Donald A. Collins, Jr.

SUMMARY

Director / Senior Engineering Manager with a solid record of accomplishment in technology leadership generating $1B+ revenue for two Fortune 500 companies in the computer industry. Adept at leading cross-functional, global teams of R&D engineers to design products and support production from a dozen factories in five countries. Expertise includes:

Professional Experience

NCR CORPORATION – Duluth, GA                                                                                               

Director of Engineering & Senior Engineering Manager, 2004-2014

Served as bar-code scanner and scale subject matter expert (SME) and visionary engineering management lead, developing the team to achieve recognition as the premier engineering team within NCR. Grew annual revenue to more than 20 times the expenditure needed for R&D, while holding #1 market share in North America and #2 globally with a team of approximately 40 engineers, 70% outsourced to Asia.

·         Led the architecture and design of the next-generation NCR RealScan 79 Bi-Optic Imager which immediately showed great promise in the market in both scanning capabilities and unique imaging-based security features.

·         Spearheaded the team that developed the next-generation 7879 A & B-models to meet aggressive functionality and timing requirements for presentation at 2013 and 2014 National Retail Federation (NRF) shows to keep NCR’s scanner brand in the game against new imaging technology competitors.

·         Provided a clear path to management on how to overhaul scanner line once more and transition from laser to imaging: incubated, championed, and earned funding for camera based imaging technology while leading offshore team to produce technology demo showcased at 2013 NCR Sales Kickoff  described by the CTO Event coordinator as the “best demo at a kickoff in several years.”

·         Led the development of the world’s first hybrid (laser / imager) bi-optic barcode scanner/scale which remains the premier performance scanner, leading the U.S. market for multiple years.

·         Led teams to design Blockbuster Express’s next-gen DVD Kiosk robot which dispensed products twice as fast and four times more reliably while saving more than $10M and enabling sale of the business for a higher price to Coinstar.

·         Developed a next-generation barcode family of products reducing cost by 30% while doubling the reliability of previous models and was first in the world to use a six axis Fanuc robot to performance test our scanner and competitive products.

AT&T & NCR CORPORATION – Duluth, GA                                                                                

Engineering Manager, 1992-2004

Led a team of hardware, firmware, and software engineers to design an advanced development product and six barcode scanner and scale models. Despite major technical challenges, integrated electronic article surveillance (EAS) into an existing bi-optic scanner/scale capturing market share. Moved scanner/scale production lines from the U.S. to Ireland and Brazil, then Mexico and finally to China. One of the products was displayed and used in the Smithsonian Institute.

·         Improved the functionality and speed of checkout while adding best in class integrated (EAS) into our bi-optic scanner/scales, which allowed NCR to capture significant market share with key customer Walmart for a decade.

·         Led corporate award winning produce recognition system co-developed with AT&T Bell Labs.

·         Co-led development of NCR’s most successful laser based scanner/scale generation with the inventors of the original technology, which generated record business.

Prior experience includes roles in engineering management, electrical design engineering, and programming firmware and software.

Education

Master of Science, Electrical Engineering

National Technological University – Fort Collins, CO

Bachelor of Science, Electrical Engineering Technology

Temple University – Philadelphia, PA

CERTIFICATIONS

Six Sigma Black Belt, NCR Corporation, 2013

Six Sigma Green Belt, NCR Corporation, 2009

Professional Development

Manager Toolkit - Sales Enablement, NCR University, 2012

Why Customer Driven? NCR University, 2012

The NCR Exceptional Manager Part 1, NCR University, 2006

Leadership, NCR University, 2004

Performance Management, NCR University, 2002

AWARDS

Chairman Award, NCR Corporation, given to entire Scanner group, 1997

Eureka Award, NCR Corporation, for Produce Recognition system, 1995

PATENTS

Fifty-five patents granted, with five pending including:

·         2014: Convertible Barcode Reader.

·         2013: Entertainment Kiosk Error-Handling and Troubleshooting Method.

·         2013: Apparatus, System and Method for a Hybrid Optical Code Scanner.

·         Full list of patents is available here.

Technical Proficiencies

Math & Statistical:  Minitab, Matlab, Mathcad

Software & Firmware:  UNIX commands including GREP, Custom SW/FW to do repetitive functions, HTML

CAD Tools:  PRO Engineer, Cadence, Mentor Graphics 

Microsoft: Excel, FrontPage, Project, PowerPoint, Word

Professional Affiliations

Member, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, 2004-Present

Member, GS1, The global language of business, 2009-Present

Community ACTIVITIES

·         President, Satellite Toastmasters, 2013-2014

·         Co-Lead, 2651 Satellite NCR Ambassadors, NCR employees who donate time to the community including leadership of Junior Achievement programs and making STEM education presentations at schools, 2013-2014