Tom Sparks

Current

Project Manager and RFID & Wireless Consultant at Main Sail, LLC
RFID+ & Project+ at CompTIA
Associate Professor at Tarrant County College

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Past

Sr. RFID Project Manager and Consultant at CHEP
Sr. Project Manager - Consultant at Ntelicor, LP
IT & RFID Project Manager at American Airlines

Associate Professor at Tarrant County College
IT / RFID / Infrastructure Manager at Ryder System, Inc.
RFID Product Manager and Infrastructure Manager at Ryder Integrated Logistics
professor at central missouri state university
Sr. Project Manager at JP Morgan Chase (Paymentech)
Sr. Project Manager at American Airlines
Sr. Consultant - Military Weapon Systems at SM&A
Technical Field Engineer at Smiths Aerospace
Sr. Project Manager at Pilot Network Services
Sr. IT Project Manager at Pilot Network Services

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10 more...

Education

Southern Methodist University
Central Missouri State University
Central Missouri State University

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Recommended

1 person has recommended Tom

Connections

68 connections

Industry

Information Technology and Services

Tom Sparks’s Summary

Over 12 years of Aerospace and Aviation industry experience in addition to 14 years experience in the Information Technology industry. Includes over 13 years of a combination of program and project management. Experienced with SAP (MM, PM, WM), 2D Bar-Coding, ERP, CRM, SCM, SDLC, Lean, RFID. Have implemented 6 complete enterprise wide (domestic and international) SAP projects utilizing full SDLC methodologies in the past 5 years, in addition to many projects in the aviation and IT world.

Valuable skills, knowledge and experience within two diverse industries. Project Management Certification with the Carnegie Mellon College of Project Management and CompTIA Project +. PMI member, RFID Certified. SME with CompTIA RFID+ Certification Program. Member of CompTIA Advisory Committee of Project+ .

Tom Sparks’s Specialties:

RFID + Certification – CompTIA 2007
PCI Global – Project Management PMI Certification Boot Camp 2006
Carnegie Mellon College of Project Management – Certification completed 2004
LEAN Business Practices (Government and civilian sectors) – 2002 - 2006
Member of PMI – 2003 to present
MCSE - Microsoft Certified Professional Engineer – 1998
FAA Airframe and Powerplant License – 1981
FAA Instrument & Commercial Aircraft License (Fixed Wing and Helicopter) Over 3700 hours of flight time

Tom Sparks’s Experience

Project Manager and RFID & Wireless Consultant

Main Sail, LLC

(Public Company; Information Technology and Services industry)

March 2009 — Present (10 months)

Project /Program Manager and Wireless Engineer / RFID Engineer
Government and Department of Defense IT services provider and consulting group primarily providing services to US Navy Warship Fleet.

 Functioned as the Program and Project Manager leading group of 7 resources to develop, design and implement an RFID and Worker Task workflow system that is utilized on both Navy vessels, shore support services and warehousing.
 Project core function was to implement a parts tracking system utilizing wireless technologies, RFID technologies and warehouse management functions to track and trace tools, equipment and personnel both internal and external to Navy ships.
 Tasks included using pure project management; change management; risk management and mitigation; development of military restricted documents to support PMO and establishing the department Project Management Office.
 Led the develop and implementation of an initiative that utilized secured hand held wireless devices & comm devices such as phones, PDAs, tablets and durable notebooks that placed work orders, problem solving resolutions, diagrams and maintenance manuals and documentation to the mechanics & technicians working on / near the Navy ships dockside and ships in transit to the Naval Shipyard.
 Functioned as wireless lead engineer and lead RFID engineer using GPS, CDMA, 802.x, broadband, passive and active tagging.
 Designed, developed and implemented the complete infrastructure including wireless hand held devices, DB servers, Middleware servers. Completed detailed site surveys, RF Control and workflow process to streamline current ship maintenance practices.
RFID+ & Project+

CompTIA

(Information Technology and Services industry)

2006 — Present (3 years )
Associate Professor

Tarrant County College

(Educational Institution; Higher Education industry)

January 2006 — Present (4 years )

Tarrant County College, Fort Worth, Texas
Adjunct Faculty – Associate Professor, Aerospace Technology Department (evening courses, part time only)
 Instructor of FAA Basic, Airframe, Powerplant and Avionics courses.
 Develop teaching criteria and course curriculum for FAA A&P Part 147 & avionics courses.
Sr. RFID Project Manager and Consultant

CHEP

(Public Company; BIL; Logistics and Supply Chain industry)

May 2008 — November 2008 (7 months)

CHEP International, Orlando FL
Sr. SAP IT & RFID Project Manager and Sr. Business Analyst - Consultant & Problem Solver

 SAP and RFID Project Manager of the Materials Intelligence (MI) Multi Phase Project implemented in Australia, Germany, China, US and South America. ASAP Methodologies utilized. Project had the purpose of tracking tagged pallets and various tagged containers throughout the world (280 million items) using RFID - real time identification and multi tenant enterprise billing. This extremely detailed multi phase project incorporate business processes of B2B, ERP, SCM, BPN, ME-BPP, COP, SaaS, and SOA providing near real time accurate information systems between trading partners in a supply chain. SAP, AII, OER, XI, BI, MM, PM; Active Directory and Single Sign On Federation servers were utilized.
 Project Manager & RFID, SAP Technical and Functional Specialist with the implementation of a pallet and container pick, build and ship systems in China for Toyota. Develop POC, then implemented into production. SAP AII, ECC 6, Oracle 10.2 & Netweaver along with PEAK PAC utilized. Utilized SAP Basis during process. Configured, tested and administered SAP Platform. Developed wireless infrastructure, generated server & workstations, installed/configured MS SQL DB and installed & configure SAP in addition to implementation of an RFID fixed portal, wireless hand held devices, fork truck readers. ASAP PM methodology used.
 Developed the business & systems requirements, authoring the project charter, defining scope, creation of WBS and project scheduling, tracking risks and risk mitigation, issue logs, reporting and tracking of budget, authoring meeting minutes and project
Sr. Project Manager - Consultant

Ntelicor, LP

(Information Technology and Services industry)

January 2008 — May 2008 (5 months)

Ntelicor, LP, Dallas, TX
I
T Project Manager of Airport implementations and modifications - Consultant

 IT Manager involved in the design and implementation of custom technology enable new business solutions at AA & AE airports.
 Detailed use of MS Project software along with generating and tracking using PERT charts and dashboards for upper management.
 Responsibilities include, among others: defining systems strategy, developing system requirements, designing and prototyping, testing, training defining support procedures and implementation of IT, RFID, IT Infrastructure and Transportation Management Systems.
 Developed and maintained planning process, creation of WBS, tracking of project critical path and estimate variation.
IT & RFID Project Manager

American Airlines

(Public Company; 10,001 or more employees; Airlines/Aviation industry)

January 2008 — March 2008 (3 months)

 Project/Program Manager of SAP initial and partial project implementations within Ryder’s 3PL / SCS / WMS / TM business unit.
 PMO development includes, complete SDLC – communications – project control plans; implementation of proven business processes and methodologies; generating project / program workflow; training; creation of project and program management documentation (executive & project overview dashboards; project charters; use-cases, business requirements; change, quality, risk & issue management; weekly & monthly status updates; lessons learned; project closure and project workbooks).
 Direct Manager of the Ryder SCS IT Infrastructure group consisting of 10 network and systems engineers.
 Program and Product Manager of all RFID initiatives within Ryder. Subject matter expert for the enterprise organization. Spoke at several conferences in the industry in addition to conducting training sessions and “brown bag” sessions for IT and Exec personnel.
Associate Professor

Tarrant County College

(Educational Institution; 201-500 employees; Education Management industry)

January 2006 — January 2008 (2 years 1 month)

Instructor TCC, Northwest Campus
 Instructor of FAA Basic, Airframe, Powerplant and Avionics courses.
 Develop teaching criteria and course curriculum for FAA A&P Part 147 & avionics courses.
 Daily demonstration of public speaking in both the classroom and for college executives and chairpersons.
IT / RFID / Infrastructure Manager

Ryder System, Inc.

(Information Technology and Services industry)

2006 — 2008 (2 years )
RFID Product Manager and Infrastructure Manager

Ryder Integrated Logistics

(Public Company; 10,001 or more employees; R; Logistics and Supply Chain industry)

October 2006 — December 2007 (1 year 3 months)

 Responsibilities include, among others: defining systems strategy, developing system requirements, designing and prototyping, testing, training defining support procedures and implementation of IT, RFID, IT Infrastructure and Transportation Management Systems.
 Program and Product Manager of all RFID initiatives within Ryder. Subject matter expert for the enterprise organization. Have spoken at several conferences in the industry in addition to conducting training sessions and “brown bag” sessions.
 Developed & augmented Ryder RFID lab. Consisted of the testing and evaluation internal to Ryder RFID products before being released into a production environment. Responsible for all activities in the lab in addition to the acquisition of hardware & software.
professor

central missouri state university

(Information Technology and Services industry)

1980 — 2007 (27 years )
Sr. Project Manager

JP Morgan Chase (Paymentech)

(Public Company; 10,001 or more employees; Banking industry)

May 2006 — October 2006 (6 months)

 Project/Program Manager of SAP initial project implementations within Chase Paymentech. MM, PM and SD modules were utilized in addition to SCM, ERP practices.
 The complete design, developed and implemented an enterprise wide Project Management Office for the Paymentech (credit card - debit card – flex cache) business unit of JP Morgan Chase Bank. Previously to this implementation, no project management office or project managers were available within the organization. This was an extremely detailed, hands on bottom to the top level initiative.
 Development includes, complete SDLC – communications – project control plans; implementation of proven business processes and methodologies; generating project / program workflow; training; creation of project and program management documentation ( project & business requirements; change, quality, risk & issue management; weekly & monthly status updates; lessons learned; project closure and project workbooks).
Sr. Project Manager

American Airlines

(Public Company; 10,001 or more employees; AMR; Airlines/Aviation industry)

May 2004 — May 2006 (2 years 1 month)

American Airlines, Fort Worth, TX 06/04 to 05/06
Senior Project Manager – Maintenance & Engineering / Supply Chain Management – IT Group, Tulsa, OK & Fort Worth, TX

 SAP Chemical Tracking System, Principle Project Manager. Implemented the complete project using the AA SDLC methodology. Utilized SAP R/3, over 200% ROI and over $5M savings within a 5 year life cycle. 2D, RFID, ERP SCM were utilized.
 SAP Tool Tracking System, Principle Project Manager. Implemented the, from kickoff to lesson learned – project closure (full SDLC). Utilized SAP R/3, over 300% ROI, over $15M savings within a 5 year life cycle. 2D, RFID, ERP SCM were utilized.
 Project Manager of the American Airlines Warehouse RFID project for the Maintenance Centers. In addition, implemented 2D & RFID project for Aircraft Staging Maintenance Program. ROI forecasted to be 300% within 4 year lifecycle, savings of over $75M.
Sr. Consultant - Military Weapon Systems

SM&A

(Privately Held; Management Consulting industry)

March 2003 — August 2003 (6 months)

SM&A Consulting, Newport Beach, California

Senior Associate (Project Manager) – Consultant (Lockheed Martin)
Proposal Management Corporation for clients attempting to capture large, complex aerospace contracts.

 Provided direction and management to multiple projects ranging in value of $20,000 to $9.8 Billion for the US Air Force.
 Developed F/A-22 project plans, request for proposals and aircraft system business proposals to the US Air Force.
 Direct personal interaction with various levels of rank ranging from CMS to Lieutenant General.
Technical Field Engineer

Smiths Aerospace

(Public Company; SMIN.L; Aviation & Aerospace industry)

March 2001 — June 2003 (2 years 4 months)

Smiths Aerospace (Customer Services Division)

Project Manager and Field Service Engineer (based in Fort Worth, Texas)

 Reduced repair and overhaul cost for clients by developing and implementing cost per flight hour contracts. Average cost savings ranged from 10 to 30 percent of previous years spending. By bring fruition to this contact, airlines we able to view direct savings.
 Demonstrated project management skills to ensure that all aspects of an event/project/task were completed as planned and that contingency plans were developed and ready for implementation if necessary.
 Worked with worldwide Smiths IT groups to provide assistance to resolve LAN/WAN technical difficulties, HP UNIX server ops and management, Oracle 11i pre-implementation and system wide preparation, updating Compaq, IBM and Cisco equipment and instructed the IT group with Cisco firewalls and ISS intrusion detection of both LAN/WAN and Internet Servers.
Sr. Project Manager

Pilot Network Services

(Information Technology and Services industry)

2000 — 2001 (1 year )
Sr. IT Project Manager

Pilot Network Services

(Public Company; PILT; Computer & Network Security industry)

October 2000 — March 2001 (6 months)

Pilot Network Services, Inc., Alameda, California

Project / Program Manager – Internet and Networking Security and Intrusion Implementation.

An extremely high-level Internet / network security company. Developed & provided hardened website & networks in addition to developing tools that would use a heuristic knowledge to learn methodologies of intrusion and network securities.
 Developed project plans, lead customer kick off meetings, track project status, develop and track completion reports, assist in the resolution of project issues, track equipment deliveries to ensure that existing and new implementations are completed on time, that implementation issues are identified and resolved satisfactorily.
 Manager of projects that lasted on the average of 3 weeks to 1 year for implementation. Budget for each project ranged from $10K to $1.5 million, annually. Worked 6 to 24 projects at any given time. Utilized proven PM skills to effectively lead each endeavor.
 Personally completed onsite LAN/WAN and Internet security reviews of the clients. The onsite assessments provided the necessary information to the client concerning deficiencies and the improvements that need to be completed to properly augment existing securities and business practices.
 Worked with Cisco IOS, OSPF, IPX, EGIRP, NetBios, TCP/IP, Multi-routing Protocols, DNS, DHCP, WINS (Primary and Secondary) Cisco 26xx, 55xx, 7500, 10000 and other WAN equipment and protocols.

Tom Sparks’s Education

Southern Methodist University

Partial completion of PhD , Engineering , 1988 — 2009
Central Missouri State University

MS , Aerospace Safety and Engineering , 1987 — 1988

Activities and Societies:

Licensed FAA Fixed Wing Pilot, Helicopter Pilot, USPA Skydiver, Licensed FAA Airframe and Power Plant tech,
Central Missouri State University

Bachelor of Science , Aerospace Engineering and Technology , 1983 — 1986

Additional Information

Tom Sparks’s Groups:

Epicentric
International Society for Technology in Education
Auto-ID professionals
RFID/ AIDC Technology
RFID Professionals
RFID
North Texas RFID
Certified Project, Program & Portfolio Managers
RFID Security Alliance
RFID, Biometrics,Sensors,& Wireless Group
Barcode Professionals
RFID, RTLS, Sensors,& Wireless in Healthcare
RFID Explorer
Microsoft BizTalk RFID Community
Market Research Bulletin
DFW Information Technology Network
Apex SAP Dallas User Group
Aerospace, Aviation, Aircraft, Airline, Satellite, RF, Space, MRO, Recruitment , Job,Jobs, Vacancies
TEXAS TECHNOLOGY MANAGEMENT LEADERS (TTML)