & Associates, Navasota, Texas. Started an Engineering Consulting Firm, designing and manufacturing specialized equipment and machines for the geophysical and petroleum industries.
March 1991 August 1991
Hydraulic Fabricators, Inc., Houston, Texas. Worked as the Engineering Manager responsible for offshore marine equipment design and fabrication. Designed and implemented standardized production procedures and obtained API certification for the company’s line of offshore production platform cranes.
October 1987 March 1991
Deck Systems & Equipment, Inc, Navasota, Texas. Started a marine equipment engineering and manufacturing company, responsible for engineering, sales and administration. Worked as a managing partner and as the production and engineering manager designing and manufacturing specialized equipment for the geophysical and petrochemical industries. Worked directly with vendors and contractors as well as leading customer sales. Sold the company in March of 1991.
April 1984 January 1987
Hydrafab, Inc., Houston, Texas. Worked three summers as a draftsman and designer for marine deck equipment while attending college.
January 1980 April 1984
Cross Line Manufacturing, Inc., Navasota, Texas. Worked initially as a part-time welder’s helper and machinist’s assistant while attending college, later promoted to draftsman and designer.
MAJOR PROJECTS
January 2008
Completed SAS 70 Type I and Type II audits including all processes required for the successful completion of these audits.
August 2008
Completed writing all sales processes for the FIBERTOWN Data Center to assist sales personnel in the successful completion of the customer sales cycle from lead to closed contract.
May 2008
Startup company – LearnMikroTik.com.
November 2007
Completed writing all processes for SAS 70 Type I and Type II audits. The final Type II audit was successfully completed in November 2008.
June 2006
Startup company – Wickson Wireless.
November 2004
Provided technical consulting and networking support services to Kolkhorst Petroleum for the rollout of a new resource management software system (PDI) for seven convenience stores including VPN connectivity between locations and the home office as well as database server support for SQL based enterprise and web report servers.
June 2004
Startup company – ZingNet Wireless.
April 2003
Startup company – American Flight Services, LLC.
November 2002
Startup company – GigaBiz Internet Services.
June 2001
Designed and coded a PHP enabled database for managing employee production and job costing functions with web and telephone interfaces.
March 2001
Wrote curriculum for course and instructed personnel from the City of Arlington on “Fiber Optics – Theory and Application”.
August 2000
Wrote curriculum for course and instructed personnel from City of Grand Prairie on “Fiber Optics – Theory and Application”.
July 2000 – September 2000
Participated in the construction, testing, documentation, and turnover of a long-haul fiber optic span from New Orleans, LA to Tallahassee, FL for Level(3) Communications.
November 1999 – January 2000
Responsible for the construction, testing, documentation, and turnover of the “Texas Triangle” for Level(3) Communications.
August 1998
Built and managed a WAN between Houston, Salt Lake City, Littlerock and Bryan, Texas offices.
September 1996-January 1997
Designed a document indexing and management system for law firms marketed as QuickSearch. The system was developed in response to a large document production by Phillip Morris Company.
May 1996
Implemented “in-house” publishing and video production procedures and services for settlement presentations and demonstrative aids.
December 1992
Designed and built the primary hydraulic power system and electrical controls to power a 144 inch butterfly valve for the California Department of Water Resources. The valve controlled the flow of water to the inlet of a hydropower plant located in Devil’s Canyon, California. The entire project required more than a year to complete.
August 1991
Startup company – Discher & Associates.
January 1990
Designed, built and patented the “Tri Cluster”, an improved seismic sound source. Design, development and testing was accomplished over a one year period.
October 1987
Startup company – Deck Systems & Equipment, Inc.
August 1987
Designed and managed the construction of a specialized production tree planting machine. Responsible for designing and building an electro-hydraulic, computer controlled hydraulic system, integrating a programmable logic controller with multiple hydraulic systems and laser guided steering.
June 1985
Designed, built and mobilized the deck equipment for John Chance & Associates’ RV/Seis Surveyor, an oceanographic research vessel in Houma, Louisiana.
July 1983
Assisted the chief engineer with the design and construction of electrical controls for a specialized handling system for the US Navy. Instructed Navy personnel at a week-long equipment educational class in the operation and maintenance of the STSS handling system in San Diego, California.
PILOT QUALIFICATIONS
+ Total Flight Time: 2600+ hours + 500+ hours in Cessna Citation 501 as PIC (pilot in command), remainder of turbine time in an Aero Commander 690 and the Cheyenne II for a total of 1000+ hours turbine time + Non-turbine flight experience is in Beechcraft Bonanzas, Barrons and similar high performance aircraft + Extensive actual instrument time + Experienced in managing aircraft with respect to safety and budget + Airline Transport Pilot Rating + Multi Engine Land Rating + Instrument Flight Instructor Rating + CE500 Type Certificate + Current Class II Medical, eligible for and have previously held a Class I medical + Practical experience requirements met and am certified for FAA Airframe & Power Plant written and practical examination to be taken in February of 2005COMPUTER HARDWARE & SOFTWARE
Experienced in management of Linux, Microsoft Windows professional server and work station products, all Microsoft Office applications, TCP/IP, networking, Ethernet, WiFi, all web based protocols, Sendmail, Apache, MySQL, databases, Code Charge Studio, html and PHP.
Experienced in designing, building and maintaining Intel based PC hardware, installing and managing routers, managing VPN’s (virtual private networks) appliances, and integrating various hardware into POP’s (points of presence) and data centers.
PUBLICATIONS
“Tri-Cluster: A Better Seismic Source”, Sea Technology Magazine, October 1991, pages 81-83
“Fiber Optics – Theory and Application”, fiber optic course curriculum
PATENTS
“Apparatus and Method for Detection and Neutralization of Concealed Explosives”, patent number 5668342, issued 9/16/1997.
PERSONAL
Born in Apple Valley, California. Lived in Navasota, Texas from 1965 until June of 2000, moved to Bryan, Texas and have lived in College Station, Texas since September of 2004. Married with two children, my hobbies include flying my 1941 Piper Cub and RV camping with my family.
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