Résumé

Mickey Kawick

Technical Director / Sr. Software Engineer

Eidelstedter Weg 2, 20255 Hamburg, DE

mkawick@fastmail.com

Profile

Lead software engineer and architect. Worked on 26 games shipping titles such as Age of Empires, Madden, and Freelancer. Managed teams up to 13 and written numerous articles and authored a game programming book. Currently focused on a title for HTML5/Canvas. Background emphasizes performance and optimization.

Experience

Technical Director | Architect, DS Fishlabs Feb 2015 –Pres

Aids in all stages of post-production including during finalizing
Creates automated test process for system features, where possible, and contributes to the build system.
Scouts for and evaluates new technology and tools as opportunities for innovation and development excellence.
Evaluates interview candidates for technical positions.
Evaluates development teams, identifying strengths, problem areas, and developing plans for improving performance.
Defines the technological strategy with the development team of each project: pipeline, tools, and key development procedures.
Assesses technical risk and mitigation plan.
Provides input to the art, marketing, sales, and production on the practicality of initial design goals and impact to the overall project timeline.

Sr Network Engineer | DBA | Analytics | Architect, Playdek Mar 2013 – Feb 2015

Server network architecture, db design, gateways, performance. Built a server framework from scratch. The architecture is difficult to hack, by design, and never exposes user data. Division of work among processes means added security and load balancing support. Use of advanced server design patterns makes the network instantly recognizable and maintainable. Performance throughput measured (hammered) and performance became exceptional. DLC content delivery system built for in-game content delivery: not external apps here. Unification of multiple-servers into a coherent shared-responsibility and division of labor pattern with super easy configuration. Deployment on multiple platforms including Windows and Linux. Mobile development on iOs, Unity, Android, Vita. 

contract...

Team lead / Architect, Sony Electronics July 2010 – Aug 2012

HTML5 technologies (CSS3, canvas, animation, etc). Systems architecture and team lead developing in ChromeOS. Graphics, GUI, and systems programming and technical leadership. Designed combat systems, AI, and networking systems as well as systems architecture. Built the following systems: SQLite DB layer, threading/concurrency, WebGL, WebSockets, Audio, Video. Web workers for background processing. Designed our systems for security and encryption. Performance-related work and optimization. Team lead for scrum, product leadership, task assignment, team motivation, and bad jokes.

Sr. Engineer, Carbine Studios, Aliso Viejo, CA, Apr 09 - Present

Engineer on MMO project. Implemented various systems-level programming using C++, Lua, DirectX, SQL Server, and TCP/IP. Areas worked were networking, graphics, gameplay, and database. Entirely PC and Mac development. Tech studied included C#, Lisp, MySql, Linux, Project Management, DiffEq, and ComplexVariables.

Part-time university professor in various programming areas.

Team Lead, Action Pants, Vancouver, CA, Apr 07-Jan 09

Tools lead programmer and Sr architect. Applied scrum to reform the team into a powerhouse. Implemented core technologies and unit tests using C++, C#, and Lua. Worked in areas as diverse as reflection, gameplay, animation, audio, tools, and low-level systems. Ran team of 4-6. Tools development using C# for XBox360, PS3, Wii, and PC. Studied Python, Linear Programming, Group Theory, and Graph Theory.

Team Lead, EA, Apr 06 - Apr 07

Software lead programmer on Madden Wii. Technology skills included C++, C#, Lua. Second project was SQL Server integration into Web Services operating on a ASP.Net framework. Systems-level development in reflection, pipeline, database, networking, etc. Ran team of 3. Study in Complexity Theory and Linear Programming.

Team Lead, General Dynamics, May 03 - Apr 06

Team lead on digital imaging project. Primary tech included C++, C#, MFC, ArcGis, ELT 5500. Areas of tech included graphics, animation, AI, and networking. database, systems automation, pipeline, etc. Ran team of 13. Extensive graphics and networking work. Many different windowed tools developed (102). Performance optimizations led to a 280x performance improvement.

Sr software engineer, Various companies, May 95 - May 03

Worked as contract programmer, full time programmer, and for a variety of companies. Details provided upon request.

Education

Texas A&M, Mathematics. 2003 - 2006 (other universities attended: Simon Frasier, Cal State Dominguez Hills)

186 Semester hours (all universities combined, Masters Equiv)

Skills

Development Languages: C++, C#, Lua, Assembly, Python

IDE: Visual Studio, GNU, XCode, Radix

Technologies: Graphics, GUI, 3D graphics, audio, networking, AI, systems, low-level programming, optimization, debugging, animation

Management style: Coaching and Participative. Theme: Big carrots, small sticks. Involve team in key decisions. Inspire team members to greatness, cross train.

Production style: Scrum and Agile-lite. Theme: clear communication and scheduling, cross-team coordination, setting and meeting mile-stones

Human Resources: Good at attracting, evaluating, and recruiting new team members, orchestrating development-team strategy, creating apprenticeship programs, and adjudicating disputes or other contract issues. Development teams are groups of workers who need coordination to share knowledge, resources, and manpower.

Four key skills

Optimization: has the ability to optimize software with fantastic results. This includes networking, memory, and performance.

Software design: broad knowledge of design patterns, multi-threading, networking, and low-level systems allows for a large library of design choices and methodologies. Originally a Booch designer, has migrated to UML, sequence diagrams, and other design analysis tools.

Team motivation: with a combination of one-on-ones, stand-up meetings, team involvement in scheduling, well-defined team direction, coaching team-members toward greatness, and allowing team members to select tasks and specialize, a high level of motivation can be built and maintained. Strong believer in the book Good to Great.

Highly-agile: a strong belief in working directly with the customer has demonstrated repeatedly great results, low-bug counts (very low in most cases), and quick response to design changes.

Other facts

US Navy 3 years as a Hebrew Translator, Honorable Discharge

Rock climber, Skydiver

Linguist 4 fluent languages, 12 non-fluent

Classes in Music and Business Law

Hometown Placerville, CA, Population 5,400

Good Cook

Myers-Briggs: ENTJ