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Gerard Slee
Gerard Slee
Principal Software Engineer  ·  AI Tooling & Developer Experience
Toronto, Canada  ·  Open to relocation
ddutchie@gmail.com
github.com/ddutchie
linkedin.com/in/gerard-slee
gerardbuilds.com
Skills
  • Languages
  • TypeScript & JavaScript
  • C++ (Unreal Engine)
  • C# (Unity)
  • Swift / SwiftUI
  • Python
  • HLSL / GLSL
  • Frameworks
  • React, Next.js, Electron
  • React Native / Expo
  • Unreal Engine 5
  • Unity3D
  • AI & Agent Systems
  • Model Context Protocol (MCP)
  • Vercel AI SDK
  • Google Gemini
  • Anthropic / Claude
  • CoreML (on-device inference)
  • Structured JSON output
  • Data & Infra
  • SQLite, Supabase
  • GitHub Actions, Jenkins
  • Electron / node-pty / xterm.js
  • esbuild, Vitest, Playwright
Education
M.Arch
University of the Free State
2013 – 2014
B.Arch
University of Cape Town
2008 – 2010
Software: entirely self-taught
Links
ddutchie.github.io Portfolio
github.com/ddutchie/cairn Cairn — open source
App Store — Pinch iOS — live
nkli.net/nigiri NIGIRI — Unity GI plugin
Autodesk Workshop XR

Architect-turned-engineer with 10+ years building real-time 3D systems, AI-powered products, and developer tools. Founded a VR startup (raised $500K), shipped across Meta Quest, iOS, macOS, and Windows, and shipped an entire product — desktop app, AI assistant, MCP server, and website — in a single weekend. Currently a Principal Engineer on Autodesk Workshop XR; building AI-native developer tools and agent platforms on the side.

Experience
Principal Software Engineer
Autodesk — Workshop XR
Apr 2022 – Present
  • Core team on Workshop XR — Autodesk's enterprise VR product for AEC design review, streaming complex BIM models from Autodesk Forma to Meta Quest in real time.
  • Designed and implemented a multi-level-of-detail (LOD) system with depth-based occlusion culling, overhauling the C++ / Unreal Engine rendering pipeline — enabling 2–3× more geometry to render on Meta Quest hardware and significantly expanding the models customers can review in VR.
  • Highest PR contribution rate on the project within a 20-person engineering org.
  • Retained post-acquisition of The Wild; one of the original engineers on the product.
Senior XR Engineer
The Wild (acq. Autodesk)
Nov 2021 – Apr 2022
  • Multi-user VR design review platform for AEC. Acquired by Autodesk April 2022.
Founder & Managing Director
Tenebris Lab
Jan 2016 – Dec 2020
  • Founded VR studio; built Lux Walker — multi-user architectural design review in VR (Unity, C#, Photon).
  • Raised $500K seed funding from SAOTA (largest architecture firm in Cape Town), who became founding partner and investor after piloting the product.
  • Led a team of 5 engineers through full product development and deployment.
VR Course Instructor
iXperience
2017 – 2018
  • Designed and taught a 4-week intensive VR development course for US university students in Cape Town.
Head of Visualisation
SAOTA Architects
Jan 2015 – Jan 2016
  • Led 3D visualisation and real-time walkthroughs at one of South Africa's most prominent architecture firms.
Junior Architect
GMP Architekten — Berlin
Jan 2010 – Jan 2012
  • Design, rapid 3D prototyping, and architecture visualisation at one of Europe's largest architecture practices.
Gerard Slee
Independent Projects & Open Source
Highlights
  • 10+ years building real-time 3D systems and shipped products
  • Architecture background — systems thinking, design under constraints
  • MCP server designed & shipped in 2 days
  • $500K raised as first-time founder
  • Open source contributor — NIGIRI, Cairn
Recognition
  • Press
  • Fast Company South Africa — Tenebris Lab, Feb 2018
  • Speaking
  • Autodesk University 2025 — Beyond the Blueprint: XR for AEC
  • Architecture & design conferences — VR, digital design
  • SAOTA — VR in architecture industry demo
  • Teaching
  • iXperience Teacher Spotlight — VR 2018
Stack Snapshot
TypeScript C++ C# Swift React Next.js Electron Expo Unreal 5 Unity MCP Vercel AI SDK CoreML Gemini SQLite Supabase GitHub Actions Jenkins Zustand D3 React Flow CodeMirror 6 xterm.js
Independent Projects
Cairn
Electron · Next.js · SQLite · MCP · Open Source · 2025
Full product — desktop app (Electron + Next.js), AI assistant, MCP server, and marketing website — shipped from idea to public release in a single weekend. Agents read and write the same SQLite data layer as the human in real time. Features Kanban board, markdown notes, node canvas (Idea Flow), knowledge graph, live dashboards, and a built-in coding agent terminal. Used daily to manage multi-project agentic workflows.
Pinch
Swift · SwiftUI · MCP · App Store · 2025 · Built in ~1 month
Consumer AI assistant platform for iOS. Custom Service Builder agent (Claude Sonnet + structured output) takes user requirements, generates a working API endpoint with headers, tests and optimises the call in a loop, saves as a reusable service — no coding required. Soul Editor for custom AI personas. MCP server support built in.
NIGIRI
C# · HLSL · Unity · Open Source · 2020–2021
Real-time global illumination plugin for Unity. Monte-Carlo cone tracing over sparse voxel octrees for diffuse, specular, and shadow lighting. Baked and real-time voxelisation, runtime streaming, multi-threading, volumetric lighting, VR single-pass stereo. Co-developed remotely with graphics researcher Abigail Hocking.
This resume was planned, researched, and written using Cairn — with an AI agent connected live via MCP server. The tool that manages the work also built the portfolio.