Steve Cecil has worked at the U.S. Naval Surface Warfare Center Crane Division for 17 years. Early in his career, he chaired the IEEE working group that produced "IEEE 896.4-1995 Standard for Conformance Test Requirements for Futurebus+". Since 2002 he has co-chaired a COTS Working Group that identifies and solves COTS obsolescence problems in Navy Combat Systems. He also writes technology trends reports on microprocessors and backplanes. Some of his primary research in those technology areas involves participation in the VSO and PICMG working groups.