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PBR LIGHT SIMULATION · IRAY, MDL, OMNIVERSE, RTX, RADIANCE · LAS VEGAS, NV · RELOCATING TO OREGON
Nine years as the technical customer for PBR engines. Specified, coordinated, and acceptance-tested lighting-analysis features that shipped in Iray+ 3.1 for 3ds Max with Siemens Lightworks.Transformed an R&D initiative into a standardized lighting design workflow adopted by 20+ designers, then built the tools that make it fast: Iray Mapper and companion scripts save 1,000+ hours a year.Shipping software by directing AI coding agents, including Specdex, a lighting specification SaaS now entering beta.
SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT PARTNERSHIPS
Siemens Lightworks · Iray+ for 3ds Max2025 – Present
Development Partner, representing HDR
  • Specified and acceptance-tested point-illuminance calculations and luminance false-color analysis modes for Iray+, Lightworks' integration of NVIDIA Iray into 3ds Max. Both shipped in Iray+ 3.1 (2025).
  • Lead HDR's evaluation of the Iray+ SDK for custom plugin development, with a small team of in-house developers.
Solemma · ClimateStudio2022 – Present
Development Committee
  • Represent HDR on the development committee for Solemma's daylighting and energy simulation plugin for Rhino.
  • Built pbr2rad to bring PBR texture sets into ClimateStudio; working with Solemma's developers on material-browser previews.
SOFTWARE PROJECTS
Iray+ PBR lighting simulation workflow2019 – Present
HDR standard operating procedure
  • Validated against measured results; used for design visualization and daylight and electric-light studies.
  • Validated against light-meter readings and HDR photography in built projects, and against AGi32 and Radiance; typically within ~5%.
glass2mdl2026
Live · v1
  • Turns manufacturer glazing datasheets into NVIDIA MDL (Material Definition Language) materials for Iray+ in 3ds Max, so glass in a rendering transmits and reflects what the real product does.
  • Built so architectural design teams can compare facade material combinations accurately, using calibrated PBR materials instead of eyeballed approximations.
  • Covers IGUs (insulated glass units), low-e and reflective coatings, tints, frit, and spandrels.
  • Rendered in Iray+ 3.1: visible transmittance within 0.2% of datasheet for a double- and a triple-glazed unit.
Iray Mapper2026
In production at HDR
  • 3ds Max tool that converts imported Rhino, SketchUp, and Revit materials into accurate Iray+ MDL materials.
  • Confidence-scored material matching, per-row overrides, and a PDF QA report so a designer can check what the tool decided.
  • Per-model setup cut from 4–8 hours to ~15 minutes; 20+ HDR lighting designers; 1,000+ hours a year saved.
  • Gifted to HDR; built and supported on my own time.
pbr2rad2026
Live · v1
  • Converts PBR texture sets (the albedo, roughness, and metallic maps used in game and film rendering) into Radiance plastic and metal material primitives with linear-light reflectance and normal-map perturbation.
  • Targets ClimateStudio, Solemma's daylighting tool, and any other Radiance-based renderer.
  • Correct sRGB-to-linear conversion and an energy-conserving diffuse/specular split; 200+ tests.
  • Solemma's developers are adapting ClimateStudio's custom-material upload so pbr2rad materials load and preview accurately in its material browser.
Specdex2026
Beta with lighting designers
  • Lighting specification SaaS built around extraction: drop a manufacturer cutsheet (the PDF spec sheet for a light fixture) into a shared fixture library.
  • Full product ownership: pricing, positioning, competitive analysis. Deployed on Render (FastAPI, React, managed Postgres, WorkOS auth), built by directing AI coding agents.
CyclesCIEtest2025 – 2026
Personal research prototype
  • Automated CIE 171:2006, the accuracy benchmark for lighting software, in Blender Cycles. All 6 electric-light test cases pass; the 6 daylight cases pass partially, with misses at opening edges.
stereoflux2026
Proof of concept
  • Web app on the CyclesCIEtest engine: place IES luminaires and run calculations in a browser (demo video).
  • The app imports a model, places IES luminaires, runs headless Cycles calculations, and shows false-color results in a Three.js viewer.
EXPERIENCE
Senior Lighting Designer2025 – Present
HDR Inc., Las Vegas, NV
  • Direct lighting design on 4–6 concurrent projects from concept through construction, balancing owner, architect, and engineer goals against budget and code with teams across the country.
  • Business development for the West region: proposals and client relationships.
  • Mentor 3–5 junior designers at a time, based on project staffing.
Lighting Designer II2022 – 2025
HDR Inc., Las Vegas, NV
  • Lead lighting designer on several award-winning projects (see Selected Projects).
  • Owned lighting calculations, energy and code compliance, and construction administration across projects; set model production standards for junior staff.
  • Supported proposals with qualification packages and design presentations.
Lighting Designer I2019 – 2022
HDR Inc., Omaha, NE
  • Design and documentation on 10–15 Central-region projects: lighting layouts, photometric calculations, renderings, energy and certification compliance credits.
  • Established and standardized the PBR workflow (3ds Max + Iray+) the lighting practice uses for design visualization and daylight and electric-light studies. Validated it against measured results and taught it across the practice.
Electrical EIT / Lighting Design Intern2017 – 2019
HDR Inc., Omaha, NE
  • Lighting layouts, photometric calculations, and Revit construction documents under a licensed engineer, while finishing the BS and MS in architectural engineering.
SPEAKINGCEU / AIA-ACCREDITED
What Can Lighting Designers Learn from Hollywood?2023
LightFair 2023, New York (with Riley Johnson, HDR)
  • Argued that film VFX and game-graphics techniques (PBR, GPU path tracing) belong in the architectural lighting workflow, with case studies from HDR projects.
Improving Design with a Physically-Based Render Workflow2020 – 2023
IALD Enlighten Americas 2020 (virtual) · IES Omaha, Kansas City, Des Moines · repeated internally at HDR through 2023
  • Case studies applying PBR rendering to lighting design and analysis: what the workflow catches that traditional calc software misses.
Beyond Blueprints: Collaborative Approaches to High-Performance Building Design2025
AEI Conference 2025, Kansas City (with Tim Williams, AIA)
  • Focused on accurate facade material simulation through spectral rendering in NVIDIA Iray, alongside parametric modeling.
TEACHING
University of Nebraska2020 – 2024
  • Served as industry advisor & mentor for team design courses
  • Created tutorials and taught Iray+ for 3ds Max as a guest lecturer for senior lighting design studio courses
SELECTED PROJECTS
Omaha Central Library2026
Omaha, NE
  • Lead lighting designer; developed spectral PBR visualizations and daylight analysis that guided material selection, facade modulation, and custom exterior shading design.
OC San Headquarters Complex2025
Fountain Valley, CA
  • Lead lighting designer on a hybrid mass-timber, net-zero HQ; used daylight design principles to meet its strict energy-reduction requirements · IES Illumination Award of Merit 2025
Kiewit Luminarium2023
Omaha, NE
  • Lead lighting designer; ran electric and daylight simulations for a large parametric facade design and coordinated closely with third-party exhibit designers · IALD Award of Merit 2024
AWARDS
  • Seven IES national Illumination Awards (2021–2026), including a 2026 Award of Excellence
  • IALD International Lighting Design Award of Merit, Kiewit Luminarium (2024)
EDUCATION
BS + MS, Architectural EngineeringUniversity of Nebraska, Lincoln + Omaha, NE · 2014 – 2019
CREDENTIALS
Lighting Certified (LC), NCQLP2023 – Present
Associate Member, IALD and IES2020 – Present
HDR Associate2026 – Present
  • Firm-nominated leadership designation · ~1% of employees selected per year
SKILLS & TOOLS
LightingArchitectural lighting design · photometrics · daylight analysis · facade design · Iray+ · MDL · Radiance · 3ds Max · Rhino · Grasshopper · ClimateStudio · Revit · SketchUp
SoftwareShipping by directing AI coding agents (Claude Code, Codex): Python · TypeScript · C++ · React · FastAPI · Postgres · Three.js · Blender/Cycles · OpenUSD (conversion, UsdLux)
CONTACT
Las Vegas, NV · relocating to Oregon·jjathompson4@gmail.com·LinkedIn·GitHub
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