Rob Lockyer Blog and Portfolio

Résumé

Summary

Accomplished professional with over 15 years of experience in team leadership, software development, and project management. Known for building and leading high-performing teams, delivering innovative solutions, and driving strategic initiatives. Currently serving as Managing Director at Avalon Holographics, overseeing multidisciplinary projects at the forefront of technology.

Enthusiastic hiker of the East Coast Trail and active Toastmasters member, bringing strong communication and leadership skills to every endeavor. Committed to fostering collaboration, managing stakeholder relationships, and applying expertise to support impactful, community-focused initiatives.

Experience

Managing Director at Avalon Holographics

Mar 2023 - Present (1 year, 9 months)

I lead 37 people across a variety of teams Software, Codec, FPGA, Optics, Mechanical, Production, and IT, setting strategic direction and managing performance to align with business goals. I oversee contingency planning, coordinate remote installations, and build key partnerships while fostering industry relationships. I also present strategic initiatives to the board, ensuring alignment with the company’s vision.

Systems Engineer at Avalon Holographics

Mar 2020 - May 2023 (3 years, 3 months)

As a systems engineer, I was accountable for the technical outcomes of the software team, leading sprint planning meetings and collaborating with other engineers to design the architecture for our holographic display. I played a key role in developing requirements documents and facilitating consensus among teams and stakeholders on complex, open-ended technical issues.

Software Developer at Avalon Holographics

Sept 2015 - Mar 2020 (4 years, 7 months)

As a Software Developer, I focused on achieving real-time rendering of high-resolution light fields. Initially, I explored multi-view rasterization solutions but found them unsuitable for our needs. I then demonstrated how ray tracing could scale independently of view count, positioning us to take advantage of emerging hardware ray tracing technology. When hardware ray tracing became available, we were prepared to integrate it, continually refining our approach to efficiently render light fields at high resolution.

Software Engineer at HB Studios

Aug 2013 - July 2015 (~ 2 years)

Led a small team of developers; our team's primary focus was GUI development. Helped peers troubleshoot issues and ramp up on their first C# and Unity3D project. Personally managed the PC, and Mac releases of a game on Steam. Built a dynamic in game camera system for a 3D game. Fixed matchmaking and networking bugs in native code for next gen consoles.

Software Engineer at Rocket City Studios

May 2011 - June 2013 (~ 2 Years)

Worked on the level editor, and server for the game Second Chance Heroes. I primarily focused on improving user interactions with the editor's 3D viewport. I developed the tools our designers needed to manage complex scenes, and create compelling environments. On the server I largely focused on game logic, scripting, and the client-server interface.

Associate Software Engineer at Electronic Arts

January 2010 - December 2010 (2 Terms ~ 8 Months)

Worked with a central group to develop and support a multi-platform networking SDK. I personally worked on enhancing our automated testing framework, and developing GUI screens for manually testing our API.

Associate Software Engineer at AIF Small-Craft Simulation Project

January 2008 - August 2009 (3 Terms ~ 1 Year)

Tasked with evaluating 3D engines, developing particle effects, prototyping new functionality, and mentoring new employees.

Associate Network Administrator at National Research Council: Institute for Ocean Technology

April 2007 - August 2007 (1 Term ~ 4 Months)

Worked with a team of network administrators to maintain a network of about two hundred computers.

Technical Skills

Most skilled with:

  • C++, UE4, C#, Unity3D, Lua, Java

Moderately skilled with:

  • Vulkan, DirectX, Python, HTML, CSS, Bash

Dabbled in:

  • OpenGL, Swift, Javascript, Ruby, Powershell, Objective-C

Language independent skills and experience include:

  • Experience leading large multi-discipline teams
  • Experience developing better communication between contributors and stakeholders
  • Adept at developing consensus within organisations
  • Experience building and maintaining continuous integration systems (Jenkins, GitLab, Azure DevOps)
  • Extensive experience with Agile development processes
  • Version control systems (Git, Subversion, and Perforce)
  • Strong understanding of object oriented design principles
  • Explaining and brainstorming architecture with quick UML diagrams
  • Experience applying design patterns
  • Experience with 3D Computer Graphics
  • Experience developing for a wide variety of platforms: Windows, OSX, Linux, iOS, Android, PS4, XBox One, PS3, 360, Kindle

Education

Memorial University of Newfoundland
Bachelor of Engineering (Computer), 2005-2011
GPA of 3.16 - Cumulative Average of 74

Honors and Awards

  • 2011 Engineering Senior Project: Public Presentation Competition 2nd. Place in Electrical and Computer Engineering.
  • 2005 Provincial Skills Canada Competition 1st. Place Gold Medal in 3D Computer Animation.
  • 2004 Provincial Skills Canada Competition 1st. Place Gold Medal in 3D Computer Animation.