K. D. Farrell

creative | analytical

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Lead Software Engineer ( GameDev, Research )

15+ years experience leading teams and directing development of tools for games and research.

Experience
  1. Lead Tools Engineer
    Activision / Sledgehammer Games
    • Shipped Call of Duty: Vanguard, Modern Warfare 2
    • Rebuilt content creation tools for current engine technology
    • Proposed and architected new tools and workflows to support game devs
    • Built and managed a small team of entry- to expert-level engineers
    • Collaborated as a domain lead in cross-studio development efforts
  2. Senior Software Engineer (Lead)
    University of Iowa, Virtual Soldier Research (VSR)
    • Directed a military-funded program to improve effectiveness of motion capture for analysis of personal protective equipment
    • Designed & developed Ektimo software for human-centric analysis of motion capture
    • Oversaw research progress and delivered final reports along with stable software to clients
    • Contributed to both research & development of an injury prediction framework (Malum Terminus)
    • Made significant improvements to architecture & stability of Santos™ software
  3. Senior Software Engineer
    University of Iowa, Virtual Soldier Research (VSR)
    • Led architecture and development of the GruntSim/ETOWL software – a human simulation tool specifically designed to analyze load carriage by military personnel
    • Actively discussed predictive research and provided suggestions that improved results
    • Delivered stable software releases and met deadlines to the satisfaction of funding partners
    • Managed and motivated a team of both student and staff programmers
    • Provided demonstration/training to clients, and promptly responded to feedback
    • Managed further development of Santos™ and ProGait (gait analysis) software
  4. Software Engineer
    University of Iowa, Virtual Soldier Research (VSR)
    • Major contributor to architecting the Santos™ human simulation software from the ground up
    • Played key role in design and development of all major systems – including GUI, world objects/properties, animation, undo/redo, predictive research, plug-ins, and much more
    • Provided reliable scheduling, reports, and presented to clients to secure continued funding
  5. Software Engineer
    Activision / Z-Axis / Underground
    • Shipped X-Men: The Official Game (PS2, Xbox, Xbox360)
    • Designed and developed in-house software tools for creating visual effects (VFX)
    • Implemented run-time code for VFX components (e.g., lightning, beams)
    • Worked with artists and provided programming support for VFX creation
    • Found & fixed outstanding bugs and memory leaks
Education
  1. MS, Mechanical Engineering
    University of Iowa GPA: 4.0
  2. BS, Computer Science & Mathematics
    University of Iowa GPA: 4.0
    Graduated with Highest Distinction
Publications
  1. Improved Motion Capture Processing for High-Fidelity Human Models Using Optimization-Based Prediction of Posture and Anthropometry
    Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing
  2. Body-Based Obstacle Avoidance for Motion Simulation using Optimization-Based Posture Prediction
    Conference: Digital Human Modeling Symposium
    Best Presentation Award, 2nd Place
  3. Vision Performance Measures for Optimization-Based Posture Prediction
    SAE Technical Papers
  4. Modeling Dual-Arm Coordination for Posture: An Optimization-Based Approach
    SAE Technical Papers
  5. Kinematic Human Modeling and Simulation Using Optimization-Based Posture Prediction
    Master's Thesis