[misc.jobs.offered] Expert Systems Devlopment. - Amdahl Corp. Sunnyvale, CA

jxm90@ccc.amdahl.com (John Murray) (03/21/91)

    EXPERT SYSTEMS DEVELOPMENT FOR ADVANCED COMPUTER FAILURE DIAGNOSIS

  We're a highly motivated team working on diagnostic expert systems at
  Amdahl Corporation, a manufacturer of large IBM-compatible mainframes.
  Our company is very proud of its ability to produce and install highly
  reliable systems and to support our customers' demanding requirements
  for extended availability. That means being able to identify and correct
  most problems before they become serious enough to impact the customer.
  These are the major goals of our diagnostic expert systems.

  Our expert systems examine error data captured at the time of a failure,
  assess the potential damage, and make recommendations about which hardware
  or firmware components should be replaced or upgraded.  The systems use
  machine history and configuration information and are linked to numerous
  other service tools and databases. 
  
  The knowledge bases are written in a specialized, diagnosis-specific 
  object oriented language. A suite of application programs written in
  C is used to generate much of the failure knowledge data automatically 
  from the mainframe hardware logic design files. The development work 
  uses Sun workstations and Amdahl's UTS (System V UNIX) mainframe operating 
  system, while the production environment of the expert system is IBM MVS. 
  
  Our organization has open positions for two engineers, a KB designer/
  programmer for the machine diagnosis system, and an inference engine 
  developer/maintainer. Proficiency in C language programming is a 
  requirement for both positions. An appropriate qualification (e.g. 
  BSCompE/BSCS/BSEE) or equivalent professional experience is also 
  necessary. Prior experience in object-oriented design is desirable.  



      MACHINE DIAGNOSIS PROGRAMMER/KB DESIGNER (MD1)

      You will be responsible for enhancing and maintaining a group of 
      machine diagnosis knowledge bases as well as some external interface
      procedures and KB generation programs written in C. The work includes:  

      - Designing, coding, and testing some parts of our knowledge bases, 
        and assisting the domain experts working on other parts 
    
      - Writing and maintaining C functions which execute procedural
        algorithms for the expert systems and which link them with other 
        programs and various databases
    
      - Maintenance of the suite of C programs which generate the failure
        KB data from the machine design files
   
      - Long term support of the overall system, fixing reported problems, 
        and implementing user enhancements as needed 

      Good communication skills are essential, since a high level of 
      interaction with many different groups (such as field support staff, 
      manufacturing engineers, and hardware designers) is necessary.
      An ability to understand both hardware and software related issues 
      would be a definite asset for this possition.

      You should have experience in at least one of the following areas:
      development and maintenance in large software projects, failure 
      analysis of large computer systems, or development of expert systems 
      which interface with other programs and databases. An understanding 
      of computer architecture and logic design concepts, prior experience
      with MVS, proficiency with UNIX, and some familarity with LISP and 
      expert systems concepts is desirable but not required.



      INFERENCE ENGINE TOOL DEVELOPER (IE1)

      You will be responsible for supporting and enhancing the expert system
      the inference engine itself, together with its associated tools. Your
      activities will include: 

      - Debugging and maintaining a diagnostic inference engine written in
        Common Lisp, CLOS, and C

      - Extending and supporting a C and Motif-based suite of knowledge base
        development and production support code 

      - Maintaining the development and porting environments for this code 

      - Assisting application designers (the end users of the inference
        engine) in developing both knowledge bases and production clients 
        for the UTS and MVS platforms  

      Prior experience with expert systems and familiarity with UNIX, C, 
      Common Lisp, object-oriented design, X, and Motif desired.


  Our organization is part of Amdahl's Processor Products division which is
  located at the corporate headquarters in Sunnyvale CA in the heart of
  Silicon Valley. We're offering competitive salaries and a comprehensive
  benefits package, including health insurance, stock purchase plan, and
  an educational assistance program.

  Please email resumes to jxm90@juts.ccc.amdahl.com and include the name
  of the position in which you are interested (either MD1 or IE1) in
  the "Subject:" line of your email.  In addition to your resume, a
  a brief paragraph describing how your previous experience relates
  to our requirements would help us evaluate your resume and would be
  appreciated, but it is not required.

  John Murray
  jxm90@juts.ccc.amdahl.com
  +1 (408) 746-8874
  FAX (408) 773-0833
  Amdahl Corporation M/S 146
  1250 E. Arques
  Sunnyvale, CA 94086