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Thomas David Nichols
I started putting this website together in 1995, when HTML 1.0 was the standard and power users connected at 9600 bits per second. Site design in those days was just like technical writing, with the addition of a few small graphics that gradually appeared while you read the text.
Today, site design is more like magazine layout. I have paid close attention to the ways that popular websites present themselves, and to the traditional arts of graphic design. I have spent hundreds of hours participating in Internet discussions with other website designers, where we offer our sites for critique and exchange ideas. I have a scanner and a digital camera, and I am skilled in digital touchup such as removing distracting background images.
There are still important differences between websites and magazines, however. Even though monitor screens have grown bigger and modems faster, a web page must be far simpler than a printed page.
A web site must also be functional. Navigating through the site to find what you need should be easier than leafing through a book, but it often is harder because of poor design. I rely heavily on Jakob Nielsen's advice.
I have followed the progress of web page coding from HTML 1 to tomorrow's HTML 4 with cascading style sheets. My coding toolkit includes Frames, Dynamic HTML, and JavaScript, although I do not recommend the use of these techniques except in special cases. I specialize in simple sites that look good with all browsers and all window sizes, and don't call attention to themselves.
I code dynamic web pages and online databases with PHP and MySQL. These are open-source languages that are provided at no charge by most web hosting companies. Since they run on the web server, they do not require that the browser have any special capabilities. Visitors are not asked to enable JavaScript or install new plug-ins.
I have also learned how to optimize web pages for compatibility with the major search engines. This is done by carefully balancing the occurrences of keywords in the various parts of the page coding, thereby offering the search engines an accurate picture of what the page is about. Then, when someone searches for those keywords, the engine recognizes that the page is highly relevant to the search and assigns it a prominent position in the search results.
I completed my Ph.D. in Optical Science in 1990. You can read about my experiment in
I have worked at Los Alamos National Laboratory, Sandia National Laboratories, Air Force Research Laboratory, and Decade Optical Systems.
My laboratory experience includes short-pulse and high-energy excimer (KrF) lasers, dye lasers, solid-state lasers, optical system design, nonlinear optical crystals, grating spectrometers, quadrupole mass spectrometers, transmission electron microscopes, ultrahigh vacuum systems, microwave-RF-DC discharges, hazardous gas handling, and real-time experiment control and data acquisition.
I am now Chief Scientist at IMC, an IT company in Northern Virginia.
In 1994, I became Director of Quality Control for the Advanced Technology Division of The Fullman Company. In this capacity, I completely re-wrote the Quality Assurance and Testing Manual based on conversations with experienced workers at all levels of the company. A senior engineer called the result the best I've ever seen. I also inspected ultra-clean piping, using state-of-the-art instruments to measure part-per-billion residues of water and oxygen.
In 1995, I completed a 13-week class in Quality Auditing conducted by the Northern Virginia Chapter of the American Society for Quality. I also participated in a Measures of Performance Working Group that hammered out a consulting contract with a fictional non-profit organization. This simulation was developed by Carl Thor, author of The Measures of Success.
Since 1995, I have offered ISO-9000 consulting services under the Heliotrope banner.
I analyzed optical and electro-optical data for the U.S. Air Force for twelve years. I began as an Airman, and left as a GM-13 supervising eight military and civilian analysts. This job included writing reports, giving formal briefings, and representing the Air Force Systems Command in national level planning. It also involved writing and managing external assistance contracts. We received the Organizational Excellence Award twice, and I personally received Superior Performance Proficiency Pay, letters of appreciation, and a cash award for a cost saving suggestion.
I have used computers extensively for scientific calculations, data processing and reporting, desktop publishing, database operations, information retrieval, and the sheer fun of harnessing a powerful technology.
Ask me about
There is a common misperception that Ph.D. physicists are "overqualified" for most jobs. Some employers fear that they will ask for too much pay, lord it over other employees, refuse to follow company procedures, and quit without warning when a "real job" comes along.
Actually, physicists are better described as
If this is what you want, hire the overqualified!