Pete Isensee

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Key Skills

C++, performance, game technologies, virtual reality, augmented reality, developer education, public speaking, public writing, coordinating large projects, managing & mentoring people, planning & strategy, cross-team collaboration, telemetry & metrics


Experience

Software Engineering Director, Reality Labs Research (previously Oculus Research), July 2016 - present

Building the future of virtual and augmented reality.


Senior Staff Engineer, HBO Code Labs, Mar 2014 - June 2016

Created new HBO entertainment experiences for people and devices worldwide. Prototyped a wide variety of applications, with a focus on virtual reality storytelling.


Principal Program Manager, Microsoft Xbox Advanced Technology Group, Jan 2011 - Oct 2013

Directed Microsoft's game developer education, research & development, support, developer marketing and PR, training and developer event initiatives for professional Xbox 360 and Xbox One console developers, plus indie developers in the Xbox Live Indie Games program


Principal Group Program Manager, Microsoft Game Platform Tools, Nov 2008 - Dec 2010

Shifted roles from programming to program management, coordinating the delivery of all game development tools for Microsoft platforms, as well as overseeing all technical documentation for game development products.


Principal Development Manager, Microsoft Professional Game Platform, Oct 2007 - Nov 2008

Led a large team of software engineers creating the low-level technology used by all Xbox 360 and Windows games.


Development Team Lead, Microsoft Game Developer Connection, Feb 2006 - Oct 2007

Led a team of software engineers supporting game developers on Xbox 360, Windows and other Microsoft gaming platforms. Team mission: "Game developer support, performance insight and technical illumination."


Lead Software Engineer, Microsoft Xbox Advanced Technology Group, Jan 2001 - Jan 2006

Led a team of software engineers working on Xbox and Xbox 360 research and development, performance issues, game technology and tools.


Senior Network Engineer, Emerald City, Dec 1999 - Dec 2000

Internet and client-server developer for Emerald City Technologies, a company that created massively multiplayer 3D games and game technology.


Senior Software Engineer, World Opponent Network (WON.net), Aug 1998 - Nov 1999

Internet gaming developer. Enhanced existing lobby-based software designed as the entry point for dozens of existing Win32 multiplayer games. Used by over 10,000 players on a daily basis. Lead developer of WONplay, a web-based technology for downloading and launching multiplayer games with a single click. Initially rolled out with Hoyle casual card and board games; later used for Bezerk games like Acrophobia.


Software Design Engineer, HyperBole Studios, Jan 1994 - June 1998

Lead engineer and systems architect of HyperBole’s VirtualCinema high-performance media playback engine. Managed a six-person team that used object-oriented solutions and leading video, graphics and database technologies. Championed standard coding conventions and defensive programming techniques. Helped educate management on the vagaries of software development.


Software Engineer, Peopleware (now EventsAir), June 1990 - Jan 1994

Programmed a large-scale multiuser database application for seminar and meeting management. Helped create and upgrade reusable software modules built on a powerful database library.


Education

B.S. Computer Engineering, cum laude; English minor, Pacific Lutheran University


Operating Systems and Runtimes

Xbox One, Xbox 360, Xbox, Windows Runtime, Win32, iOS, Mac OS


Languages

C++ since 1993; emphasis in STL, class design, templates, generic programming, security, performance optimization and robustness


Software Tools and Technologies

Visual C++, GCC, Clang, LLVM, Xcode, Unreal Engine, Unity, Oculus VR, SteamVR, DirectX, git, Mercurial, Perforce


Professional

Featured speaker at the Game Developer Conference. Advisory board member for Future Realities Summit since 2015.

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Interests

Music, wines, gaming, backpacking