A Brief Biographical Sketch

Michael Helm serves as an Instructor in the Engineering Technology Department at Texas Tech University. Earlier, he served one year as a Visiting Assistant Professor in the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department at the Panama City campus of Florida State University, where he taught Digital Circuit Design, Microprocessors, Computer Architecture, Field Programmable Logic Devices, Embedded Systems Design, and Intro to Computer Networking, as well as Sr Proj Implementation. Previously, he served as a Lecturer and Research Associate with the Computer Science Department at Texas Tech University from Dec 2001 through Aug 2006, where he taught Digital Circuits, Assembly Language, Embedded Systems Design, Data Structures, etc. Michael has an extensive background in the electronics industry in developing embedded systems, automated product test systems, automation control systems, and electronics based commercial and consumer products. He has taught the Advanced Digital Projects course for four semesters, Intro Digital Design for six semesters, Data Structures for three semesters, and Computer Organization and Assembly Language two semesters. In addition, Michael has developed a new course in Embedded Systems Design that he taught three semesters. Michael completed an MS in Computer Science in 2001 in the area of Embedded Systems Design and a PhD in 2006 on the topic of improving cooperative performance in multi-agent systems.

Previously, Michael designed and developed a digital remote control and telemetry system that was commercially produced and fielded in several installations. He also designed and developed the hardware and software for a synthetic speech based consumer product, which went into commercial production.

More recently, Michael worked as a Systems Engineer developing Unix based networked control systems for applications in control and monitoring of semiconductor process equipment for XFAB Texas. Prior to XFAB, Michael worked as a Test Engineer for Texas Instruments, providing both hardware and software support for production line automated test systems. He has also been a consulting engineer on several commercial development projects including various wireless radio telemetry and control systems, an educational toy utilizing synthetic speech, a fuel cell control system, and a medical electronics device. He has worked in the electronics and computer industry since 1974 in a broad range of areas including radio communications, telemetry and control systems, missile systems, consumer products development, and a wide variety of automation control systems.

Michael has developed some simple embedded systems for practical and low-cost remote telemetry applications and some of that work was recently published. He continues to be involved in industry consulting work in the design of embedded systems and wireless data systems. He designs and builds radio systems and telemetry systems as a hobby for use in high altitude experimental balloon payloads.

Michael is a member of IEEE and UPE