Tom Elliott ( tom.elliott@nyu.edu )
homepages.nyu.edu/~te20/
Associate Director for Digital Programs and Senior Research Scholar
Institute for the Study of the Ancient World
New York University
Last update: 27 July 2008
See also: Tom’s short narrative CV.
Working closely with the Institute's Director, Head Librarian, faculty and staff, envisions, plans and implements digital projects and services across the full range of the Institute's research, teaching and outreach missions. Establishes productive collaborations with other institutions, projects and individuals at the forefront of scholarly computing in ancient studies worldwide (and the humanities generally) with the goal of broad and lasting service to the field and the public.
Strategic and day-to-day management, design and development of the Pleiades Project, an NEH-funded effort to create an on-line workspace for ancient geography. Supervision of a full-time application analyst and content- and software-developer community members.
Supervised staff of 4-6 undergraduate and graduate research assistants in establishing and carrying out the missions of the Center. Managed day-to-day operations, consultation with scholars and students, commissioned and course-related mapping projects. Planning and fundraising for Center initiatives and endowment. Co-Principal Investigator with Professor Gary Bishop (UNC Computer Science) for the Blind Audio/Tactile Mapping System project, supported by Microsoft Corporation.
Designed, implemented, tested, and operated an automated system to select over 20,000 unique placenames in over 15 languages from 100 map directory files, eliminate duplicates, check for accuracy in associated data, alphabetize, and format them as the “Alphabetical Gazetteer” for the Barrington Atlas of the Greek and Roman World. Carried out final production of the 1,500-page Map-by-Map Directory to the Barrington Atlas after assisting in copy-editing and fact checking (both print and CD-ROM versions). Worked with a research assistant and supervised an undergraduate work-study student in completion of this work.
Co-wrote winning proposal (UNC/IBM technology grants). Conducted research for UNC-funded investigation of feasibility and design of a campus-wide digital library system. Co-wrote final report and recommendations. Helped design candidate architecture for a Triangle Universities Digital Library Directory system (UNC, Duke, NCSU). Played key role in ensuring the design accommodates and facilitates the storage and manipulation of geographic and cartographic data.
Wrote winning grant proposal (Chancellor’s Instructional Technology Initiative). Supervised one web/database programmer, two graduate assistants and two undergraduate research aides. Designed and directed the development of the database and site, including hands-on coding. Produced 52 Adobe Acrobat PDF and JPEG maps using materials provided by the Classical Atlas project, which are now available for free public download. IAM was recognized by the Scout Report for the Social Sciences as a “learning resource” (no longer online as of 18 May 2005?).
Assisted in the design and development of an on-line handbook to the study of Roman technology for use in undergraduate courses at UNC-CH. Developed an instructional technology development lab for the Classics Department.
Guided and trained faculty members and graduate students in the digitization of teaching materials, evaluation of web sites for academic content, creation of course web sites, and cataloging of digitized materials. Led a team that developed a web site for a Western Civilization course. Subsequently helped integrate that web site with the Classics Department’s Apollo digital library system.
Conducted engineering simulations in support of research initiatives of the Fuzing [sic] and Warheads Group, Research, Development and Engineering Center, Redstone Arsenal, AL. Coordinated the efforts of two engineers, one senior research physicist, and one senior mathematician in development and operation of the simulation testbed and simulated missile systems, and in conduct of experiments. Wrote final report and software documentation, and presented findings.
Designed, developed, and operated a human-in-the-loop and hardware-in-the-loop immersive simulator for the US Army’s Avenger weapons system. Supervised the work of four engineer/programmers and coordinated with three teams from other firms. Proposal writing, budgeting, personnel issues, software design, work scheduling, accountability for equipment, and data.
Supervised 65 military technicians in the installation, maintenance, and repair of ground radios, air traffic control and landing systems, RADAR, weather monitoring equipment, and secure communications gear in support of the USAF 305th Air Refueling Wing and the alert mission of the Strategic Air Command. Administered annual budgets in excess of $5 million. Chaired the Communications Contingency Support Staff, providing communications support to the Air Wing and affiliated units during deployment, combat, search and rescue, and disaster recovery operations. Directed the deployment of communications personnel, equipment and materiel in support of Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm.
Supervised 45 military personnel in the operation of telecommunications, data transmission, communications security, and data processing facilities and services supporting the 305th Air Refueling Wing and the alert mission of the Strategic Air Command. Administered annual budgets in excess of $3 million. Coordinated communications response to three aircraft accidents and two tornado strikes.
Coordinated squadron-wide efforts to plan for the orderly transfer of air base control from the 305th Air Refueling Wing to the USAF Reserve. Areas of responsibility included: equipment decommissioning, personnel departure timelines, maintenance handoff for legacy systems, USAF/FAA coordination for transfer of air route traffic control responsibilities, loss prevention, and control of classified materials.
American Philological Association, American Society of Greek and Latin Epigraphy, Archaeological Institute of America, L’Association Internationale d'Epigraphie grecque et latine
Designed and maintained the ASGLE web site under the direction of ASGLE’s secretary. Site includes information about the organization and its activities, membership forms, and a collection of links to epigraphy-related resources on the world-wide web.
Started a collaborative, international group that is working to develop a software and hardware-independent interchange specification for scholarly and educational editions of inscribed and incised texts in Greek, Latin and other languages emanating from the ancient Greek, Roman and nearby civilizations. Lead developer on many community tools including DTD, user guidelines, standard xslt transforms, all released via sourceforge under the GNU Public License.
Consulting with a wide range of EpiDoc projects and publication efforts.