# Jared Counts > Senior Software Engineer at Walt Disney Animation Studios Location: Boston, Massachusetts, United States Profile: https://flows.cv/jaredcounts I am a programmer with working expertise in computer graphics, visual effects, simulation, machine learning, and software engineering. I have experiences in many fields, including film, 3D printing, and industrial knitting. ## Work Experience ### Senior Software Engineer @ Walt Disney Animation Studios Jan 2024 – Present ### Animation Tools Software Engineer @ Pixar Animation Studios Jan 2019 – Jan 2024 I develop Pixar’s state-of-the-art animation software, Presto, working with C++, Python, Qt, and USD. • Contributed to a multi-year improvement of Presto's animation object model that allows animators to expressively blend animations. Delivered core-level implementations, user interfaces, editing tools, performance optimizations, and integration with Presto's many other systems. • Conceptualized and implemented a Python scripting editor embedded in Presto for accessible development. Prototyped UI features in Figma with input from end-users to design a delightful UX. The editor is used by developers and technical artists across Pixar to wide acclaim. • Extended a system for preserving character poses across space and solver changes. Delivered support for new features, performance improvements (10-40% speedups across each of several changes), correctness fixes, expanded unit testing, refactors, simplifications, as well as improved documentation. • Collaborated with animators to develop an algorithm that automatically computes tangents on Bézier splines to achieve aesthetic interpolation between keyframes. Led regular forums with a team of animators to build a pipeline for evaluating and iterating on candidate automatic tangent algorithms. Contracted for Pixar through Eastridge Workforce Solutions 2022-2024. ### Simulation Technical Director @ Pixar Animation Studios Jan 2018 – Jan 2019 | Emerville • Rigged and optimized simulation assets, including soft-body assets using Pixar’s in-house cloth simulation engine and rigid-body assets using Bullet. • Achieved significant runtime performance improvements in rigid-body assets. • Produced simulations for films: Cars 3, Incredibles 2, Toy Story 4, and Onward. ### Research Assistant, Master's Thesis @ MIT Media Lab Jan 2017 – Jan 2018 | Cambridge, Massachusetts Researched and developed algorithms bridging industrial knitting with hand knitting. Implemented topological description of knitted structures, and a pipeline for converting hand knitting instructions into machine knitting code. Designed a resting shape prediction algorithm for knitted structures. ### Teacher Assistant @ Massachusetts Institute of Technology Jan 2017 – Jan 2018 | Cambridge, Massachusetts Served as a TA for 6.S063, Engineering Interactive Technologies. Taught and assisted students in working with circuits, microcontrollers such as the ESP8266 with MicroPython, and laser cutters. ### Simulation Technical Director Intern @ Pixar Animation Studios Jan 2017 – Jan 2017 | Emeryville, California Shot work for movies, engineered asset rigging pipeline for rigid bodies. Worked with Bullet, Python, C++, and Pixar's in-house animation software. ### Analog Devices Undergraduate Research and Innovation Scholar @ Computational Fabrication Group, MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) Jan 2016 – Jan 2017 | Cambrdige, MA Exploring ways to optimize particle shapes for desired behavior when packed and vibrated. Year long research under MIT's SuperUROP Undergraduate Research program. ### Simulation Technical Director Intern @ Pixar Animation Studios Jan 2017 – Jan 2017 ### Simulation Technical Director Intern @ Pixar Animation Studios Jan 2016 – Jan 2016 ### Undergraduate Researcher @ Tangible Media Group - MIT Media Lab Jan 2014 – Jan 2015 | Cambridge, MA Software developer for TRANSFORM and inFORM for Cooper Hewitt. Worked with Xbox Kinect to develop real time physically based responsive animations. ### Software Engineering Intern @ Formlabs Jan 2015 – Jan 2015 | Somerville, MA Designed and implemented physics simulations improving support structures for 3D printing using C++ and Qt. ### Intern Collaborator @ Intel Corporation Jan 2014 – Jan 2014 | Hillsboro, OR Collaborated with Intel Labs to develop indoor location sensing algorithms using machine learning and mobile phone sensors in Java. ## Education ### Master's degree in Computer Science Massachusetts Institute of Technology ### Bachelor's degree in Computer Science Massachusetts Institute of Technology ### Fort Zumwalt South High School ## Contact & Social - LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/jaredcounts - Portfolio: http://jaredcounts.com --- Source: https://flows.cv/jaredcounts JSON Resume: https://flows.cv/jaredcounts/resume.json Last updated: 2026-03-31