Curriculum Vitae
Ben Torkington
ben@torkington.com
021 425 919
Work history
| Contract Software Developer | Jan 2009 - Current |
| Ben Limited | Whangarei & Auckland |
- Developed iOS augmented reality storyboarding app (2023)
- Developed iOS and Android native prototypes for {THE AND}, with Xequals Ltd (2018-2019)
- Ongoing IT consultancy to Darkroom, a design studio (2014-2024)
- Developed prototypes of automotive tuning and diagnostic apps (2015)
- Lead developer of Acoustic monitoring plugin for Milestone XProtect, contracted to Acoustics Enforcement NZ Ltd (2015-2024)
Worked with:
- MS Visual Studio
- C#, XAML, RedGate SmartAssembly
- Swift, SwiftUI, Core Image
- Milestone XProtect, Milestone Integration Platform
- Java
- WebRTC
| Lead Developer | Aug 2011 - Aug 2022 |
| LuckyBulldozer | Auckland |
A creative conjunction between Dan Monaghan and Ben Torkington. Dan and Ben worked together in the film industry in the 90's, and have found a passion for three dimensional art.
- Developed Flotogram - 2017 - augmented reality iOS app: iOS App Store
- Executive Producer & VFX Developer for Sifted - 2013 - short film: Vimeo | Projects
- Developed DotSwarm - 2013 - a 3D modelling and rendering app used to make Sifted: Projects
- Image processing for Gazillion with Reuben Paterson at Auckland Art Gallery - 2011 - a forced-perspective art installation: Projects
| Operations Manager | Mar 2014 - Aug 2015 |
| Leading Solutions | Auckland |
Led the transformation from legacy systems, which improved efficiency. Key areas tranformed:
- Invoicing, creditor management, wages and reporting
- Warehouse management: Inventory levels, order fulfilment and stock replenishment
- Transitioned the company to cloud-based inventory and accounting systems
- Integrated dispatch system with courier booking system
Reference: Sheri Whitmill - 021 599 989
| Network Manager | May 2005 - Dec 2008 |
| PMP Print | Auckland |
PMP (NZ) acquired Times Media Group's printing facility in Warkworth, where I had previously worked. They invited me to return to facilitate the integration of the facility with their systems. From there, I moved to the national head office in Auckland, took over management of the nationwide network, and supported the group's other print facilities in Auckland and Christchurch.
- Faciliated upgrade from terminal-based business intelligence to rich-client Windows based
- Transitioned server infrastructure to multi-zone VMWare ESX
- Implemented enterprise IT backup system
- Devised and implemented IT Disaster Recovery Plan
Worked with:
- Windows Server 2003, 2008
- Active Directory
- Exchange Server
- SQLServer 2005
- VMWare ESX
- EMC SANs
- Cisco routers and switches
- Shop floor data collection
- Crystal Reports
Reference: Michael Gordon, 021 202 6452
| Software developer | May 2005 - May 2006 |
| Leigh Fisheries | Leigh, Auckland |
- Developed a VB6 application for managing foreign currency contracts
- Developed a customised invoicing system, and transitioned the company from manual paper-based invoicing and dispatch
Other responsibilities included:
- invoicing international customers in multiple currencies
- integration with shop-floor weighing and labelling systems
- interoperation with catch-quota management systems
| Systems Administrator | May 2004 - May 2005 |
| Retail Expertise | Auckland |
- Maintained company infrastructure and supported software development team
- Supported retail POS and stock replenishment systems at customer sites including Red Rat, Hallensteins, Pagani, #1 Shoes, Discount Shoe Warehouse, Postie Plus
- Set up and maintained VPN systems for the Australian Way chain store
- Maintained warehouse picking technology at Hallensteins
- Migrated Retail Expertise from traditional PBX to Asterisk VoIP
- Implemented open-source mail filtering with Postfix & Spamassasin
Worked with
- Windows Server 2000, 2003
- Exchange Server
- Active Directory
- SQLServer 7, 2000
- Linux
- Asterisk
| Multiple Roles | Feb 2000 - May 2004 |
| Times Media Group | Warkworth, Auckland |
Scanner Operator for Rodney Times (Feb - Jun 2000)
- Transitioned newsroom from film to digital photography
- Daily scanning and touch-ups of news, real estate, and commercial photographs
- Assisted with page layout and general production tasks
- Hardware maintenance of production Macs
Group Systems Support (Jun 2000 - Jun 2002)
Provided IT support for a large printing facility, the newspaper office and branch offices:
- Shop floor data collection on print machinery
- Automated print quality control systems
- Pre-press support
- Timekeeping systems
- Designed and produced operational reports
- LAN administration
Digital Prepress Operator (Jun 2002 - May 2004)
- Checked client-supplied PDFs for publication
- Prepared colour separations for printing
- Automated processes for print impositions, reducing errors
Worked with:
- Agfa Horizon computer-to-plate systems
- Agfa Apogee prepress imposition software
- Adobe PostScript
- Adobe Acrobat & preflight
| Computer Programmer | May 1996 - 2001 |
| Rodney Security (contracting) | Auckland |
- Developed job-tracking and reporting systems
- Provided consultancy and support for IT operations
- Maintained IT systems
| Stockfile Manager | May 1997 - Dec 1997 |
| Warkworth Mitre 10 | Warkworth, Auckland |
- Migrated store to computer based point of sale (Pacsoft)
- Automated the stock replenishment system
- Managed and improved accuracy of the stockfile.
| Helpdesk Technician | Sep 1995 - Dec 1995 |
| IHUG Limited | Auckland |
Miscellaneous technical support, including on-site client support and technical writing.
- Phone and online support for PC & Mac users
- Routine modem fleet testing and swapping
- Maintain support software repository
- Processing new user applications
| Computer Programmer | May 1994 - May 1996 |
| Securitall Security | Auckland |
- Maintained customised SuperBase Pro database
- Developed invoicing and payroll system in HiSoft Basic
Worked with
- AmigaOS
- SuperBase Pro
- HiSoft Basic
| Helpdesk Technician | May 1995 - Sep 1995 |
| Internet Company of New Zealand | Auckland |
Miscellaneous technical support, including on-site client support and technical writing.
- Phone and online support for PC & Mac users
- Maintain support software repository
- Processing new user applications
Skills
Developer Experience
Skills
Languages
- C, C#, C++, Objective C
- Swift
- Javascript
- Python
- Lua
- Bash
- Perl
Computer vision
- OpenCV
- Agisoft Metashape
- Tesseract OCR
- ImageMagick
Television Production
- Davinci Resolve
- Avid MediaComposer
Industry areas
-
Retail point of sale and stock keeping systems
-
Data aquisition
-
LAN/WAN
-
Audio-visual media processing
- RTP/RTSP
- Asterisk
- GStreamer
- FFmpeg
- WebRTC
- NAudio
- Apple Core Image & Core Graphics
-
Image processing
-
Desktop publishing
-
Data visualisation
-
User interface components
- Web templates
- WPF/XAML
- SwiftUI
- GTK
- QT
Mobile
- iOS (ObjC & Swift)
- Xamarin
- Android (Java)
- React Native
General Development
.NET
- .NET, .NET Core (C#)
- WPF/XAML
- WinForms
- Azure API
- WCF, Entity
- Sockets
- NAudio
Unix
- macOS (ObjC & Swift)
- C & C++
- Perl
- Java
JavaScript
Frameworks
- Node.js
- Yarn
- Electron
- React Native
Areas
- Browser extensions
- HTTP clients
- HTML scraping
- SQLite
- Command line apps
Graphics
3D
- OpenGL, GLES, GLSL
- WebGL
- Metal
- Unity
Web
- Eleventy.js
- WebGL
- Hugo
- Wordpress
- WebSockets
- Apache administration
Cloud Computing
Amazon Web Services
- Glacier
- S3
- EC2
- SQS
- SNS
Microsoft Azure
- Active Directory
- Web workers
WebRTC
- Signalling
- Infrastructure
- Video Processing
Other
- Milestone Integration Platform
- Larsen-Davis Sound Level Meters
Reverse Engineering
- x86
- Motorola 68000
- Mitsubishi M7700
- Z80
Miscellaneous Computer Hardware
- Arduino
- Raspberry Pi
Sysadmin
Operating Systems
- Windows 95 - 10
- Windows Server 2000-2008
- macOS since 7
- Linux since v2.2
- Solaris
- SCO OpenServer
IT Infrastructure
- Cisco Routers and Switches (CCNA 2007)
- Synology NAS
- EMC SAN
- Fibre Channel
- APC UPS
Print Infrastructure
- Acrobat Pro and Preflight
- Agfa Apogee
- PrEPS
- Harlequin RIP
- Dainippon Screen Imagesetters
- Photolitho Operations
- Agfa Avalon Computer-to-Plate
- Adobe PostScript
- Shop Floor Data Collection with PrintCafe Logic and Opto22
- Supplementary Press Systems such as Computer Controlled Registration and Ink Keying
- Colour Management (extensive)
Applications
Microsoft
- MS SQL Server 7 - 2005
- MS Exchange
- Active Directory
Networks
- Routing and Switching on Cisco Networks
- Linux IPTables based firewalls
- Cisco CCNA (2007)
- SNMP
Infrastructure
- Synology NAS
- Veritas BackupExec
- EMC SAN
- Brocade Fibre Channel
Industries
- Security and Alarm Monitoring
- Retail Security Products
- Fashion Retail
- Hardware Retail
- Newspaper Publishing
- Printing
- Fisheries
- Film and Television Post Production
- Online Community Management