Burton M. Gustafson
14612 Homerite Dr.
408 377-3732
San Jose, CA 95124
E-mail:Burt_gustaf@msn.com
Web: http://www.bmgtechwriter.com


EXPERTISE
An energetic Senior Technical writer with thirty + years of
electronics industry experience. Starting as a Technician,
advancing to Field Service Engineer, to Senior Technical
Writer/Illustrator, specializing in end-user and service
documentation. I have skills in Technical Publications
Management and Technical Illustration. I can work independently
or as part of a team. I can work multiple projects simultaneously
and do so frequently. A dependable, thorough writer, who
communicates effectively with all levels of personnel. I
produce results. Highly proficient in Framemaker, Illustrator,
and Paint Shop Pro. 

COMPUTER SKILLS

DESKTOP Publishing           DRAWING               OP SYSTEMS 
FrameMaker (Win)*        Illustrator 8.0 (Win)*     Win 3.1
FrameMaker (Mac)         Illustrator 7.0 (Mac)      Win 95*
FrameMaker (Unix)        PhotoShop*                 Win 98*
MS Word (Win)*           MacDraw                    Win NT4.0*
MS Word (Mac)            Paint Shop Pro*            Mac OS
PageMaker (Mac)          Streamline*                Unix
RoboHelp*                OrCad
                         
WEB                 SCREEN CAPTURE
DHTML                HiJaak*	
JavaScript           Paint
Perl                 	
PageMill* 
GoLive*      
Acrobat 3.0*	
*Available offsite
		

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

INTEVAC Inc.  Santa Clara CA
Contract Senior Technical Writer 05/99 - 08/00

Wrote and illustrated highly technical end-user and service manuals,
test procedures, installation guides, and functional descriptions for
large disk sputtering systems, using Adobe Framemaker, Illustrator,
and Paint Shop Pro. Converted Pro "E" and AutoCad drawings into
Illustrator isometric EPS files for insertion into Framemaker
documents. Using my illustrating skills, created new illustrations
using Illustrator and Paint Shop Pro.

Bradford Technical Associates Palo Alto CA
Contract Technical Illustrator - 06/00

As a subcontractor, created isometric illustrations to support
service documentation for a hand recognition unit. 


CONTINUUM Santa Clara CA
Contract Senior Technical Writer  - 1998

Edited laser user/service manuals, converted AutoCad 
drawings into Illustrator EPS files for insertion into PageMaker
documents, created new illustrations for existing manuals, designed
FrameMaker templates and defined manual content for new laser product
manuals.

XEROX COLORGRAFX, San Jose, CA	                    1989-1998
(formerly XES and Versatec)

Senior Technical Writer
Designed, wrote, and illustrated highly technical end-user
and service manuals, functional descriptions, theories of
operation, repair, and troubleshooting documentation for
wide format color and monochrome, electrostatic and inkjet printers.

Service manuals:
Accessed customer requirements, then, collaborated with
electronic, software, hardware, manufacturing engineers,
and coordinated with illustrators resulting in consistent
customer satisfaction.

Printer/plotter and controller:
End-user manuals, specification manuals, software reference
and applications, parts breakdown, release notes and upgrade
procedures.

Management:
Managed the Xerox ColorgrafX publications department from
1994 to 1998. This included:
• managing the writing and illustrating projects of a contract
  writer, illustrator, and graphics artist
• planning and scheduling writing projects
• interfacing with international translator services for
  translating manuals
• interfacing with printers for printing services
• converting documents from one file format to another
• upgrading publishing tools.

ZENTEC CORPORATION, Santa Clara, CA	              1979-1989
Technical Writer/Instructor                             1983-89
Trainer/Writer                                          1981-82
Electronics Technician/Field Engineer                   1979-81

PRIOR TO 1979
Steady advancement and increasing responsibilities as an
electronic technician and engineer throughout the Bay Area.
U.S. Air Force.

OFF SITE CAPABILITIES
Hardware: 650MHz Pentium III with 384 megabytes of RAM, 20 giga bytes
of hard drive capacity, 21 inch monitor, R/W CD ROM drive, 56Kbps
fax modem, 100 megabyte Iomega ZIP drive, HP LaserJet 6P printer,
and an Epson Stylus color printer.
Operating Systems: Windows NT 4.0, 98, and 95.


EDUCATION
Bay Area Community Colleges: General Education (1 year),
Drafting Technology (2 years), Technical Illustration (1 year).
A.A. Electronics Engineering, Capitol Radio Engineering Institute
U. S. Air Force, Electronic theory training courses.

PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATION
Member, Society for Technical Communications (STC)