George Raymond

Signalling and traffic control

• Surveyed systems in Europe for advice to train drivers for optimal regulation of train speed to minimise both energy use and delays when approaching conflict points.
• Transatlantic study for the implementation of new rail traffic control and dispatching systems.
• In a project to renew signalling at a large station in an EU candidate country, evaluated and recommended revisions to an EU funds application and the corresponding call for tenders.
• World survey of satellite-based train control (see Publication).
  

Rail freight

• Helped introduce software for freight operations planning at two major train operating companies. Worked with users to establish terminology compatible with both internal usage and the software's concepts. Developed the software's documentation and user interface.
• Studies on the development of conventional and intermodal (combined transport) services and terminals. Transatlantic comparisons concerning local and regional railways (shortlines).
  

Rail operations planning

• Wrote an online help system for a resource planning software package for rolling stock, train drivers and other personnel. Trained client specialists in terminology search and technical writing.
• Documented a software package for rail operations planning and simulation that is sold in numerous countries.
• For a company specialised in developing and applying software for rail operations planning, helped develop bids, annual reports and licence and maintenance contracts.
• Edited documents defining the planning, application and allocation process for international train paths in Europe.
  

Track components and rolling stock

• Created a standard terminology list for railway turnout (point/switch) components in both British and US English to accompany a German list.
• Served as an active intermediary between German consultants and French experts in a project to appraise fleets of locomotives.
  

DeltaRail Ltd., Derby, UK
EEIG ERTMS Users Group, Brussels
European Union (*)
French National Railways (SNCF), Paris (*)
MDS Transmodal Ltd., Chester, UK
MultiModal Systems Practice Inc., Princeton, New Jersey, USA
Office for Economic Policy and Regional Development Ltd. (EPRD), Kielce, Poland
Oliver Wyman AG, Zurich
Qnamic AG, Hägendorf, Switzerland
Rail Standards and Safety Board, London (*)
Railistics GmbH, Dessau, Germany
RailNetEurope, Vienna
Railway Gazette International, Sutton, UK
Regional Infrastructure Agency, Franche-Comté Region, France (*)
Samarcande Transport-Logistique-Territoire (consulting), Paris
Schwihag AG, Tägerwilen, Switzerland
Siemens AG, Rail Automation, Braunschweig, Germany
SMA und Partner AG, Zurich
Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH), Zurich
Swiss Federal Railways (SBB Cargo AG), Basel, Switzerland (*)
Systransis AG, Zug, Switzerland

* as subcontractor

Since
January 2004

Independent consultant, Railweb GmbH, Binningen, Switzerland. See Recent projects.

February 2002 - December 2003

Core team member for Euro-Interlocking, a Zurich-based project of the International Union of Railways (UIC) to standardise requirements for interlocking systems in Europe. Helped coordinate and carry out the drafting, review and approval process for standards, including expert workshops.

March 1997 - January 2002

Technical writer at Systor AG, an IT services company based in Zurich that is now part of Accenture. Design and enhancement of user interfaces; user's guides for applications and development tools; writer's guides. Website on rail traffic control west of Zurich.

January 1990 - February 1997

Systems analyst at Danzas AG, an international transport and freight forwarding company based in Basel, Switzerland that is now part of DHL. Specification and user documentation for IT applications to process and track European and intercontinental shipments.

January 1987 -
December 1989

Research assistant, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Lausanne, Switzerland. At the Institute for Transport and Planning (now LITEP), specified, developed and used simulations and other IT applications for the planning of rail operations and infrastructure.

September 1982 -
December 1986

Logistics management specialist, Renault Automobiles, France. At headquarters and then the Douai assembly plant in northern France, specified and developed IT support for production planning and materials supply.

September 1980 - August 1982

Research assistant, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA. Research project on performance standards and management control systems for rail classification/marshalling yards. (See also Higher education.)

June 1978 -
August 1980

Extensive travel in Europe and North America.

Continuation of independent study begun at Wesleyan University on the deregulation of truck and rail freight transport in the US; worked in this area at Policy and Management Associates, Washington DC, from November 1979 to March 1980.

Summers of
1976 and 1977

Reporter for three months each summer at The Middletown Press, Middletown, Connecticut, USA, a daily newspaper. Circulation at the time was 22,000.

Language

• Native English; fluent spoken and written French and German.

Planning

• Infrastructure improvements, paths, timetables, operations, rolling stock and personnel.

Signalling

• Interlocking systems, train control, traffic control, and driver assistance systems for energy savings and delay minimisation.

Rail freight

• Development of rail freight, including combined transport/intermodal, unit train and wagonload/carload services; processing and tracking of domestic and international rail shipments.

Market studies

• Studies on trends in the railway transport and supply markets.
• Analysis of data and interviews with experts.
• Assessment of major trends and issues, including emerging technologies and standards.

Procurement and bid processes

• Investment proposals; funds applications to international bodies; calls for, responses to and evaluation of tenders.

Maintenance and leasing

• Maintenance management for rolling stock and infrastructure; leasing arrangements for rolling stock.

IT systems

• Development, adaptation and documentation of IT systems.
• Capture, analysis and specification of customer and user requirements.
• Navigation design; data structure, entry and display; online help systems.
• Introduction of software packages to new countries and clients, including adaptation of functions and language.
• Development of standard terminology compatible with both client usage and the software's concepts as a basis for user interfaces, online help and user documentation.

Product development, standards and certification

• Product development and international certification.
• Development of technical standards, including coordination of international drafting, review and approval processes.

Facilitation of communication

• Better communication in multilingual environments.
• Facilitation of communication between users, technical people and international partners.
• Organisation, conduct and analysis of site visits and interviews with managers, experts and system users.
• Role as active intermediary between experts in different countries.

Documentation

• Planning, project, system, product and user documentation.
• Web publishing, including navigation design.

Quality assurance in documentation and user interfaces

• Inquiry, analysis, editing and integration to ensure that structure, terminology, data formats and texts are concise, correct, clear and consistent.
• Ergonomics and human factors; usability audits.
• Guidelines and coaching for writers of all types of documents.
• Establishment of standard terminology and style rules specific to the domain and customer, including capitalisation, abbreviations and data formats.
• Attention to confusables and common errors; US/British and other national differences.

Expertise with tools

• MS Office, HTML editors and translation memories.
• Railway operations planning tools.