Mr. Kern quit his job at PRC and became an employee of i-Net, then returning to PRC after completing a project. What prompted this odd behavior? The FAA Backfile Conversion project was (as near as available information indicates) the second largest imaging system in operation at the time behind only the IRS system. It scanned pilots license information, moving licenses and medical history to electronic form. A "backfile" system scanns material in bulk from existing warehoused paper records. It is the highest volume type of imaging system, the most challenging type to build in many ways. This was roughly the last of the massive document management integration projects of the 1980s and early 1990s.
Mr. Kern was recruited by his friend Anil Kapilashrami, formerly a co-worker at PRC, more recently a CTO at various international companies, and at the time the Cheif Engineer at the document management division of i-Net. Mr. Kern became the cheif architect there. Mr. Kern supervised a technical team of up to 60 persons for about a year to build this system. The system involved $250K microfiche scanners on granite bases and shockmounts to reduce vibration and improve image quality. Image delivery and QA was highly automated between integrator and customer locations with an extensive production workflow system.
When this massive system was complete Mr. Kern returned to PRC and worked on the ATLASS II worldvide logistics system of the USMC, and a maintenance depot logistics system for the USMC.
"If you do anything long enough, you eventually get good at it." MK