Charles "Chuck" Bueche

3503 Fillmore St. #110, San Francisco, CA 94123
chuckb@craniac.com

PROFILE

Senior technology architect and developer with extensive analysis, design and development experience. Adept at analyzing tasks, identifying potential snags early on, and then working with management and teams through those potential snags before they become problems. Excellent project skills, inter-disciplinary understanding and communication abilities.

SKILLS

Project Management, Profit/Loss Responsibility, Delivery to Hard Deadlines.
Virtual Reality, Location-based Interactives, Embedded Applications.
Mechanical & Electrical/Electronics Design & Prototyping, Hybrid Hardware/Software Projects.
Performance Analysis, Simulations, 3D/2D Graphics, Shaders, Media Production.
Unity 3D, Unreal, C++/C#/C, Java/J2EE, TCP/IP.
Advanced Windows and Linux use.

HIGHLIGHTS

Chief Technology Officer
Chasing Aces Golf, Bossier City, Louisiana
March 2024 - Present

Current CTO for this Golf Entertainment facility, with Hitting Bays, Putting, a 9-hole par 3 Golf Course, and other entertainment activities.
Designed and developed full stack software suite to manage enrollment and data tracking for a progressive hole in one jackpot for the golf course.
Oversaw commissioning of technology elements, including radar tracking of golf balls, audio and video distribution, LED wall deployment and other technologies.
Directed vendor (Balanced Media Group) to develop mobile app for Apple and Android.

Director of New Products
Flite Golf, Dallas, Texas
November 2021 - October 2023

Identified and contracted vendors to develop new products, including a golf ball cannon and tracked putting product with interactive video projected onto the putting surface.
Defined APIs for cloud-based communication and control of the bayside game software.
Managed a team to refactor existing bayside code, resulting in crash-free operation.
Mentored junior developers in code design and debugging techniques.

Lead Software Engineer
L3Harris, Lafayette, LA
March 2021 - October 2021

Collaborated with software team to finish path finding software for multiple autonomous boats traveling in formation, for DARPA. This resulted in the company being approved for a Phase 2 contract.

Controls Manager
Universal Studios Japan, Osaka, Japan
February 2018 - December 2018 Supervised design, approval, manufacture and installation of the control system for a new attraction to open in 2019. Coordinated with vendors across multiple disciplines to make sure equipment and effect designs were compliant with company specifications. Coordinated schedules. Lived in Osaka for six weeks.

V. P. of Location-Based Entertainment Engineering
Spaces, Inc., Los Angeles, CA
June 2017 - November 2017
Refined first generation of Spaces' free-roam VR platform, including wired device communication, digital & analog I/O, mechanical & software prototyping, and system architecture. Advised on mechanical design of props & architectural elements to meet requirements for wide-scale deployment of the location-based attraction. Advised development team on code management strategies.

Vice President of Engineering
Nomadic VR, San Rafael, CA
July 2016 - May 2017
Designed and prototyped first generation of Nomadic's free-roam VR platform, including wired & wireless device communication, digital & analog I/O, mechanical & software prototyping, network communications, and system architecture. Hired and managed staff to assist in the same.

Software Architect and Developer
Koolbit, San Francisco, CA
Summer-Fall 2015
Developed cross-platform VR software on the Unity platform. Ported existing ActionScript 3 gaming framework to C#, running in Unity. Set up and managed GitHub source code repository. C#, Action Script 3, JSON, Unity3D, HLSL Vertex & Pixel shaders.

Game Designer and Developer
Walt Disney Imagineering, Glendale, CA
Fall 2006 - Summer 2013
Worked with Disney Imagineers to design, develop, and install four attractions at Disney Epcot Center: Chevy Test Track's "Photo Finish", Innovention's "The Great Piggy Bank Adventure", Spaceship Earth's "Power City", and Spaceship Earth's "Body Builder". In addition, co-designed, developed, and installed "The Magic Play Floor", for the Kid's Spaces on Disney Cruise Line's Dream and Fantasy. C++, 3D Graphics, Graphics Shaders, 3D Media, 2D Media, Audio, Video, RAD Gametools, Direct3D, Visual Studio, Windows, python scripting.

Design Consultant
CM Labs, Inc., Montreal, Canada
Winter 2005
Designed and prototyped training simulators for mobile construction crane operators. Architected system including head tracking, multi-screen graphics, and multi-computer rendering. Developed bill of materials, identified suppliers, analyzed manufacturability, and constructed production units at a fraction of the budgeted cost. Integrated instrumentation hardware and physics simulation software. C++, 3D Graphics, Vortex, OpenGL, Open Scene Graph, Virtual Reality, Polhemus Head Tracking, Windows.

Controls Engineer
Universal Studios Japan, Osaka, Japan
Summer 2000
For the Terminator 2:3D attraction at Universal Studios Japan, supervised integration of special effects with the computer control system. Reviewed technical specs, recommended on-site modifications as appropriate. Supervised test and adjust of the effects as they were installed. Allen-Bradley, Anitech Media Pro 4000, Ladder Logic, Robot Animation, Fail-Safe Design, Failure Mode Effects Analysis (FMEA), Test & Adjust, Effects Equipment Installation Supervision.

Software Technologist
Dell Computer, Austin, TX
November 1998 - April 2000:
Content expert regarding factory-installed third-party software for Dell's multi-billion-dollar Dimension line of consumer desktop computers. Recommended adoption and rejection of products, depending on impact on system performance and reliability. Worked with third-party vendors to bring their applications into compliance with Dell's requirements. C/C++, Windows, DOS, SNMP, OS Instrumentation, Performance Analysis.

Co-Founder / Vice President
Origin Systems, Austin, TX
Spring 1983-Summer 1988:
Co-founded leading game publishing company Origin Systems. Also designed, developed and ported over a dozen games for the Apple II, Atari 800, and Commodore 64 home computers. 6502 Assembly, Embedded Code, 2D Graphics, Audio, Performance, Optimization, Real-Time Code.

Additional information, including extensive projects lists, available at craniac.com

Patents

8,864,566 - System, method and handheld controller for multi-player gaming
6,834,269 - Factory-installed software purchase verification key

Education