Key Recommendation

This particular recommendation, was done for a contract recruiting company as part of their background checks. It is a full recommendation, prepared by my former Director.

Please feel free to contact him for additional information, but remeber the 6-hour time difference with Germany!

Reference Check

Employees Name:	Ian McMartin
Company:	Infineon AG + Qimonda AG		Phone:	+49 351 4388 6235 +49 172 795 01 75 (mobile)
Supervisor:	Joachim Frey		Title:	Senior Principal Production Automation
Contractor's Job Title:	Various roles from Senior Engineer when started working for Infineon over Staff Engineer up to Group Manager and Senior Project Manager
Dates of Employment:	From:	2001	To:	02 / 2009

Project Description:

Describe the overall project including the size and scope:

Mr McMartin worked for me from September 2001, when I took over the word-wide team for MES (Manufacturing Execution Systems), till February 2009. He was hired by my predecessor a few months earlier. During this time Mr McMartin successfully worked in several roles with growing responsibilities.

He was hired in 2001 as a technical expert for the new MES (Manufacturing Execution System) we just selected. After a very short time he took over the technical lead within the team of 8 experts due to his technical expertise, his ability to quickly analyze and resolve problems and his open and pro-active communication within the team and beyond.

In 2003 Mr McMartin took over the lead of the world-wide system installation and implementation activities. Within this role he supported the migration of a running, fab-wide MES in our Assembly Facility in Porto (Portugal) and the setup of a new fab in Suzhou (China). In this projects he led a technical team of 30+ people and successfully managed the in-time and in-spec setup and implementation of the new MES systems.

In 2004 Mr McMartin joined the MES development and implementation project for our new 300mm-wafer fab in Richmond (USA). Over duration of this project he was responsible for the setup of the high-availability system, the definition and realization of the frequent SW upgrade process, the system wide release management and the setup of the system testing and quality management. This project had an overall volume of more than 40 Mio US$ and Mr McMartin coordinated a technical team of up to 80 people.

In 2005 Mr McMartin took over the responsibility as a Manager to setup the central Integration & Test Center for all Automation Applications world-wide and relocated to Dresden (Germany) for ca. 1 year. In this role had the disciplinary lead of 12 internal experts and led an overall team of up to 40 internal and external experts across the IT organization. He setup the central Integration & Test Center and redefined the world-wide binding SW Development Process to ensure that all newly developed or changed SW is being thoroughly tested before being deployed to the production sites.

In 2007 Mr McMartin returned back to the Richmond (USA) organization in the role of a Senior Project Manager responsible for all system installations, migrations and upgrades world-wide. In this role he led the major system upgrade in our Suzhou (China) facility (2007), the system setup in our new Senai (Malaysia) fab (2008), the planning for a new 300mm wafer fab in Singapore (2008) and various crucial system improvement activities and Task Forces for our 300mm fab in Richmond (2007 – 2009).

Cultural Environment:

Describe the working environment of this team / department.

During the years within our company Mr McMartin successfully worked in a truly global, multi-national organization. In the various projects and activities he dad to deal with many, many different cultures and had to manage various critical situations with the multi-cultural colleagues.

In his roles as lead for world-wide system installations and a Senior Project Manager for all system installations, migrations and upgrades world-wide he spent countless weeks and months in Portugal, Germany, Austria, Malaysia, China and Singapore and work very closely with the local colleagues and the international team of SW and deployment experts.

Also Mr McMartin got familiar with and successfully operated in a truly global matrix organization and in globally distributed, virtual teams.

Job Duties & Technologies:

Describe the individual's role and responsibilities including day-to-day duties and technologies used.

See above for roles & responsibilities, main tasks and related job profile.

Technologies: Microsoft Server Environment, Oracle (mainly on HP UX), high-availability solutions, Active Directory, Applied Materials FAB300, various SW Development Environments and Tools, SW Development Processes.

ASSESSMENTS

Technical Performance & Ability: Describe the individual's technical knowledge and ability to perform the job. Broad knowledge on Microsoft-based high performance, high availability server environments. Oracle DB setup, optimization and operation, mainly on HP UX. Microsoft Active Directory, VMware. Deep knowledge on MES – Manufacturing Execution Systems – for semiconductor production facilities. In specific good know-how on FactoryWorks / 300works from Applied Materials (before Brooks) and key expert know-how on FAB300 from Applied Materials ! Key expert know-how especially in the field of system setup, stability, performance, system optimization, base components, etc.. Vast network with related experts in the industry. SW Development Process know-how, especially with regard to testing and quality assurance, deployment and implementation, operation and optimization, change management and SW life cycle management.

Non-Technical Skills : Describe the individual's ability to communicate and interact with the team. Mr McMartin was highly respected and recognized colleague within the world-wide IT and manufacturing organization. Respected and recognized due to his technical knowledge and due to consistently delivering outstanding results, making things happen and consistently striving for customer satisfaction while consistently keeping calm and polite even in extremely stressful situations. Mr McMartin is the perfect team player, inserting in any team or by leading any team (multi-national, cross functional). And he is also pro-actively taking leadership where necessary to overcome and resolve critical situation. When being part of a team of when leading teams he fosters team spirit, motivates the team to ‘make the impossible happen’ and ensures overall success. Mr McMartin uses a clear, precise and structured approach when presenting plans, status information of technical information. As already outlined above Mr McMartin is very talented to work in a multi-cultural, cross functional environment. He shows the best performance in very challenging (technical, schedule, external influences) tasks and projects.

Strengths & Weaknesses: How would you describe the individual's strengths? How would you describe the individual's areas for improvement? + technical know-how + own motivation, enthusiasm, stamina, giving 200% if required to make the task/project successful + high flexibility to take over new tasks and challenges, with regard to travel and work abroad for an extended period of time + ability to motivate others and to foster team spirit, building up good relationships with internal and external colleagues and partners + very professional and effective in working in matrix, multi-cultural, cross functional and cross company teams and making things happen by using the strengths of this setup and by avoiding the stumbling blocks. ^ Mr McMartin shows his best performance in ‘new endeavors’, very challenging tasks and projects, multi-cultural / cross-functional setups. While he could deliver superb results when being assigned operational tasks and duties it would definitely not be the best use of his abilities and talents.

Attendance and Reliability: What were the individual's expected work hours and how would you rate their attendance and reliability? 40 hours / week - however Mr McMartin is working 24x7, day & night, weekends, etc. – without being requested to do this - during critical situations and to make projects successful. For many years he was doing an ‘unofficial’ 24x7 hotline being called whenever a system issue occurred somewhere in the world as he was the only one able to quickly analyze and resolve critical and difficult problems.

Rehire Eligibility: Would you rehire this person for this type of project?

Additional Comments: What additional comments would you like to add? It was always fun to work with Mr McMartin and to have him in the global team ! His consistently outstanding performance was a major contributor to the success of my organization. I would hire him again whenever I would get the chance to do so. Without any reservation I can recommend Mr McMartin to any company. With his abilities, skills and motivation he would be a tremendous asset in any company !

»»  read more

Recommendations

After having worked with many different people, in many different areas - I've been able to collect a diverse group of recommendations.

Please have a look, and feel free to contact any of them!

Bill McCoy (Richmond, Virginia) BillNMcCoy@att.net

IT Manager – Provided PM work for Bill to solve Performance issues and deploy software.

, CIM Systems Manager, Qimonda (colleague)
“I have really appreciated Ian's work over the last years. His work (as described in the summary) was critical to our success in building our mission critical MES systems. Ian is organized and able to pull together the right resources to get the job done. He drives topics to successful completion. He has good people skills and can help teams come to a consensus before proceeding with solutions.” February 7, 2009

Michael Bussey (Richmond, Virginia) mwbussey@msn.com

IT Program Manager – Provided PM work for Mike during the 300mm factory startup.

, CIM Systems Section Manager, Infineon Technologies (colleague)
“I had the pleasure of working with Ian during the 300mm factory startup at Infineon Richmond. Ian’s team was responsible for the testing of major software releases with emphasis on performance and scalability. Ian and his team were also responsible for assisting the production sites with the implementation of new releases. As a customer of Ian’s services, I was very pleased with the dedication and attention to detail that lead to successful implementations. Ian has a proven track record of managing complex projects to successful completion.” March 11, 2009

Francisco Almada Lobo (Porto, Portugal) franciscoalmadalobo@gmail.com

Head of Development Center – As Integration Manager, my team was responsible to Receive, test and deploy the software they provided.

, IT Production Automation Senior Manager, Qimonda, Portugal S.A. (colleague)
“I’ve worked with Ian in a global organization environment since 2004, deploying MES systems for highly sophisticated semiconductor fabs around the world. His incredible knowledge on the full IT stack set of layers, from HW till GUI’s, in the highly complex solutions we dealt with, together with his unique project management and leadership skills, have effectively made him one of the most important assets this team of over 200 engineers. Without his skills and his overwhelming commitment, we would have not been successful in the deployments in Porto, SuZhou, Richmond and Senai.” March 6, 2009

Augusto Vilarinho (Porto, Portugal) augusto.vilarinho@qimonda.com

Colleague – Provided business analysis for our products. We also worked together during several of my projects to deploy the software world-wide.

, Principal and IT Process Innovation Head, Qimonda (colleague)
“I know Ian since almost 10 years. We have worked together in several major projects, in several different countries, so I got to know him very well. One thing I can ensure - if you want something done in a correct and professional way, you can count with Ian. Together with an extraordinary capacity of communication and good interpersonal relationship, his project and team leading capabilities makes him a value added on any activity or organization” March 6, 2009

Ben Harry (Santa Clara, California) ben_harry@amat.com

Vendor - Core Software Supplier. I worked with Ben as a Product and Vendor Manager to improve their product and our company relations.

, Global Product Manager, Applied Materials (business partner)
“Ian McMartin demonstrated his technical mastery of the Manufacturing Execution System (MES) space and his ability to work in a positive manner with suppliers on the Qimonda project to implement Applied FAB300 (TM) at the Qimonda 300mm fab in Richmond, Virginia. Being the Global Product Manager of Applied FAB300 at Applied Materials I worked with Ian to make sure that Qimonda's needs were met through product enhancements and product team support. I found Ian to be very professional in his approach to working with suppliers such as Applied Materials. I recommend Ian for positions related to the implementation of MES or in doing product management of MES products.” March 16, 2009

Dirk Bischoff (Dresden, Germany) Dirk.Bischoff8@gmx.net

Key Customer – Dirk oversaw the deliverables of our software to various sites where I was the PM.

, Staff Engineer, Infineon SC300 Dresden (colleague)
“I got to know Ian as a reliable, highly skilled - technically as well as managing wise - with endless stamina doing project work. We worked in together in Richmond, VA we drove task forces to setup the 300mm Fab. Later we worked in different teams for projects in Germany and China. Ian is a strong character I can always recommend as ex-colleague and friend.” March 13, 2009

Teresa Carreiro (Porto, Portugal) carreiro.teresa@gmail.com

Colleague – As Integration Center Manager, our teams worked together to provide software releases.

, Quality Manager, Qimonda - Porto DC (colleague)
“While we worked together at Qimonda I remember thinking "How can he manage it? Always travelling from place to place, being "there" in all our major rollouts?". It didn't matter in which part of the world the "action" was running, Ian was there. All these experiences gave him the ability to improve the projects performance, from project to project, since he was able to early identify potential risks and raise preventive actions. I've worked more closely with Ian during Porto and Richmond fab rollouts. Ian helped to organize the work between the different involved teams making sure that the problems were overcome. He was there since the beginning until the end, from problem analysis/root cause identification until solution implementation. Hard worker, very committed and responsible. Great leadership skills and always a smile on the face :-).” March 25, 2009

Henry Norris (Raleigh, North Carolina) hjnorris@bellsouth.net

DBA - Worked for me during a Performance Improvement Project in Richmond.

, North American Database Team Lead, Qimonda (colleague)
“Ian was instrumental at driving mission critical projects forward that required 'buy-ins' from a variety of managers and technologists. Without his ability to clearly organize and explain highly complex tasks, we would not have been able to accomplish our mission. I look forward to working with Ian in the future.”February 6, 2009

Michael Kurz (Munich, Germany) michael.kurz@acp-it.com

Contractor - Worked in parallel to my team to deploy software solutions

, Senior IT Consultant, acp-IT AG (business partner)
“I worked with Ian for over 5 years. During this time Ian moved along from beeing a normal technical guy to manage the complete MES Rollout for a Semiconductor Fab. Ian is a very knowledgeable guy. He managed the Manufacturing Integration Test Center and at the same time coordinated multiple roll outs successfully. If it comes to Project Management, Analysis or dealing with support issues Ian is the right guy to work with.”March 14, 2009

»»  read more

Question - Tell me a little bit about yourself!

I'm energetic, outgoing, creative and have all the necessary attributes, skills and experience to be a great project leader.
In this clip - I introduce myself.......

»»  read more

Question - What's your philosophy regarding project management?

To me, project management is more than just dates and dollars, it's about people. My ability to motivate, influence and lead individuals and teams, not just manage them, is what defines my work and allows me to be successful.
See me discuss my ideas towards project management and what I'm looking for in a hiring company......

»»  read more

Question - What would you bring to Company X?

I discuss my greatest attributes. In addition to my organizational and multi-tasking skills, my ability to effectively communicate at any level - my real edge comes from my wealth of international project experience. I am confident that I would be a good addition to any project or company looking for an energetic leader.
See me talk about what I would bring to your company......

»»  read more

Question - Tell me about your communication skills

My ability to listen and effectively communicate my message is what has made me a successful Project Manager.
See me communicate my communication skills in this clip......

»»  read more

Question - What kind of Project Experience do you have?

I've worked on over 20 software and infrastructure projects ranging from complete factory IT startups to rolling upgrades, software releases, testing... the entire Software development lifecycle.
See me talk about some of my project work and the PMP application.......

»»  read more

Question - What was your biggest challenge?

There was a software upgrade and deployment that we were working on for our factory in Suzhou, China - when my colleague and Release Manager left the company. This added double duty for me. The project was very late getting going, and a 'set in stone' date for deployment meant that we worked 16 out of 17 days after arriving in Suzhou. Most of those days were at least 14 hours long - but we made it somehow.
See me talk a little about that project in this clip.......

»»  read more

Question - What do you do for fun?

I'm a pretty dynamic guy - my hobbies range from biking/camping to DIY projects on the house and car, and I like to write.
See me talk about my hobbies in this clip.......

»»  read more

Question - How do you feel about travel?

I spent a good deal of time traveling to support my last company, and loved it (other than being away from the family). I am willing to travel to certain extent and welcome the opportunity!
See me talk about travel in this clip......

»»  read more

Question - Do you have family?

I'm the father of three girls, and was traveling 80% of the time while living in the U.S and Germany - which didn't make it too comfortable on the family. We moved back Canada in 2007 so that they could be closer to family and grow up at home.
In this clip - I talk about my family.

»»  read more