Curriculum Vitae

Name: Deane Saunders

DOB: 16 November 1976

Address: Near Cinderford, Gloucestershire

Telephone: 07719 109090

Email: rexxmagnus@yahoo.co.uk

List of Schools, Colleges & Higher Education Institutions attended:

Whitecross School, Lydney	1988-1990
Dene Magna Community School, Mitcheldean	1990-1993
Royal Forest of Dean College	1993-1995

List of Qualifications:

English Language & Literature	GCSE	C & D
Maths	GCSE	C
French	GCSE	B
Science (Dual Award)	GCSE	AA
Design Communication	GCSE	C
Expressive Arts	GCSE	D
Art	GCSE	D
Youth Award Scheme		Bronze
Art & Design	A-Level	C
2D Design & Draughting (AutoCAD)	City & Guilds	Pass
3D Design & Draughting (AutoCAD)	City & Guilds	Pass
Sun Certified Java Programmer (1.6)	SCJP	Pass

Employment history:

September 95 – May 96
Royal Forest of Dean College – Computer Graphics Technician, Art and Design department.

Duties included: Maintain computers belonging to the Art department, teach students and lecturers how to use the hardware and software for art & design purposes.
Reason for leaving: Was expected to work during holidays when free transport was not available, thereby spending all of my wages (£45 per week) on the transport cost.

June 1996 – November 2008
Wildin Partnership Architects – CAD Technician
10 Pittville Lawn
Cheltenham, Gloucester
GL52 2BD
Tel: 08450 943306

Duties included: Role as primary CAD draughtsman, 3d modelling, digital video and photography, desktop publishing, website maintenance, maintaining computers and hardware belonging to the business. Responsible for all computer/technical office functions.
Reason for leaving: Business focus shifted away from architecture, became bored with the new work. Was offered database work at another company which fell through before I started, leaving me unemployed.

Work experience:

I have used computers since the age of about 7, and been programming and doing computer graphics as a hobby since then.

I worked at RFDC (Five Acres college) as a computer technician for the art department for a year after doing my A-Levels there. After doing my Art A-Level exam on computer graphics, they decided that it would be good to employ me as their department-specific technician.
Whilst there I did City & Guilds 2D and 3D CAD courses, as those were the only CAD qualifications available at the time. As the Art Department's technician, I was responsible for maintaining the computers and buying new software, along with teaching students and lecturers how to use the computers.

In 1996, I wrote to a local architects despite the fact that they did not have any vacancies at the time. I was taken on at the Wildin Partnership Architects due to the fact that I had used the same software as the company to which they farmed out their 3D contract work. They felt that it would be cheaper and more convenient to get the work done in-house rather than needing constant contact with a more expensive external entity.
A few months later, the CAD technician who worked there at the time left, and I took over his job as the primary CAD draughtsman. My work there has been quite varied and has spanned tasks such as the draughting, graphics, 3d computer modeling, video work, DTP, scanning and document capture, maintaining the website and maintaining the hardware used at the company. Being the sole IT technician, I was responsible for supporting the users on Windows and Mac OS X. I had to manage the networking for the business also (windows TCP/IP) which started off as the old BNC type and then migrated to the newer twisted pair cabling.

In 2006 the office was downsized to make way for a building scheme that my employer decided to put on the site. He had also decided to shift his focus away from architecture. Since then I had been working from home although my role had not changed much. I had begun producing 3d panoramic renders (that could be viewed in 360 degrees using special software) and video idents. I've had to write software to control a camera rig in order to take 3d photographs of objects, and also make the interface cables to connect it. I’ve also had to attempt to set up a virtual reality environment for students to meet in. I've also had experience of creating full spherical panoramic images, suitable for tours or inventory purposes.

From 1997-2004 I also helped to run a computer shop on weekends, providing a lot of technical support and repairs/system building.

Skills:

Long experience with 3D and 2D graphics (especially Autocad and 3d Studio Max), digital video editing and photography.

Diagnosing computer problems, both hardware and software. Virus removal and protection (often using freeware tools).

Cross-platform programming in Java (both applications and applets) for hardware control and conventional software projects. Studied in 2009 and obtained the 1.6 version of Sun Certified Java Programmer qualification. Design, implementation and testing of software.

Good experience with HTML and XHTML using WYSIWYG editors such as Dreamweaver, but also comfortable with direct code editing, JavaScript, experience of CSS and XML (along with reading and writing XML from Java), and getting into PHP & MySQL though still learning.

Extensive experience with Windows (since 1995 - Windows 3.1, 95, 98, ME, XP, NT4 and some minor Vista use) and Mac OS X (since 2003 for both work and personal), and also learning Linux as a couple of my home computers have it installed as the main OS (Debian). Equally comfortable working in any of those environments.
Excellent keyboard skills - years of typing commands into AutoCAD instead of using the mouse have left me with an accurate and speedy touch-typing ability.

Good mechanical skills and capable of repairing almost anything that doesn't require very specialist knowledge. Experience of building simple electronics from schematics and also repairing where able (have made custom cables/interfaces for various purposes).

I have used a wide range of software packages and technologies including Microsoft Office, Microsoft Works, MS Publisher, Adobe Photoshop and other image editing, Corel Painter IX, Adobe Premier (video editing), Adobe Acrobat, AutoCAD (12, 14, ADT 3.3 & 2005), 3D Studio Max 3 & 8, Blender 3D, Dreamweaver MX, Remote Desktop, VNC, Internet Explorer, Outlook (and Express), Thunderbird, Firefox, Opera, Safari, Apple Mail, FTP, SSH, PHP, HTML, XML, CSS, JavaScript, Java 1.5 & 1.6, Netbeans IDE, Visual Basic (though Java is now my preferred language), various backup, antivirus and security tools, VR software, digital CCTV, plus much more. I also have experience of producing full spherical panoramic photographs that can be viewed on computer, giving the impression of being within the location - these can be used for tours, inventory images etc.

Although I have worked at an architectural practice for 13 years, I do not have the qualifications to design – my skills in the architectural field lie in translating drawings from sketches to computer drawings and from 2d plans and elevations to 3d representations of buildings. Being the primary computer user in the business, it fell upon me to deal with all of the computer and technical problems that are likely to arise within a small business setting.

Personality:

I am friendly and get on well with people of virtually all ages, functioning with equal efficiency on my own or in a group.
I am an adaptable and quick learner – able to pick up new skills easily as the need arises. I enjoy challenges and puzzles, often being able to solve problems using unconventional means. I am a creative, yet analytical thinker (don't let one of my hobbies put you off – I'm still logical, but capable of leaps of intuition). I am persistent – I tend to go all-out at a problem until I solve it or am told to stop!
Psychometryic profiling shows that I have the ability to pick up on others' emotions and respond accordingly - yet also have the ability to see things objectively and logically in order to balance a situation. I am capable of working on many different things at once but also focus intensely on one project when the need arises.

Hobbies and outside interests:

Programming & graphics are also hobbies of mine as well as being skills I put to professional use. I entered the Interactive Fiction Competition (IFComp, basically a writing/programming competition) in 2003-2004 with an entry titled Mingsheng under the pseudonym Rexx Magnus and came 7th out of 37 entries .

Like many people, I enjoy watching TV, reading and video games etc.

Digital photography and creating spherical panoramas (full 360x180 degree views).

I also enjoy playing music – I have a flute, harp and lyre (which I made myself) and often employ these in one of my main hobbies; Medieval and Viking re-enactment. I make my own costumes and equipment, spanning anything from sewing and leatherwork to woodwork. Whilst at events I don't get involved in combat but often demonstrate crafts such as fire making, weaving, and also do rune readings – a kind of 'fortune telling', though it's more like counseling than anything else.

Most of the time, the re-enactment events involve camping out.

In addition to playing online role-playing games, I have recently found a local group with which I play tabletop role-playing games (Dungeons & Dragons).

I taught Tai Chi for two years, but have since given that up. Whilst learning Tai Chi, I got interested in all aspects of the philosophy attached to it and spent a period learning Mandarin Chinese.

With the Viking interest, I have since started learning various Scandinavian languages, such as Norwegian, Danish and even Icelandic. The latter being rather useful when giving talks on the history of the runes, since a lot of lore has Icelandic/Old Norse poetry involved, which I can now pronounce in order to recite it.

I go to the gym three times a week to do weight training, and have been doing so since 2004, although I do not enjoy a great many other sports, swimming, ice skating, cycling and kite flying are among the few that I do enjoy.

Prospective Careers :

Given my experience with 3d graphics, I would consider any career involving 3d graphics. My CAD experience does not cover extensive design experience except for a little amount of modification to architectural plans, so any work along those lines would either involve translating already drawn sketches into CAD or working from existing designs and specifications.

I find it relatively easy to convert existing CAD drawings into 3D models given appropriate information, so a career in visualization would not be unlike the work that I have done before.

Since I have been the sole IT support staff member in the companies that I have worked at, an IT support role would also be appropriate, be that supporting users or simply maintaining and upgrading equipment and software.

Since I thoroughly enjoyed the programming work that I did as part of my employment (albeit a minor part) I would also consider a career in programming and software/web development. Most of my skills in this field have been acquired through hobbyist projects, and also a couple of small commercial projects. I am a Sun Certified Java Programmer.

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