my supervisor, for his faith in me and for guiding my transition from engineering student to physicist. Prof. Peter Wittich, for his friendship, instruction and encouragement. Prof. Joe Kroll, for pushing me when my enthusiasm had flagged. Prof. Brig Williams, for allowing me an opportunity to experience an ATLAS test-beam before I entered graduate school. Dr. Ted Liu, for providing me freedom and encouragement in my work on the CDF Level 2 (PULSAR) Trigger upgrade. All in the Penn HEP group, for kindling my interest in hardware and computing.And, of course, Seema, my fiancee, for her love, support and patience.