LabVIEW Champion: David Thomson

[AlbertLe]

LabVIEW Champions Member Profile - David Thomson

Name:
Dr. David S. Thomson

Home:
Boulder, CO

Programming Languages:
LabVIEW, LV RT, LV FPGA

Certification:
Certified LabVIEW Architect (CLA), Certified  Embedded Systems Developer (CLED)

Used LabVIEW Since:
LabVIEW 2.0

Applications Areas:
R&D Laboratory Automation, Instrument Control, Data Analysis, Manufacturing Test and Monitoring, Instrument Drivers

Biography:
From 1990 to 2008 I worked at the NOAA Aeronomy Lab as a research scientist, developing instrumentation for atmospheric chemistry measurements. We began using LabVIEW in 1992 with version 2.0. As LabVIEW matured, we found it useful on a large number of laboratory projects and autonomous, airborne instruments. In 1997, I became an NI Alliance member and started consulting part time. Much of my consulting involves data acquisition systems for R&D labs and new instruments, but I have also developed several instrument drivers and worked in various manufacturing environments. In 2003, my LabVIEW activities spilled over from my full-time and part-time jobs to my hobbies, as I spear-headed the development of the first Battlebot powered by LabVIEW (with NI's generous assistance!)  From 2008 to 2013, I worked at Droplet Measurement Technologies, a small high-tech firm that builds instruments for measuring particles and droplets in the atmosphere.  In addition to working on R&D projects, at DMT I headed the software department (which uses LabVIEW for virtually all our instrument control software) and later became head of engineering. As of 2013, I am a full-time Alliance member as Original Code Consulting. In 2016, OCC brought on Ted Anderson as a full partner, further expanding our capabilities and availability.

User Groups:
I participate in the NI-sponsored LabVIEW User Groups throughout the Colorado Front Range. I helped found and currently help organize the Advanced LabVIEW Architects of the Rocky Mountains (ALARM) User Group.

Discussion Groups:
NI LabVIEW Forum

Websites:

• Original Code Consulting - my consulting company
• BotLabs (website currently unavailable) - the combat robot group I organize
• Droplet Measurement Technologies - my previous job
• NOAA Aeronomy Lab - my previous job before that
• Lucid Dimensions - a high-tech startup I'm involved with
• ALARM - the advanced LabVIEW user group I help organize

Articles:

Some of my LabVIEW-related articles include:

• NOAA Develops a Rugged Solution with NI CompactRIO was published in Instrumentation Newsletter, Q1 2005, p 23

• Reading an SPI Interface with CompactRIO

• Measuring Pulse-Code-Modulation Signals with CompactRIO

• Analyzing Black Carbon Particles with a LabVIEW-Based DAQ System

• Validating LabVIEW-RT Platforms for Operation at High Altitudes 

• An Easy-To-Maintain Configuration File Architecture was published in LabVIEW Technical Resource vol 10, no 3, 2003

• A LabVIEW Program for the Particle Analysis by Laser Mass Spectrometry Instrument was published in Scientific Computing, July, 1999

• A Novel Embedded System for a Combat Robot was the basis of a presentation at NIWeek several years ago

I've also submitted several posters to the NIWeek Poster Contest over the years:

• Acquiring Data from Multiple Asynchronous Processes on a Single DAQ Card - or - Stretching Your DAQ ...
• A Multi-threaded LabVIEW Data Acquisition and Control Program for a Laboratory Reactor System
• A LabVIEW Program for the Particle Analysis by Laser Mass Spectroscopy Instrument

In addition, presentations I have made at LabVIEW User Groups can also be found at www.originalcode.com.