About · 2009 → Present
IIoT Director, Horizon Controls Group · Industry 4.0 Enterprise Architect
I build industrial systems that bridge operational technology and IT — SCADA architectures, MQTT networks, and real-time data infrastructure. Seventeen-plus years across power & utilities, oil & gas, and now regulated life sciences — from the plant floor to the cloud — plus a home biolab where the same discipline runs after hours.
01 · Background
From the plant floor to the cloud
The arc started on the plant floor — writing PLC ladder logic and standing up OSIsoft PI historians across oil & gas, mining, and power: Shell, Hess, Xcel Energy, PG&E, Dominion. That hands-on base grew into Ignition-based supervisory systems and full SCADA architectures, then shifted toward IIoT when the question changed from “can we monitor this?” to “can the data move all the way to the cloud without losing its context?”
The answer meant rebuilding how equipment speaks: MQTT over Sparkplug B, OPC UA as the on-premises backbone, and a Unified Namespace as the single source of truth for operations data. The last several years added a regulated dimension — GMP manufacturing for life-sciences clients through TQS Integration (now part of Cognizant), where every change is justified, every system validated, every audit trail intact. 21 CFR Part 11 isn’t a checkbox; it shapes how software is written, how access is controlled, and how alarms are managed. That combination of edge performance and compliance rigor is the current work at Horizon Controls.
Outside the control room: a home biolab running a Pyrocystis circadian-bioluminescence experiment — tracking the glow rhythm of dinoflagellates on a Pioreactor, instrumented end-to-end. The hardware is DIY, the data is real, and isolating a biological signal from noise is not different in kind from isolating a process variable in a noisy plant. Curiosity drives precision. It’s the same reflex that makes a SCADA historian useful.
02 · Domains & stack
Technical focus
Platforms & Protocols
- Ignition 8.3 (Perspective, Vision)
- MQTT / Sparkplug B · Unified Namespace
- OPC UA / DA · Kepware · Matrikon
- OSIsoft / AVEVA PI System
- Wonderware · FactoryTalk · WinCC
- Allen-Bradley · Siemens · Modbus
Regulated Environments
- 21 CFR Part 11 electronic records
- GMP / GAMP5 validated systems
- CSV · IQ / OQ / PQ lifecycle
- Audit trail & data integrity
- Life sciences: Pfizer, Vertex
- Energy & utilities: NERC/CIP
03 · 2009 → Present
Career
| Role | Organization | Years |
|---|---|---|
| Director, IIoT | Horizon Controls Group | 2022 — Present |
| Regional Manager / Lead Engineer | TQS Integration (now Cognizant) | 2018 — 2022 |
| OSIsoft PI Systems Analyst | Dominion Energy · Xcel Energy | 2017 — 2018 |
| Operational Data Services Engineer | PG&E | 2015 — 2017 |
| PI Solutions Consultant | Wipro — Shell, Vale | 2012 — 2015 |
| Systems Analyst / Team Lead | Industrial Evolution — Hess | 2009 — 2012 |
Education: Computer Network Administration — NAIT · Diploma in Leadership & Management — University College Dublin.
04 · Credentials
Certifications
- OSIsoftPI System Installation Specialist
- OSIsoftPI System Infrastructure Specialist
- OSIsoftMastering Data Analysis — PI Coresight & AF
- HoneywellUniformance PHD — Fundamentals
- MatrikonOPC — Level 1 & 2
- MicrosoftMCITP — Windows Server 2008
- AWSArchitecting — Accelerator
- Laser Safety ServicesCertified Laser Safety Officer (CLSO)
- Pilot InstituteThe Recreational UAS Safety Test (TRUST)
See what this looks like in practice: