Gary Arnold Resume

Gary Arnold
Novato, CA 94947
garnold [at] garyarnold [dot] com

Objective

To make computers deliver on all the promises they made in those old 1950's science fiction movies. Except for the "turning evil and enslaving mankind" part.

Summary of Qualifications

Over fifteen years experience in professional commercial development
Solid background in cross-platform development libraries and systems
Experience writing design documents, technical specifications, and milestone lists
Adept at working in a multidisciplinary team and integration and scheduling of assets
Excellent oral and written communication skills
Proven ability to problem-solve and meet deadlines within a demanding environment

Professional Experience

Forterra Systems - San Mateo, CA

April 2005 to Present
Senior Software Engineer
Developed many components of OLIVE (Online Interactive Virtual Environment) platform, including real-time VOIP voice pitching, environmental audio system, avatar health and damage system, teleportation system, new particle system, new camera, and many GUI widgets and enhancements. Most development was within a mixed Linux/Windows environment with shared source code.

Implemented vehicle traction physics model on contract to There.com as part of their MTV Pimp My Ride project. Also helped evaluate and integrate OPCODE collision system to support this effort.

Currently implementing new terrain storage, manipulation, and display system for OLIVE, including 3DSMax importer and exporter and OLIVE-based visualizer.

Team Lead
Led team in effort to provide OLIVE integration with military SAF (Semi-Automated Forces) systems, in particular OneSAF, via DIS protocol. Drove design and implementation of gateway application which provided translation between OLIVE and SAF using the MaK VRLink library. Customer was very pleased with project outcome, which was also within budget.

SAF team also developed ability to export OLIVE terrain and building footprints in SEDRIS format.

Also provided support with integration of Old Dominion University's Crowd Federate project, which operates similarly to traditional SAF systems.

Transmeta - Santa Clara, CA

March 2002 to April 2005
Software Engineer, Applications Engineering Group
Developed application for monitoring the runtime activity of a Windows application, and graphically displaying that application's DLL, driver, and Win32 API calls. Display included stack contents, memory dereferences, return values, elapsed realtime, and other statistics for each call. Could also import proprietary Transmeta data files to show relationships between Crusoe chip internals and x86-space memory. Visualization application ran under both Windows and Linux.

Used various tools for reverse-engineering OSes and applications to solve customer isues with Crusoe and Efficeon chip compatibility. Tools ranged from Visual Studio debugger to Windows kernel debugger, SoftIce, custom debuggers, VMetro PCI bus analyzers, and oscilloscopes. Customer issues also varied, including realtime response issues, memory latencies, bus arbitration and usage issues, and CPU identification.
Managed multiple brand-name computer manufacturer accounts for Applications Engineering Group. Responsible for timely, accurate resolution of all problems brought to the AE Group by these customers.

Sonicity - San Francisco, CA

January 2001 to November 2001
Senior Developer
Created a JSP/Servlet application which allowed users to remotely create, destroy, and monitor media streams. Application included session management and security via Sonicity directory lookup services.

Designed and developed a Linux daemon responsible for remotely starting, stopping, and configuring other Sonicity daemons. Daemon included an embedded TCL interpreter. Wrote Perl script for processing log files from Windows Media Server, Real Server, ShoutCast, and Quicktime servers, and feeding results to a third-party HTML report generator for serving directly to clients.

Assessed integration with Portal's Infranet billing solution. Included training course and submission of feasibility plan.

Wrote Windows Media Server plugins for user authentication and event logging, using Sonicity APIs for directory lookup and sending logging information to other Sonicity tools. Developed Microsoft ISA Server plugin for event logging, using Sonicity APIs to collate information across multiple servers, and communicate with Sonicity directory and database applications. This plugin is part of the RTRS solution offered by Sonicity as a Microsoft ISA Server partner, allowing traffic on multiple servers to be monitored in real-time.

Designed and wrote Windows services which communicated with remote Sonicity applications to start, stop, and configure Windows Media Server publishing points. A version which worked with Microsoft's next-generation media server was also developed. Both services are part of Sonicity's enterprise solution.

Assumed project management of several key Sonicity products. Duties included managing small programming team, making product design decisions, as well as actual programming of product components.

Visual Concepts Entertainment - San Rafael, CA

December 1998 to December 2000
Senior Developer Implemented all audio for four flagship products - NFL2K, NBA2K, NFL2K1, and NBA2K1. The audio systems consisted of a sophisticated commentary engine capable of choosing among several thousand lines of dialogue to be triggered, dependent on game situation. The commentary for each product was implemented separately, with a lower-level API common to all products. Several data conversion and asset management tools were written in Perl to help manage over 20,000 individual audio assets. Each of these games broke new ground in sports game audio and commentary, and all but NBA2K1 was a #1 seller.

LifeLike Productions, Inc. - Sausalito, CA

March 1997 to December 1998
Senior Developer
Member of three programmer team in development of ArmyMen 3D, a realtime 3D action/strategy game. Designed and implemented C- and assembly-optimized graphics pipeline, including internal file format and data structure specification. Developed in-game editor, leveraging existing game engine to give level designers true WYSIWYG; game co-design; general data structure and algorithm co-design; assisted other team members with performance optimization. Project developed in C++ using Visual SourceSafe and Metrowerks Codewarrior for PlayStation.

Project Leader
Project leader in update of LifeLike's PlayStation marketing sampler code base for four new marketing titles - Jampack Volume 1 & 2 and Pack-In Sampler 4 & 5 for Sony. Update required redesign of basic code structure as well as graphic quality and speed enhancements within a demanding one-month delivery schedule. Worked closely with original author of code base and producers at Sony Computer Entertainment. Jampack Volume 1 received a #3 rating in OPM Magazine.

Presage Software Development, Inc. - San Rafael, CA

May 1994 to March 1997
Designer
Co-design of turn-based Internet strategy game. Game elements included multiplayer support via TCP/IP protocol, multiple AIs, pseudo-3D world, physics model, editing and random generation of game maps. Design presentation to GT Interactive, Blizzard, Accolade, Brøderbund, and TEN included full design document, preliminary technical specification, and project cost and time estimate.

Senior Developer
Team member in development and design of Lode Runner II, a multiplayer puzzle/action game. Developed standalone level editor based on game engine using Metrowerks Powerplant application framework, and cross-platform TCP/IP client/server networking engine. Project developed under source control in C++ for simultaneous Windows 95 and Macintosh release. Documented technical specification and milestone list for networking engine and editor.

Project Bid
One of two developers involved in one-week project to port Quake to the Macintosh as part of id Software's bidding process. Implemented Macintosh-specific graphics engine, including support for multiple resolutions. Final product was fully playable with the exception of networking. Conversion proposal was delivered to id Software on schedule.

Technology Evaluation Conducted one-week technology evaluation of Sony PlayStation to determine ease of integrating PlayStation support into current in-house Windows/Macintosh cross-platform system. Delivered simple application demonstrating PlayStation rendering capabilities and documentation of specific strengths and weaknesses of both PlayStation and in-house development system.

Project Leader Converted Hexen: Beyond Heretic, based on the DOOM engine originally developed by id Software, from DOS to Macintosh. Full networking support for AppleTalk, IPX, modem, and direct serial connection; mouse, joystick, and CyberMaxx VR helmet support; improved Macintosh user interface; PowerPC-specific speed optimization. Product was given good reviews, several top-ten, in many major magazines, such as MacWorld and Mac Home Journal.

Project Leader Converted Might and Magic: World of Xeen, a computer role-playing game published by New World Computing, from DOS to Macintosh. Full Macintosh user interface, multiple QuickTime movies and sound streams from double-speed CD-ROM, and high-resolution graphics enhancements. Product was reviewed favorably by both Macintosh-specific and general gaming magazines.

Advanced Software Technology - Emeryville, CA

May 1991 to October 1993
Software Engineer
Developed accounting modules in Microsoft Access for several vertical-market software packages.

Systems Engineer
Oversaw installation of large-scale client/server network consisting of over two miles of cable installation, running AIX on an IBM RS/6000. Repair, upgrade, and maintenance of both on-site and off-site computer systems for clients.

Computer Skills

Languages
Experienced with: C, C++, Kylix/Delphi, HTML, Python
Familiar with: Java, Perl, Tcl, PHP, SQL, Assembler (Hitachi SH4, MIPS RISC, 680x0, PowerPC, x86), Smalltalk, Scheme

Platforms and APIs
Experienced with: Linux, *NIX, *BSD
Familiar with: Win32 API, GTK+, PalmOS, Macintosh ToolBox and QuickDraw, PowerPlant, OpenGL, Direct X, Sega Dreamcast, Sony PlayStation

Operating Systems
Experienced with: Linux, Windows95/NT/2000/XP/3.1, *BSD, *NIX
Familiar with: MacOS, PalmOS, DOS

Software
Experienced with: GCC, Visual C++, Eclipse, CVS, Perforce, Gimp, Adobe Photoshop, StarOffice, Abiword, MS Word, MS Excel
Familiar with: Visual Source Safe, Source Navigator, Delphi/Kylix, MySQL, Apache, Zope, Plone, Metrowerks Codewarrior, National Instruments LabView

Specialized Skills and Equipment
Familiar with: Fluke NetDAQ, DVM, Electronic schematics, CPU design, VMetro bus analyzer, logic analyzer, oscilloscope

Education

Computer Science
University of California at Berkeley - Berkeley, CA
1989-1993

References available upon request

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Gary Arnold