Tom Meyer

tom@tom.to

Software Architect, CTO, Technical Lead

Leader who has consistently innovated and created new technology-driven businesses, focused on great user experiences. Develops and deploys technologies designed for maximum flexibility and speed of development, to support fast-changing business needs. Extensive architecture and system development background on a variety of Windows, UNIX/Linux, web, and mobile platforms, using design patterns and frameworks to integrate diverse software environments. Good communicator who has managed and mentored teams, spoken at conferences, and pitched technologies. Principal inventor on six patents and two pending patents, and contributor to ISO standards.

Keywords: Software architect, technology strategy, user interface and user experiences. Languages: C, C++, Python, Java, Perl, Ruby, PHP, JavaScript, Scheme, LISP, XML, AIR, Flex, Flash, Flash-Lite. Django, Rails, Tomcat, Apache. REST, XML-RPC, and SOAP interfaces. Cloud computing: Google App Engine, Amazon Web Services. Facebook & YouTube API integration. OpenGL & OpenCV. Media codecs: MPEG, mp3, MPEG-4, Dolby AC-3, JPEG, GSM. Windows, Unix, Linux, Android, Windows Mobile, Symbian, ARM embedded. Oracle, MySQL & SQLite databases.

Work Experience

Snibbe Interactive, CTO/Chief Software Architect, 2008 to present.

Currently lead technology strategy for an immersive location-based entertainment company, focused on branding and museum markets. Mentor development team and streamline development processes to increase product quality, speed, and flexibility.

Added an embedded Python/Django web server to the core product, and integrated Flex/AIR-based uploading of user video experiences to YouTube and Facebook.
Designed and deployed a real-time character animation system using a stereo camera to analyze and mirror the user’s movements, using OpenCV and OpenGL.

Phoam Technologies, CTO, 1998 to present.

Created the core intellectual properties for an IP development and licensing company, consisting of four world-class inventors.

Executed three seven-figure IP licensing transactions, selling to Asian companies.
Invented a a suite of technologies with three granted patents and two patents pending, to extend multimedia codecs such as mp3, MPEG, JPEG, GSM, Dolby AC-3, AAC, etc., to embed casual games, merchandising, and advertising.
Led development team using Windows Media, Flash & Flash-Lite on various platforms, including Windows, Web, Windows Mobile, Symbian, BREW, and the iPod. Also developed C, C++, .Net, Java, and ActionScript pattern-based APIs.
Architected a back-end system using Amazon Web Services for inserting advertising in delivered music, and to provide tracking and analytics for these ads.

Also provided consulting services to Sonnenschein (IP litigation firm), InterVU (now part of Akamai), Impulse! Buy Network (now part of Yahoo!), and several other early stage Internet companies. Technical adviser, executive producer, and writer for a PBS documentary on computer technology.

First Virtual Holdings (now part of DoubleClick/Google), Senior Creative Architect, San Diego CA, 1996-1998.

Brought together and led a 12-person business, technical, and creative team to develop and deploy transactional media technologies, including the very first Java-based banner ads.

Created the VirtualTAG(SM) advertising technology, working with Saatchi & Saatchi. This won First Prize in the 1st International Internet Animation Festival, and E-Business Magazine recognized it as the best product at the Spring 1997 Internet World.
Architected VirtualADz(SM), a “nanokernel” graphics system and authoring tools to support the creation of extremely flexible and small (10-12k) Java-based Internet multimedia content. Primary inventor on three patents granted based on this technology. Also developed a custom authoring language with an optimizing Java compiler.

Brown University Graphics Group, Researcher, Providence RI, 1991-1996.

Developed novel user interfaces and real-time algorithms for 3D desktop and immersive systems, funded by NASA Ames, NSF, ARPA, SGI, HP, and Sun. Led research on Internet collaboration, programming languages, and 3D cinematographic techniques.

Standards group member on ISO/IEC 14772-1 (VRML, now part of MPEG-4) , and interfaced with the MPEG-4 group to integrate VRML into that standard (ISO/IEC 14496-11). Co-founder of the VRML Consortium (now the Web3D Consortium).

Built a scientific visualization system to explore user interfaces for data-driven applications and developed a real-time graphics framework to schedule time-critical graphics in multi-processing virtual environments.
Brought the first feature-length film onto the Web, as technical director working with David Blair to create WAXweb, a hypermedia version of his film WAX, or the discovery of television among the bees, highlighted at SIGGRAPH 94 & 95, Ars Electronica, and many other international exhibitions. This was also the very first VRML 1.0.

NASA Ames, Mountain View CA, Summer 1993.

Worked on the Virtual Wind Tunnel project, and developed novel virtual reality interfaces to cutting planes and isosurfaces.

Education

Master of Science in Computer Science from Brown University, June 1996.

Thesis: Time-critical techniques for scientific visualization in virtual environments, under Professor Andries van Dam. NASA-funded research which did real-time scheduling of 3D data visualization on SGI and Sun multiple-processor workstations.

Bachelor of Arts in Art/Semiotics from Brown University, June 1993.

Papers

An Interactive 3D Toolkit for the Construction of 3D Widgets, proceedings of SIGGRAPH 93.

A MOO-Based Collaborative Hypermedia System for WWW, Proceedings Second International WWW Conference, in Computer Networks and ISDN Systems, December 1995.

3D Widgets for Exploratory Scientific Visualization, proceedings of UIST ‘94.

WAXweb: Toward Dynamic MOO-based VRML, proceedings of VRML 95.

Adding Behavior to VRML, proceedings of VRML 95.

Direct Manipulation of Isosurfaces and Cutting Planes in Virtual Environments, NASA Ames Technical Report RNR-93-019, Brown Technical Report CS-93-54.

Professional Activity

Member of the Program Committee for the VRML 97 conference, and Chaired panels at Hypertext 96 and SIGGRAPH 94. Panel member at SIGGRAPH 96, the Fall 96 Netscape Developer’s Conference, WWW 2, VRML 95, the Winter 96 Internet Expo, the Spring 97 Internet Expo, World Movers, and Earth to Avatars. ACM member.

tom at tom dot to

Résumé