John Black

John earned a BSEE at Arizona State University and then spent the first 13 years of his career in the rapidly emerging microcomputer industry, as a Motorola hardware/software engineer, project engineer, and Engineering Department manager.

During that time he also authored the VMEbus Specification, which was eventually adopted as an IEEE, ANSI, and ISO standard, and currently serves as the primary multiprocessing backplane architecture for the US Military and NATO. A VMEbus-based system also serves as the heart of the Mars Rovers Opportunity and Spirit.

In 1985 John left Motorola, earned an MSEE, and founded his own consulting company (Micrology pbt, Inc) to work with start-up companies seeking to offer leading edge embedded multiprocessing computer systems, based on the VMEbus standard.

At the same time he and two partners launched a technical publishing company (OpenSystems Publishing) to promote the development of open standards, and to assist start-up companies in introducing products based on those standards. In addition to his Partner responsibilities, John served as editor-in-chief of VMEbus Systems magazine and Real-time Engineering Magazine. OpenSystems Publishing (now called OpenSystems Media) is currently a leading publisher of embedded computing industry journals.

In 1992 John compiled and edited The System Engineer's Handbook - an 1100-page guide to the development of modular multiprocessing systems. This book was published by Academic Press (ISBN 0121028208).

In 2004 John earned his PhD in Computer Science and joined Arizona State University as a Research Scientist, to help launch the Center for Cognitive Ubiquitous Computing and the iCARE project, which conducts research aimed at the development of assistive technologies for people who are blind. HIs recents efforts have been aimed at the development of an assistive device called the Note-Taker, which allows low vision and legally blind students to take notes in their classrooms as easily as their sighted peers.

In 2010 John mentored a team of students who won First Prize in the Microsoft World Imagine Cup, in the Touch and Tablet category. Then in 2011 he mentored a student team who won Second Prize in the Microsoft World Imagine Cup, in the Software Design category.

Specialties

John enjoys new challenges, and has a wide spectrum of Technical and Business experience.

He has 13 years of experience in Hardware and Software Engineering, as well as Engineering Management, at Motorola and Sperry Flight Systems.

He has 17 years of Entrepreneurial experience as Founder, Publisher and Editor in his own publishing company (OpenSystems Media).

He has 9 years of experience as a Research Scientist at Arizona State University, supported by the National Science Foundation and the Mayo Clinic.

John describes himself as a life-long learner whose education is not yet complete. He has a broad range of interests in the areas of Science, Technology, and Engineering, and enjoys collaborating with others to solve difficult problems.