Benjamin McMahanBenjamin McMahan
Creative problem solver
Profile
I'm a creative software engineer with 19 years of experience building products that have been used by over a billion people.
I've always been fascinated with how humans and computers interact together, and I gravitate towards the interfaces between them.
My current focus is on generative AI and I have built and trained my own image and video models for Puppetry.
I'm a natural leader, I get things done, and I'm uniquely good with people.
Languages: Python (numpy, pytorch), Javascript, Java, C#, Swift, Objective-C, C++
Work History
- Puppetry
- Built and trained Generative AI models to transfer motion (especially facial expressions) from video to a single image [Youtube Demo]
- Built tools (using models like Stable Diffusion, Control Net, Segment Anything) to allow it to handle animals, arbitrary videos, lipsync from audio, and create characters.
- Built the ability to do reatime chat with AI. Talk with an avatar in realtime using ChatGPT, TTS, and Puppetry [Youtube Demo]
- Silly Times: Built an app that lets children draw and expand on that drawing using AI
Amazon, Principal Software Engineer, 2020-2022, 2 yrs
- Amazon Search: Built prototypes (usable daily) showcasing what search should look like 3-5 years out to inform product decisions.
- Worked on Alexa ASR (speech recognition) - Overlooked the architecture of a dozen teams, analyzed data, planned out features and projects for the next several years
- Created and ran my own game studio
- First game: You Only Livez Twice
- 800k+ unique players
- Multiplayer game: used Docker, Kubernetes, and Google Cloud, AWS to host matchmaking and game servers
- Built with Unity: launched on web, iPhone, Android, Windows, Linux, Mac
Google, Staff Software Engineer, 2007 - 2019, 11.5 yrs
- Tech lead and manager, Doodle Eng team
- Lead a game studio that changes the most valuable real estate on the internet: the Google homepage. [Rice Interview] [Artsy Interview]
- Example games: Halloween 2018, Garden Gnomes, Kids Coding and more.
- Created 7 Native (Android, iOS) games for the 2016 Olympics with unexpectedly high engagement numbers.
- Create the Console Text Adventure Easter Egg
- Improved quality of games with better defined development cycles, weekly playtests, demo hours, and utilizing metrics.
- Maintained content management system to deliver artwork to dozens of platforms across countries and timezones.
- Founder, tech lead, and manager, Google for Kids
- Pioneered more child friendly voice search on YouTube Kids
- Prototyped and researched numerous new interfaces for young children.
- Founded team that revamped Blockly, now used by Scratch.
- Software Engineer, Google Glass
- Made significant improvements to the speed and usability of voice search.
- Tech lead and manager, Windows 8 Search App
- Software Engineer, iOS Search App
- Software Engineer, Google Instant [Blog post]
- Software Engineer, Knol [Wired]
Javaground, Game Developer/Programmer, 2006 - 2007, 1.5 yrs
- Developed and ported J2ME mobile games for hundreds of mobile phones over several carriers.
Archimage, Game Developer, 2005 - 2006, 1 yr
