Profile

Extensive experience of algorithm design, team leading, mentoring and the Agile Product Owner role in the development of 3D geometry and mesh processing tools within a game development context. Proven R&D track record including requirements gathering, research, algorithm design, communication and leading small development teams.

Best-in-class ability to solve complex algorithmic problems with simple, high-quality, well-commented code. Practiced in incremental delivery of sophisticated customer-facing technical products using rapid, iterative, test-driven coding in response to user feedback.

Substantial experience of advanced game and film mesh processing topics including Constructive Solid Geometry, Delaunay triangulation, tetrahedralization, quad meshes, simplification, fracturing, soft-bodies, as well as auto-generation of shadow meshes, occluders and collision volumes.

Author of Theron, a freeware concurrency and distributed computing library for C++.

Experience

Sr. Software Engineer (EA, 2005-)

  • Test-driven, data-oriented C++ with STL and templates.
  • 10-year product owner of advanced mesh processing tools.
  • Seen as an expert on mesh processing within Electronic Arts.
  • Novel R&D backed up by several patent applications.
  • Led Agile sub-teams delivering products for internal customers.
  • Proponent of customer-driven development within the team.
  • Grew several entirely new product areas.

Software Engineer (3Dlabs, 1999-2004)

Designed and developed an optimizing shader language compiler for 3D graphics hardware, in C, within the DirectX driver team.

Patents

  • US 9,305,396 Identifying features in polygonal meshes.
  • US 9,858,715 Transforming polygonal mesh by polychord collapse.
  • US 10,043,310 Smoothing edges of a mesh.

Publications

Predictive Hierarchical Level of Detail Optimization
Ashton E. W. Mason. PhD Thesis, University of Cape Town, 1999.

Automatic hierarchical level of detail optimization in computer animation
Ashton E. W. Mason and Edwin H. Blake. Computer Graphics Forum, Volume 16, Issue 3, pages C191–C199, September 1997.

A Predictive Incremental Hierarchical Level of Detail Optimization Algorithm
Ashton E. W. Mason and Edwin H. Blake. Technical report CS99-04-00, University of Cape Town, 1999.

A Graphical Representation of the State Spaces of Hierarchical Level of Detail Scene Descriptions
Ashton E. W. Mason and Edwin H. Blake. IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics, Vol. 6, No. 4, Oct-Dec 2000.

A Hierarchical Level of Detail Optimization Algorithm for Frame Rate Control
Ashton E. W. Mason and Edwin H. Blake. Annual Conference of the South African Institute of Computer Scientists and Information Technologists (SAICSIT), 1998.

Hierarchical Level of Detail Optimization for Constant Frame Rate Rendering of Radiosity Scenes
S. Nirenstein, E. Blake, S. Winberg, A. Mason. South African Computer Journal 29: 32-40 (2002).

Software

Theron: A C++ concurrency library based on the Actor Model.
Elements: A popular eye-candy program written in around 1995.

Credits

FIFA 18 (2017) Electronic Arts
FIFA 17 (2016) Electronic Arts
Mass Effect: Andromeda
 (2017) Electronic Arts
Battlefield 1 (2016) Electronic Arts
Mirror’s Edge: Catalyst (2016) Electronic Arts
Need for Speed (2015) Electronic Arts
Star Wars Battlefront (2015) Electronic Arts
Battlefield Hardline (2014) Electronic Arts
Need for Speed: Most Wanted (2012) Electronic Arts

Education

Certified Scrum Product Owner.
PhD, Computer Science (University of Cape Town).
BSc (Hons), Computer Science (University of Cape Town).
Dean’s Merit List.