Alan R. Weiss

Alan R. Weiss is a computer industry expert on benchmarking and Software development tools, Founder of the " [http://www.ebenchmarks.com/ EEMBC Certification Laboratory (ECL)] ", an independent third party that certified the benchmark scores for the industry-standard consortium known as EEMBC.

Weiss is Founder and CEO of [http://www.synchromeshcomputing.com Synchromesh Computing, LLC] in Austin, Texas. In March 2006, ECL was sold to Synchromesh Computing.

Weiss helped develop the benchmark source code for EEMBC, and was the Project Manager for EEMBC's Technical Advisory Group, the main team chartered with the technical direction of EEMBC. EEMBC is an industry-standard consortium of 60 semiconductor and compiler companies.

Before starting ECL, Weiss worked for Motorola (now Freescale Semiconductor) for 6 years, rising from a software developer to Manager of Software Technologies and Principal Systems Software Architect for Intelligent Transportation Systems. He was, for a time, software architect for corporate-wide Speech Recognition technologies inside of Motorola (now Freescale Semiconductor).

He was a co-founder and was the Motorola Voting Board Member of the EDN Embedded Benchmark Consortium EEMBC. He served as the first Chairperson of that consortium's Automotive/Industrial Subcommittee. Before that, he helped found and served as the first Vice-Chairman of the Standard Performance Evaluation Corporation SPEC Graphics Performance Committee Multimedia Benchmark Committee (SPEC Media). He is a recognized industry expert in microprocessor performance analysis, benchmarking, software engineering, and Software development tools. He has spoken at [http://www.coolchips.org/ Cool Chips] , [http://www.designcon.com/ DesignCon] , [http://www.esconline.com/ Embedded Systems Conference] , Microprocessor Forum, and other computer industry conferences.

Weiss is a member of the Advisory Boards of a number of computer industry companies, including [http://www.change-management-consulting.com/html/pr_06-24-02.html dbk Associates] , and is a former member of the Microprocessor Report Editorial Review Board and a former member of the Technical Advisory Board for a Silicon Valley intellectual property company.

Libertarian activism and political office

Alan R. Weiss is a Libertarian political activist, former Vice President and Organizer of the Free State Project, was an elected officer in Austin, Texas.

Weiss was elected, as a Libertarian, a Director of the Northwest Austin #1 Municipal Utility District and had a fiduciary responsibility for that public utility in the state of Texas, USA. Previously he had worked for the establishment of an elementary school in Canyon Creek, his neighborhood, which was granted in the mid-1990's by Round Rock Independent School District. While in office he served as the Finance Chairman, and lead the effort to reduce taxes while improving services. Taxes were reduced by over 50% on property in his District under his leadership. Services to residents/taxpayers were actually improved as a result. He resigned when believed his work was completed on the basic taxation issue, but not before participating in a lawsuit against the City of Austin for multiplicity of taxation. Weiss and others asserted that Austin had violated the Texas State Water Code. The case has been heard by the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals of the State of Texas, and could result in significant changes to the Texas Water Code.

In February 2006 Weiss was elected a Director of the Canyon Creek Homeowner's Association, where he pledged to re-open all closed infrastructure without raising taxes using volunteer labor.

Weiss is the Founder and Chairman of The Ceres Project, a small investment project dedicated to funding a new film and book by L. Neil Smith entitled "Ceres", and is similarly the Founder and Chairman of the follow-up project, The Ares Alliance. Combined, the two funds have raised significant capital in a very short amount of time. His success at raising capital and in organizing both these projects landed him as L. Neil Smith's Book and Film Agent. The book "Ceres" was first-draft finished in December 2005 and distributed to investors in March 2006 as completed, proving that private investment club funding could work to fund major (over 800 pages) new pieces of literature.

Weiss has written dozens of articles and essays for both " [http://www.rationalreview.com Rational Review] " and " [http://www.ncc-1776.com/ The Libertarian Enterprise] ", an influential anarcho-capitalist and paleolibertarian journal, including "They're Not Here, and They're Not Coming Part 1", "They're Not Here and They're Not Coming Part 2", "SCOTUS Among Us", "The Economics of Sitting Ducks", "Alan R. Weiss Endorses Michael Badnarik for President", "Thoughts on Forms of Political Economy on Mars Part 1", "I Am A Nigger - An Assay of Truth", "Real World Economics", "Planes, Trains, and the Free State Project", "Our Kind of Town", "The Dan Weiner Delivery", "On Mel Gibson", "On Texas Libertarianism and Secession", and "Lux Lucre, R.I.P." He was on the front page of the Sunday edition of the Austin American-Statesman with a picture of him in front of an American flag, a copy of the Declaration of Independence in his hand, a smile on his face in the featured article, "On To New Hampshire To Build The Land of the Free" by Mark Lisheron.

Weiss' company certified the voting process and the balloting for The Free State Project (FSP). This was an example of a private company certifying a major vote of an intensely scrutinized (by the Media) organization.

Weiss joined The Free State Project as a Participant, then became an Organizer and Advisor, and then lead the Executive Search Team to find the Director of Development for the FSP. He was elected Vice President of the Free State Project. He continues to be involved with the FSP as well as other peaceful pro-liberty movements.

Because of his activities in the Free State Project and in Travis County, he attended the 2004 Libertarian Party National Convention (both as a credentialed delegate from Texas and as Vice President of the Free State Project). He was asked, and gave, one of the nominating speeches for Michael Badnarik, which was televised on C-SPAN.

Weiss' involvement in the LP extends back to 1978, when he started a Students for a Libertarian Society (SLS) chapter at California State University, Northridge (CSUN) and then the Northridge Libertarian Society. He cut his teeth on the Ed Clark for Governor campaign, and then continued working within the LP on the Ed Clark for President campaign in 1980.

Weiss holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Business from California State University, Northridge (CSUN), and has extensive post-baccalaureate training and education in hardware and software engineering, semiconductor physics, management science, and project management, including formal training. He regularly teaches classes in software engineering to help better the industry and its products.

Weiss has published a number of papers at various software and semiconductor-related conferences, and has given presentations at Embedded Systems Conference, DesignCon, Cool Chips IV, Freescale Technology Forum, and Embedded Processor Forum. He is a member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE Number 40357826). He lives with his wife Jane, and their three children in Austin, Texas USA.

ee also

* Free State Project

External links

* [http://www.synchromeshcomputing.com/] Synchromesh Computing
* [http://www.ebenchmarks.com/] ECL
* [http://www.mr-benchmark.com/] Mr. Benchmark
* [http://www.freestateproject.org] Free State Project
* [http://www.lneilsmith.org/ceres-project.html] The Ceres Project
* [http://www.lneilsmith.org/ares-alliance.html] The Ares Alliance