Havok adds one to management team
by Kit

Thursday, August 19 2004

Havok expands U.S. Management Team with new Director of Product Management.

Havok, developers of middleware physics tools and technologies for the gaming and film industries, announced an expansion to its management team in the United States, naming Jeff Yates as Director of Product Management. Yates will drive the implementation of word-wide product strategies and manage launches of Havok’s new middleware products and technologies.

“We’re particularly pleased to have Jeff join Havok,
said Havok CEO David O'Meara. "He is recognized as one of the very best executives in the industry and brings a wealth of insight and experience to Havok both at product and senior executive levels. We are extending our product line with exciting new middleware components and asset processing pipelines and are working with our customers to embed our middleware solutions into their 3D content creation production pipelines. Jeff’s extensive experience building production tools and designing efficient workflows for 3D artists and animators will help us meet our customers’ most critical needs through their transition to next generation consoles.”

Yates brings to Havok over 15 years experience developing commercial software solutions for creators of interactive and high-fidelity 3D content in cutting edge games and blockbuster movies. Yates most recently served as Engineering Director for Discreet, a division of Autodesk, Inc. During his 7 years at Autodesk, Yates helped direct development of 3ds max and Character Studio, one of the leading content creation solutions for the games and movie special effects industries. He has also logged over 8 years directing engineering, customer relationships, and product strategies at Alias | Wavefront and Electronic Arts. Jeff’s focus and formal education are in software and mechanical engineering. He earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in engineering from Purdue University before pursuing his career in the commercial software industry.

“I’m thrilled to have the opportunity to join Havok’s talented team," said Yates. "Now is the right time for middleware and content creation to move closer together. Havok has outstanding technology and a solid reputation with game developers, as well as a compelling strategy for future products – I’m looking forward to helping extend that legacy as the art and engineering processes converge in the years ahead.”

--- Kit