Mazen Saghir -- Resume

Mazen A. R. Saghir

900 Pepper Tree Lane, Apt. 1211
Santa Clara, CA 95051, U.S.A.
Telephone: (408) 243-7938
E-Mail: saghir@eecg.toronto.edu or mazens@improvsys.com
URL: http://www.eecg.toronto.edu/~saghir/

Career Objective

Design and development of embedded DSP processors, compilers, and CAD tools.

Education

November 1998	Ph.D., Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Toronto Thesis: Application-Specific Instruction-Set Architectures for Embedded DSP Applications
June 1993	M.A.Sc., Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Toronto Thesis: Architectural and Compiler Support for DSP Applications
December 1989	B.Eng., Computer and Communication Engineering American University of Beirut (Lebanon)

Scholarships and Awards

1991-1997	Information Technology Research Centre Graduate Scholarship
1996	International Student Centre Volunteer Award
1993-94	University of Toronto Open Doctoral Fellowship
1992-93	Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering Teaching Assistant Award

Technical Skills

Programming Languages:	C/C++, Assembly (Motorola 68000, DSP56001, DSP96002; Texas Instruments TMS320C50, TMS320C30)
Compilers:	GNU (gcc), SUIF (scc)
Design Languages and Tools:	VHDL, ABEL-HDL, LogicWorks
Operating Systems:	UNIX, DOS
Database Languages:	SQL

Work Experience

Jan. 1999 - Present	Senior Software Engineer Improv Systems, Santa Clara Evaluating the performance and improving the code generated by the Programmable System Architecture (PSA) compiler. PSA is a configurable platform for system-on-a-chip designs.
Jan. 1998 - Dec. 1998	Embedded Software Designer Nortel Networks, Ottawa Developed test and diagnostic software for OC-3, DS-3, and E-3 cards on the Passport 15000 switch.
May 1991 - Dec. 1997	Research Assistant Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Toronto Developed a set of tools for customizing the datapath and instruction-set architecture of a VLIW-based architecture to the functional, performance, and cost requirements of embedded DSP applications. Developed an instruction-set simulator for a VLIW-based model DSP architecture. Developed a data allocation pass and an alias analysis pass for the optimizing back-end of an experimental DSP compiler. Developed a suite of six DSP applications and twelve DSP kernels and used them to assess the performance of the architecture and the compiler.
Jan. 1991 - Dec. 1996	Teaching Assistant Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Toronto Supervised lab sessions and student projects for second and third year courses in Digital Systems and Computer Organization. Assisted students in troubleshooting digital circuit designs and debugging assembly language programs.
Summer 1996	Database Consultant Ontario Case Costing Project, Toronto Upgraded data loader program to read, validate, and populate new fields in a health-care database. Modified SQL scripts to accommodate new fields.
Summer 1988	Student Engineer Canadian Astronautics, Ltd., Ottawa Conducted a study on possible configurations and available software for connecting an AppleTalk LAN to an Ethernet backbone. Installed an Ethernet transponder and connected it to a data router. Helped install a modem to connect a MicroVAX mini-computer to the Datapac 3000 PSDN.

Activities and Interests

Student Member, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE); Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) (1990-Present)
Student Representative, International Student Centre User Advisory Group, University of Toronto (1996-97)
University of Toronto Student Representative, Organizing Committee, TRIO/ITRC Graduate Student Retreat (1995-97)
Student Volunteer, IEEE International Solid-State Circuits Conference (1995-97)
Graduate Student Representative, Committee on Research and Advanced Studies, Faculty of Engineering, University of Toronto (1994-95)
Treasurer, Muslim Students Association, University of Toronto (1993, 1995)
Hobbies include sailing, photography, camping, hiking, and canoeing

Publications

Mazen A. R. Saghir, Paul Chow, and Corinna G. Lee, "A Comparison of VLIW and Traditional DSP Architectures for Compiled Code," submitted to the 31st Annual International Conference on Microarchitecture, ACM/IEEE, November 30 - December 2, 1998.
Mazen A. R. Saghir, Paul Chow, and Corinna G. Lee, "Exploiting Dual Data Memory Banks in Digital Signal Processors," Proceedings of the 7th International Conference on Architectural Support for Programming Languages and Operating Systems, pp. 234-243, IEEE/ACM, October 1996.
Mazen A. R. Saghir, Paul Chow, and Corinna G. Lee, "Automatic Data Partitioning for HLL DSP Compilers," Proceedings of the International Conference on Signal Processing Applications and Technology, pp. I-866-871, DSP Associates, October 1995.
Mazen A. R. Saghir, Paul Chow, and Corinna G. Lee, "Towards Better DSP Architectures and Compilers," Proceedings of the International Conference on Signal Processing Applications and Technology, pp. I-658-664, DSP Associates, October 1994.
Mazen A. R. Saghir, Paul Chow, and Corinna G. Lee, "Application-Driven Design of DSP Architectures and Compilers," Proceedings of the International Conference on Acoustics, Speech, and Signal Processing, pp. II-437-440, IEEE, April 1994.

References available upon request

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