A summary of the experience of

Victor G. Berecz, Jr.

In May 1994, Vic Berecz retired from United Technologies Corporation, after 32 years of service in software engineering and computing technology research. Until 2001, he continued part-time teaching at Rensselaer at Hartford. Subsequently, being completely retired, he was able to pursue his family history avocation with greater zeal. His focus is obviously the continued exploration of his own family's history. In this endeavor, he continued developing genealogy software and database approaches useful in searching out and documenting his Roots, and later undertook the development of this website and several other websites.


"Vic the Computer Professor" by cartoonist Barney Blum, 1995.
Important Note

I believe that I am a competent family history researcher. But, I do not hold myself out as a professional genealogist, and do not normally accept commissions to do genealogical research. I typically decline payment when I provide occasional assistance to other Hungarian family history researchers. For me time isn't money, but my time is still very important to me. I may help with good-faith requests for support that are of interest to me. But, I reserve the right to decline (or even to ignore) your requests for help.

Genealogy and Family History Experience and Service Opportunities

Family History Research 1979-present; focused on researching his own family in historic Hungary, his wife's family in northern Germany; and limited work on associated families in the United States, Slovakia, Spain, and the Caribbean area.
Genealogy Software Development, 1986-2006; developed the non-commercial KinFolksTM and KinToolsTM software products as a means of exploring innovative approaches to family history.
Board for Certification of Genealogists (BCG), 1998; obtained certification as a Certified Genealogical LecturerSM (CGL-18) with specializations in Genealogical Computing and Hungarian Genealogy; this credential expired in 2003.
Lecturing, 1997-2003; lectured on technical topics including Relational Databases in Genealogy, the KinFolks Personal Focus GUI and The Future of Private Websites in Genealogy, and popular topics including Introduction to Genealogical Computing, and Exploring Hungarian Family History at universities, genealogical conferences, and local genealogy societies.
Writing, 2000-present; authored several articles on Hungarian family history for the monthly periodical Magyar News; prepared and published this Hungarian Family History Tutorial beginning in 2002.
Research Assistance, 1999-present; assisted patrons in the use of Hungarian family history resources at his local Family History Centers and other organizations in Florida and Connecticut. Also, provided assistance to readers of Magyar News Online and users of this website.

United Technologies (UTC) Corporate Experience in Software

United Technologies Research Center -- 1988-1994: Manager, Advanced Computing Technology Center. Managed a group involved in assessing advanced software, communications and multimedia technologies, and planning their transfer to UTC divisions. Served as principal liaison between UTC and the Software Productivity Consortium (SPC). Since 1980, chaired various UTC inter-divisional groups focused on improved software engineering management and technology utilization throughout UTC.
UTC Corporate Assignment -- 1986-1988: Software Productivity Consortium, Reston VA. Senior Technical Staff. Assisted with startup and ongoing planning of SPC's technical program. After returning to Connecticut, served from 1990-92 as chairman of SPC's Technical Advisory Board; and from 1992-93 as a member of the SPC Board of Directors.
Norden Systems Division of UTC -- 1981-1986: Chief, Software Research and Technology. Responsible for defining an effective software engineering methodology for Norden, and for providing the resources required to support that methodology. Assisted in preparing the initial technical plan that resulted in the formation of the Software Productivity Consortium. 1977-1981: Program Software Manager. Led three consecutive successful military software systems projects. Received 1979 United Technologies Award "for extraordinary achievement in product design."
Sikorsky Aircraft Division of UTC -- 1974-1977: Chief, Flight Test Data Processing. Managed the operation and on-going development of the RAPID real-time helicopter flight test data processing facility. 1971-1974: Supervisor, Systems and Applications Programming. Led the design and development of the systems and applications software for the RAPID system. 1966-71: Supervisor, Computer Technology.1962-1966: Engineering Programmer/Analyst.

Teaching Experience in Computer Science and Software Engineering

Rensselaer at Hartford 1993-2001: Adjunct Associate Professor of Computer Science at RPI's Hartford Graduate Center. Developed and taught a graduate-level course in Software Engineering Management.
University of New Haven - Graduate School 1974-1985: Adjunct faculty. Developed and taught graduate-level computer science courses.
Bridgeport Engineering Institute 1966-1969: Adjunct faculty. Developed and taught several undergraduate and special courses in programming and computing technologies.

Education

Valparaiso University; B.S., 1961, in mathematics.
University of Bridgeport; 1961-2, graduate studies in education and psychology.
Yale University; M.S., 1965, in engineering and applied science.
New York University; 1969-71, graduate studies in computer science (AbD).



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Certified Genealogical Lecturer is a Service Mark of the Board for Certification of Genealogists.
KinFolksTM and KinToolsTM are trademarks of Victor G. Berecz, Jr.