Publication
Xamarin Forms, MVVMCross, and SkiaSharp: The Holy Trinity of Cross-Platform App Development
https://www.toptal.com/developers/app/xamarin-mvvmcross-skiasharp-cross-platform
Sylvain is currently unavailable
Sylvain Gravel
Verified Expert in Engineering
Software Developer
Saguenay, QC, Canada
Toptal member since November 7, 2016
Bio
Due to his good business sense and dedication to his work, Sylvain always goes beyond expectations by looking for the newest improvements and the next problem to solve. This way of working is what brought him to contracting: he was never able to find the same satisfaction as an employee.
Portfolio
Le Rond-Point
Xamarin.iOS, Xamarin.Android, Xamarin.Forms, Visual Studio, Unity3D...
BlooBuzz
Scrum, Android, iOS, Unity, C#
Experience
- C++ - 15 years
- C# - 15 years
- iOS - 10 years
- Unity - 8 years
- Android - 8 years
- Xamarin - 8 years
- Unreal Engine 4 - 3 years
- Virtual Reality (VR) - 1 year
Preferred Environment
Android, Unreal Engine 4, iOS, Unity, Xamarin
The most amazing...
...thing I've done was to be the first person in the world to build a streaming app with offline DRM support using Xamarin.
Work Experience
Programmer | Scrum Master | Consultant
2016 - PRESENT
Le Rond-Point
- Led and developed a dancing game technical demo using Unreal Engine 4 for the first round of financing.
- Ported and designed the SmartUse construction plan versioning system to iPhone and built the Android version, as well as maintaining and adding features to the WPF version and the back end.
- Built a cross-platform B2B video streaming app with offline DRM support using Xamarin Native on iOS and Android for Warner Brothers TV Distribution.
- Developed a cardio fitness training app for iOS using the Wahoo Fitness API.
- Built a blood pressure logging app for the Singapore Health Foundation.
- Developed the iPad version of the Xcellerate.com athlete evaluation service.
- Taught game development and design using Unity to teenagers, including a group with learning disabilities.
- Consulting in team-building and putting Scrum and Agile practices into place for an accounting firm.
- Built a remote display iOS and Android app for the PetMAP veterinary health monitoring devices using Bluetooth LE or Bluetooth serial connection.
Technologies: Xamarin.iOS, Xamarin.Android, Xamarin.Forms, Visual Studio, Unity3D, Unreal Engine 4, Unreal Engine, C++, Scrum, Android, iOS, Unity, .NET, C#, Xamarin
Scrum Master
2015 - 2016
Université du Québec à Chicoutimi
- Helped video games major students with project management.
- Supervised and coached students for the Ubisoft 2016 university contest.
Technologies: Scrum
Senior Programmer
2012 - 2014
BlooBuzz
- Converted the Pyramid Rising 2 game to a free-to-play model, tripling it's revenues.
- Performed time management for the gameplay mechanics, animation, pathfinding, audio, and more.
- Helped the team put together working Agile processes.
- Coached the junior programmers.
- Created level and game designs.
- Helped the marketing team with their A/B tests and metrics collection and analysis.
Technologies: Scrum, Android, iOS, Unity, C#
Programmer | Designer | Customer Support
2008 - 2013
Freelance Work
- Built plugins for the Sportracks training log PC software.
- Setup the training sessions and managed the schedules for Garmin Fitness.
- Performed data distribution analysis.
- Performed data mining to match relevant training segments.
- Implemented unit and integration testing in a TDD development cycle.
Technologies: C#
Programmer
2010 - 2012
Media5 Corporation
- Developed packet cable 2.0 cable modem firmware.
- Worked on development for iOS and Android VoIP SoftfOne.
Technologies: Android, iOS, Java, Objective-C, C++
Gameplay Programmer
2006 - 2010
Ubisoft
- Developed the weapons, gadgets and character navigation in the game, Splinter Cell Conviction.
- Created the tools in the game Assassin's Creed.
- Developed the multiplayer matchmaking and chat in the game Rainbow Six Vegas 2.
- Built the anti-piracy system in the game Prince of Persia Forgotten Sands for the PC.
- Prototyped experimental gameplay for a new franchise.
Technologies: .NET, C#, C++
Programmer
2003 - 2004
AGE Technologies
- Developed a Photoshop and Illustrator plugin for the fashion industry.
- Built a vector graphics recoloring plugin for Nike's catalog creation.
- Worked on PNG and JPEG codecs.
Technologies: MacOS, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop, C++
Logistics Developer
2001 - 2002
Lantic Sugar
- Worked on VBA macros programming in Excel.
- Performed single-serve sugar pouches production planning.
Technologies: Visual Basic for Applications (VBA)
Experience
WBTVD
https://apps.apple.com/ca/app/wbtvd-screeners/id1265331727This is Warner Bros Television Distribution B2B video streaming app on iOS and Android using Xamarin Native. It has support for FairPlay and a Widevine DRM online and offline.
This app won the 2017 Media Excellence Awards as the best delivery platform.
This app won the 2017 Media Excellence Awards as the best delivery platform.
SmartUse
https://www.smartuse.comSmartUse is a construction document management application on Windows, iOS, and Android. Developed with Xamarin and .NET Core back end and Angular front end. I participated in adding features to the document viewer, adding iPhone support, building the whole Android version of the app from the ground up, and some web back-end and front-end development.
Developed features include adding rotation to document annotations, overrideable measures, measure groups, and more.
Developed features include adding rotation to document annotations, overrideable measures, measure groups, and more.
Assassin's Creed
As an intern, I helped develop game and level design tools for the original Assassin's Creed game. Developed in C#, these tools were used by the team to produce what turned out to be a revolution in the gaming industry.
Splinter Cell Conviction
As a gameplay programmer, I was in charge of most things related to the main character. Among the other systems developed and maintained were animations and 3D movement, weapons and gadgets as well as camera and special effects. This project was built using a heavily customized Unreal Engine 3.
Chrono Solution
This project is a sports events RFID chip timing software. It can handle multiple simultaneous races. It has a USB or TCP/IP connection to the hardware. It can read and write on RFID chips, import athletes' and registration information from Excel, and export or print race results.
PetMAP Remote Display
https://www.petmap.com/PetMAP is a series of devices for veterinary health monitoring. As a developer, I refactored and then ported the existing Windows app to make it cross platform such that I could then build the iOS and Android version. Mobile devices connected to the PetMAP using Bluetooth (LE or classic) in order to acquire and then display the charts on a larger screen than the device offers.
Agrocentre
The Agrocentre app is a news portal for the Agrocentre stores which sell agriculture products and services. It contains archives of their journal, video tips and tricks, seed plots growth and selling numbers. It's available on iOS and Android for phones and tablets. It was built with Xamarin Forms.
Garmin Fitness
https://code.google.com/archive/p/garminworkouts/A SportTracks plugin to setup and schedule advanced workouts and athlete profiles on Garmin Fitness devices such as the Edge and Forerunner series.
Distribution
https://code.google.com/archive/p/st-distribution/A SportTracks plugin for data distribution within workouts.
Xcellerate.co
This is the iPad version of the Xcellerate.co athlete tryout evaluation service. The app allowed to rate hockey players on various skills and synched to a server. It also had an offline mode so it would work when in arenas.
Filtered Statistics
https://code.google.com/archive/p/st-filteredstatistics/A SportTracks plugin that helps to isolate relevant training segments using data mining and editable criteria.
GA Experiments+
https://wordpress.org/plugins/ga-experiments-plus-dev-edition/A WordPress A/B split testing plugin. Only the first free tier is currently available but plans are to continue the development to make it more accessible to non-technical users. There are also plans to create a mobile edition for A/B testing in apps or games.
Education
2016 - 2020
Short Program Certificate in Adult Education
Téluq - Online (Teluq.ca)
2015 - 2018
Master's Degree in Organization Management (Business Management)
Université du Québec à Chicoutimi - Saguenay, Canada
2012 - 2015
Certificate in Business Management
Université du Québec à Chicoutimi - Saguenay, Canada
2004 - 2007
Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science
Université de Sherbrooke - Sherbrooke, Québec, Canada
2000 - 2003
Associate's Degree in Computer Science
Collège Lionel-Groulx - Sainte-Thérèse, Quebec, Canada
Certifications
JULY 2015 - PRESENT
The Professional Scrum Master™ level I (PSM I)
Scrum.org
Skills
Libraries/APIs
Xamarin.Android, Xamarin.iOS, SkiaSharp, jQuery
Tools
Git, Perforce, Microsoft Visual Studio, Xcode, Jira, Amazon Simple Notification Service (SNS), Jenkins, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, Visual Studio, Azure DevOps Services, Syncfusion
Languages
C++, C#, Objective-C, PHP, Swift, Java, Kotlin, Visual Basic for Applications (VBA), JavaScript
Frameworks
Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF), Unity, Unity3D, Codeception, NUnit, Unreal Engine, Unreal Engine 4, Xamarin.UITest, .NET, Laravel 5, Entity Framework Core, ASP.NET, AngularJS, ASP.NET MVC 4
Paradigms
Unit Testing, Scrum, Acceptance Testing, Kanban, DevOps
Platforms
MvvmCross, Windows, Android, iOS, Xamarin, Universal Windows Platform (UWP), WordPress, MacOS, Bluetooth Low Energy (LE), Azure, Unix
Storage
JSON, Microsoft SQL Server, MySQL
Other
Xamarin.Forms, Games, Game Development, Virtual Reality (VR), Game Design, Bluetooth, FairPlay, Scrum Master, Lean Startups
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