30+ years of professional career can be divided into 3 phases. All dates are approximate.
Flying (1979-1992)
Finishing graduate degree in Electrical Engineering, sought to seek career in my area of interest (Advanced Control Systems) using latest tools and technologies. Soon got interested in emerging themes of computer science (AI and Expert Systems to be specific). The idea of applying these for process control looked fascinating. After juggling couple of jobs and on the way adding some good variety to experience, I landed my dream job where I worked for couple of years in the broad arena of "Software for Intelligent Process Control using AI, Expert Systems and Fuzzy Logic)". The central theme being, to augment the power of conventional control systems which are primarily based on mathematical rigor, with software models of human intuition, experience and intelligence attained using AI based techniques. The success was rather limited, as these topics are of challenge even today. The drive to work only on the stuff I liked and using niche technologies and constantly striving for best, resulted in my leaving that dream job also and migrating to US.
Landing (1989-2004)
With realities of life catching up and financial stability and security becoming priorities, I switched to IT consulting. Not satisfied by giving a percentage of my billing to recruiting agencies, I started networking. That not only resulted in me finding direct clients but, coupled with some favorable circumstances, also enabled me to start Sofnet Technology, Inc., an IT Consulting Company. I grew this company to strength of 30+ employees and ran it profitably for next couple of years. On the side, I did lot of thinking and some reading about futuristic scenarios and presented a paper titled
“Virtual Living: Life in Internet Age and Beyond”, in annual conference of World Future Society, 2001. To a great degree, I attribute its success to the variety of experience I had gained in the initial years of my career. The important part being, this was totally un-related to activities of Sofnet, the company I had founded and was running, and in fact could be better termed a 'hobby'.
Finding balance (2005-present)
My focus shifted once again. This time it was towards balance, which meant spending more time with family and children, taking better care of health, exploring true interests and hobbies and helping spouse do the same. The changing business climate on the other hand required, as they say 'reinventing' Sofnet. The end result being that I phased out Sofnet and have been working as IT Consultant since then.
