Duane Molitor

Experience

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  Columbia College Chicago

  Jun 1991 - Jun 1993

  Teaching Assistant
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  Virtual World Entertainment

  Feb 1994 - Aug 1996

  Animation Lead

  ⦁ Lead creative team and animated principal Disney character “Jafar” to win Disney's "Alien Encounter" VR experience contract.⦁ Researched and created animations, art procedures, and proprietary plug-ins.⦁ Modeled and animated Mechs, vehicles, buildings, terrain foliage, and aquatic life including LODs for real-time 3D content, 2D sprites, and cinematics.

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  Fasa Interactive Inc.

  Aug 1996 - Jan 1999

  Art Lead

  ⦁ Team leader, aided FASA Interactive’s acquisition by Microsoft Corporation ($40M). Describe one of four creative leaders described as "The Heart of the Art Department".⦁ Promoted to Art Director for MechWarrior 3. Designed & directed game art, UX/UI, and animation art & animation tools and procedures for a proprietary game engine.⦁ Defined milestone schedules, assigned art tasks, and provided timely feedback.⦁ Hired/managed art team. Worked with engineering teams to create proprietary art tools.⦁ Animated characters and building destruction for game-ready art and in-game cinema.⦁ Modeled and textured buildings, terrain, foliage, and effects including LODs & damage. Show less

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  Microsoft Corporation

  Jan 1999 - Nov 2012

  Art Director

  As a key leader in the Startup Business Group within Microsoft Research's strategic emerging technologies division, I prototyped cutting-edge technology applications for Microsoft HoloLens, Xbox One, mobile, and PC. Visit Microsoft HoloLens, http://www.microsoft.com/microsoft-hololens/en-us.02/2008 – 11/2012 Art Director – Microsoft Research (MSR), Microsoft Corporation, Redmond, WA⦁ Spearheaded augmented reality (AR) research to define emerging technology potential in AR eyewear for Microsoft investment - this effort became HoloLens!⦁ Directed immersive entertainment experiences for AR/VR applications and created mobile apps for ​Microsoft HoloLens​ and for Mixed Reality Capture​ Studio technology, now known as Arcturus.⦁ Recruited and managed vendor services and partners from U.S., Japan, China, & India.⦁ Presented innovative technologies research to CEO executive staff, MSR leadership, and VR interactive incubation teams. Educated VIPs on competitive landscape in AR/VR use cases.⦁ Influenced purchase of team’s first mocap system & AR eyewear for prototyping.01/1999 – 02/2008 Art Director – Microsoft Xbox Studios, Microsoft Corporation, Redmond, WA⦁ Partnered with Technical Director to create an innovative character variation system that auto- generated a near-infinite library of fully-articulated 2D/3D characters based on gender, age, ethnicity, geography, and occupation. The library served all simulations within the Enterprise Simulation Platform, and was sold to Lockheed Martin as a foundational technology for Prepar3D.⦁ Collaborated with cross-functional leads on product goals for each release. Defined product development pipelines and asset deliverables. ⦁ Drove art style. Developed art processes, skeletal rigs, and tools to create the “animation blending” industry standard, increase character variety and originality.⦁ Identified innovative software and top outsourcing vendor talent used by multiple internal studios. Show less

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  Fuzzycube Software

  Mar 2015 - Jan 2016

  Creative Director

  ⦁ Led internal AR projects to guarantee successful acquisition by ​Magic Leap​.⦁ Reported to CEO and collaborated directly with client CCO at Magic Leap on special AR project.⦁ Point-of-contact for all AR app production communication with FL, CA, and UK partners.

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  Nerd Kingdom

  Nov 2016 - Dec 2018

  Creative Director

  ⦁ Managed/mentored art & animation staff for VR games.⦁ Designed proprietary tools & processes for 3D asset development. Directed art & animation. ⦁ Defined & prioritized deliverables via Agile/Scrum milestone schedule.

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  SHFF, Inc.

  Dec 2018 - Jul 2019

  Creative Director

  ⦁ Hired, managed & trained internal and remote staff for mixed reality (MR) development.⦁ Designed and directed efficient procedures/processes for proprietary pipeline.⦁ Defined & prioritized deliverables via Agile/Scrum milestone schedule.

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  Verizon

  Dec 2019 - Jan 2024

  Partner Manager / Product Manager, Emerging Technologies Researcher

  Partnered with emerging technology companies in Enterprise XR, AI, CV, and IoT to promote Verizon 5G edge compute products and services. Researched software and hardware innovations for collaboration. ⦁ Managed two Lockheed Martin Texas-based work sessions proving AR training & repair. Successful completion resulted in a multi-year 2024 through 2026 partner agreement.⦁ Awarded US Patent # US11715270B2 as Primary Inventor for syncing AR content with primarycontent for live events and pre-recorded video using metadata with back-end streaming solution.⦁ Built 3D volumetric streaming lab on 5G FiOS proving advanced comms & virtual sets potential.⦁ Led AR eyewear research. Selected partners (incl. XREAL) & increased initial device buy by 3x.⦁ Developed 5 AR products showcasing 5G Consumer & Enterprise entertainment.⦁ Researched XR, AR/VR headsets, wearables, IoT, AI, CV/ML, NeRF/3DGS, & BIM for mobile. Show less