Simon O'Connor

Work History

• 

  Expert Programming Architect / Technical Lead

  Reflections

  July 2012 - December 2015

  Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom

  The last project I worked on at Ubisoft was The Division as an Expert Programmer, in particular I worked on engine and PS4 specific optimisations to the Snowdrop engine. I also managed a small feature team within the project.
  
  Before that I was Technical Lead for the PS4 version of The Crew. Working closely with lead studio Ivory Tower, my team we had complete ownership of the PS4 version, including porting and re-building the engine. We had very early access to the platform which was both exciting and challenging.
  
  I've been involved in a wide range of things in this role, from low-level engine programming to recruitment (permanent and contractor), from giving talks at developer conferences (Sony DevStation and Develop) to task scheduling, from engine architecture planning to managing outsource ports to last-gen platforms.

  
• 

  Senior Renderer Programmer

  Ubisoft

  2006 - November 2011

  Contributing to the design and implementation of the in-house renderer and game graphics for Xbox360, PS3 and PC; porting other engine components; profiling and optimisation of engine, content and game; assisting with porting and optimisation of Ubisoft titles for PS Vita
  
  Projects:
  * Lumines : Electronic Symphony - PS Vita
  * Rayman Origins - PS Vita
  * Driver : San Francisco - Xbox360, PS3, PC
  * Driver : Parallel Lines - PC

  
• 

  Senior Renderer Programmer

  Reflections

  November 2004 - April 2006

  Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom

  
  Contributing to the design and implementation of the in-house renderer and game graphics for Xbox and PC; porting other engine components; planning for next-gen
  
  Projects:
  * Driver Parallel Lines - Xbox
  * Driv3r - PC
  
• 

  Programmer

  Acclaim Entertainment

  January 2003 - September 2004

  Manchester, United Kingdom

  
  Developing the camera and effects systems for a 3rd person shooter. Acclaim filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy before I got to finish my work on the project.
  
  Projects:
  * Interview with a Made Man - Xbox, PS2
  

• Senior Programmer

  Creative Asylum

  March 1998 - March 2003

  
  Designed and implemented the renderer and art toolchain parts of the in-house engine (Paradox Engine); worked on graphics effect code, engine demos and some game code.
  
  Creative Asylum took on a number of work for hire contracts so this role included a lot of on-site collaboration with partners and customers such as Warthog, Magnetic Fields and Europress
  
  Projects:
  * Battlebots - PS2, GameCube - [THQ, canned]
  * Quiz Show - PS1, PC [Eon Digital]
  * Pac-Man : Adventures in Time - PC - [Hasbro]
  * Rally Championship - PC [Acualize/EA]
  * Rough Terrain - PS1 - [Europress, canned]
  * Get Ready for School - PC [Europress]
  * Starting to Read - PC [Europres]
  * Vector OEM Games Compendium - PC [Vector OEM]
  * Paradox - PC/PS1 - [canned]
  

• Programmer

  Europress Software

  March 1997 - March 1998

  
  Working in collaboration with LEGO, often working on site at their R&D facilities in Billund, Denmark. My team was contracted to work on the software side of their computerised LEGO/robotics entertainment and educational products.
  
  My work included development and design of the (2D) graphics engine, UI code, communication between the game and the robotics driver, gameplay/AI and robot control code (running locally on PC and remotely on the programmable brick).
  
  Projects:
  * LEGO Technic Cybermaster - PC
  * LEGO Mindstorms - PC [some consultation work]
  

• Programmer

  Micro Librarian Systems

  1994 - 1996

  
  The company developed and sold library automation database systems & peripherals designed for schools and colleges.
  
  The MD of the company was responsible for design and development of the main system, so my role covered "everything else" so work was quite varied and included areas such as: researching data compression algorithms, porting to other platforms, writing device drivers for barcode scanners and digital cameras, writing image capture and manipulation software. Due to the tiny size of the company, the role also included technical support and some on-site installation work.