Gary J. Propeck, Ph.D.

Gary is still accredited to teach Oracle RDBMS courses (having experience with Oracle Versions up to and including 19c.), although due to the Pandemic, there have been scant offerings.  Gary is not looking for a permanent position, but would like something on a contract basis.  A remote position, with a little possible travel is desired.  Below he will list my software experience and qualifications for the aforementioned position.

In high school, Gary was in a class of 6 students learning to program in FORTRAN.  One full year of writing FORTRAN programs at Central High School in Sioux City, Iowa.  The computer running cards through was located at Morningside College in Sioux City.

While an undergrad at St. Cloud State University, St. Cloud, Minnesota, there were a few opportunities for programming.  Gary went on to learn BASIC and more FORTRAN. B.A.s in both Chemistry and Biomedical Science were earned.

Gary earned a Ph.D. in Physical Organic Chemistry from the University of South Florida in 1984.  The research consisted of gathering Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) data on steroids and quinones.  The group then compared thedata on the three-dimensional structure of the compounds with computer-generated (FORTRAN) Molecular Mechanics models using Non-Linear Regression Analysis (FORTRAN).  I did not generate the original code, but did help maintain the FORTRAN code.  (In the middle of my Ph.D. research we were able to switch from cards to terminal access.)

Next was the Post-Doctoral position at the Western Research Institute, affiliated with the University of Wyoming, Laramie, Wyoming.  Research included learning Pascal since the instruments ran that as it’s interface and reporting facility.

Immediately after completing the Post-Doc, Gary accepted employment at Neilson Data Services (NDS), working on television ratings.  The position for Gary was created after a contracting programmer wrote 4 modules for NDS, approximately 7500 lines each, using FORTRAN.  The contractor provided no documentation for the code, nor did he place any comments into the code.  Gary was tasked with documenting, commenting, and maintaining that set of modules.

Next up was a position at a Nuclear Weapons Complex facility in St. Petersburg, Florida.  Tasked with running another NMR, Gary went on to learn PL1, as the OS for the interface to the machine was in PL1.

Another position at the Rocky Flats Nuclear Weapons facility in the Denver Colorado area was next.  The position was in the Laboratory Technical Services Group.  In this position Gary was first introduced to the Oracle RDBMS (Version 6).  As the Team Lead, and later the LTS Group Manager, Gary oversaw the implementation of the Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS), purchased from a vendor, developed in and for an Oracle RDBMS.  In addition to maintaining the Oracle RDBMS, the group was tasked with developing numerous Lab reports using SQL and PL/SQL for the Environmental Protection Agency.

When the facility was closed due to environmental concerns, the path led Gary to Oracle.  After becoming an instructor for Oracle University, the curriculum Gary taught included Database Administration and Application Development (SQL and PL/SQL).  During this time PL/SQL skills evolved.  When the first Oracle Certified Professional program tests were released, Gary was proud to be asked to be a Reviewer of the first PL/SQL OCP exam.  For those first certifications, Gary was one of only two Oracle instructors to receive OCP certifications in DBA and in App Development.

Shortly after that, Oracle decided to investigate the use of JAVA (which Oracle now owns after acquiring Sun Systems).  Four Oracle University instructors in the US were assigned to learn and implement training JAVA.  As one of those instructors, Gary became versed enough in JAVA to be sent to Budapest, Hungary, to teach JAVA (Enterprise JavaBeans) to a group of Oracle European instructors.

Upon leaving Oracle University, the employment journey led Gary to a company called Corporate Express (now part of Staples).  Although employed as a DBA, portions of Gary’s work involved developing several PL/SQL modules for monitoring and upgrading the CEXP applications.

Opportunities arose for Gary to return to instruction.  After becoming a contracting instructor for Oracle University, Gary again began teaching DBA, App Development, and the Oracle Webserver.  During these years, Oracle University began by teaching Database Application Development for the web using the HTP, HTF, and OWA* PL/SQL packages. These packages directly generate HTML tags, and allow for the generation of HTML web pages directly from the database.  Oracle Development used these packages to develop a Web Application Development Tool, known as HTMLDB.  HTMLDB later evolved into the Oracle Application Express (APEX) tool.  Not only did Gary teach these classes, Gary was one of only two contracting instructors to teach the Advanced APEX Development course – a course designed to enhance the use of APEX via PL/SQL Code and Packages.  Gary currently has an active Oracle 20c APEX account at https://apex.oracle.com.

Another opportunity arose in the contract instructing area and Gary began teaching classes for Hotsos Corporation, out of Grapevine, Texas.  Hotsos specializes in SQL and PL/SQL Performance Tuning.  In addition to teaching Performance Tuning, Gary also presented numerous papers on SQL and PL/SQL tuning at various Symposia and other meetings.  SQL Tuning involved deciphering the 10046 and 10053 Oracle Dump Trace Files.  PL/SQL Tuning included the Trace Files and use of the two PL/SQL Profiling Packages.  Another task Gary was assigned was to upgrade the PL/SQL Performance Tuning Course to Oracle 11g.

Post Hotsos, Gary returned to contract instructing for Oracle University.  (Gary contracts through an agency in Atlanta, Georgia – Resultz Staffing.)

Gary’s approach to Application Development is simple.  Input data – Process data – Report data.

General

Gary earned a Ph.D. in Physical Organic Chemistry from the University of South Florida in 1984. In 1990, while working at a DOE facility, he began working with the Oracle Database in a chemistry laboratory environment. In 1995, Gary went to work for Oracle Education (now Oracle University) as an instructor. Gary taught the OU curricula for Database Administration, Tools (Forms, Reports, Discoverer), Oracle Application Server, and Languages (SQL, PL/SQL, and Java). During that time, Gary made numerous presentations at events such as Open World and RMOUG Training Days. In 2002, Gary went to work for Corporate Express as a DBA, gaining more experience working with the Oracle Database. In July 2004, Gary decided to go back to teaching as an independent contractor, teaching much of the same curricula as before, while adding new courses such as OEM and Apex to his repertoire. 2009 brought Gary to Hotsos, as he began teaching as a contractor. From 2010 to August 2015, Gary  taught as a Hotsos employee teaching the Performance Tuning curriculum. Gary the  worked again for a short time as a contract instructor for Oracle and their Partners.

Gary is an avid cook, beer enthusiast, and Denver Broncos fan.

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