Available to hire
I’m a Senior Full Stack Engineer and Creative Technologist based in Newcastle, Australia. I design and build complete products from early concept and prototyping through architecture, development, deployment and ongoing refinement, combining full stack engineering, UX, real-time systems, AI integration, and cloud infrastructure.
I’ve delivered projects across healthcare, government, education, research, music, public space, cultural preservation and environmental science. With an autistic perspective, I bring detailed logical analysis, lateral thinking, and a strong ability to identify patterns, edge cases and technical opportunities.
Skills
Experience Level
Expert
Expert
Expert
Expert
Expert
Expert
Expert
Expert
Expert
Expert
Expert
Expert
Expert
Expert
Expert
Expert
Expert
Expert
Intermediate
Intermediate
Intermediate
Intermediate
Intermediate
Work Experience
Lead Developer & Interaction Designer at Innovation Challenges - Safer Public Spaces (Penrith City Park)
January 1, 2023 - PresentDesigned and developed the interactive systems used across four large public installations. Combined AI speech recognition, FlipDot displays, LiDAR, lighting, audio, physical buttons and SvelteKit applications to collect community feedback and encourage discussion about safety in public spaces. Implemented AI speech-to-text submissions, moderated public messages displayed on rotating FlipDot arrays, an interactive mirrored FlipDot experience recording movement and generating downloadable animated GIFs, and sensor-to-interface messaging via MQTT. Developed a second-generation version for Port Stephens under the name Nellies.
Lead Developer & Interaction Designer at Innovation Challenges - Safer Public Spaces (public installations; Nellies in development)
January 1, 2023 - PresentDesigned and developed interactive systems used across large public installations in Penrith City Park combining AI speech recognition, FlipDot displays, LiDAR, lighting, audio, physical buttons and SvelteKit applications. Collected community feedback, moderated and displayed public messages, created an interactive mirrored FlipDot experience that records movement and generates downloadable animated GIFs, and implemented AI-assisted survey submissions and MQTT communication between sensors/buttons/lighting/audio and client interfaces. A second-generation version is being developed for Port Stephens under the name Nellies.
Animator at Night Time Spaces - Henges (City of Newcastle / public park AR installs)
January 1, 2022 - December 31, 2022Animated five children’s characters for augmented reality experiences installed across public parks in Newcastle. Each character had distinct abilities, movements and props, with chosen animation determined by the specific installation. Characters remained publicly accessible for approximately six months.
Hardware Assembly & Programming at Sustainnovation Challenge
January 1, 2022 - December 31, 2022Designed and constructed a custom timber frame containing six AlfaZeta FlipDot display assemblies and their control hardware. Programmed and assembled the interactive display system for student participants at Wollondilly High School.
Lead Developer at Regain
January 1, 2022 - PresentLed development of a cross-platform rehabilitation platform supporting stroke recovery through specialist-guided exercise programs. Evolved from a video-based rehabilitation application into a broader system supporting health practitioners and more user-centred workflows. Conducted exploration into hands-free interaction and later concepts including haptic wearables and LiDAR-based movement monitoring to support progress tracking and remote rehabilitation.
Lead Developer, Animator & Rigger at Womb with AR View
January 1, 2020 - December 31, 2020Developed a Unity and WebGL-based nursing and midwifery education platform for remote AR and VR training. Combined separately sourced anatomical models into an interactive representation of childbirth, including stages of labour and possible medical complications. Created animation, rigging and interaction systems allowing complex medical processes to be explored visually in remote and under-resourced learning environments.
Lead Developer at See The House We Build (City of Newcastle)
January 1, 2020 - December 31, 2020Created an interactive Unity simulation demonstrating the challenges of balancing housing demand with public infrastructure. Players modified a city with low-, medium- and high-density housing alongside facilities like schools, hospitals and shops. Introduced new residents throughout gameplay to repeatedly force reconsideration of housing, transport and services requirements.
Lead Developer, Animator & Rigger at Womb with AR View (nursing and midwifery education)
January 1, 2020 - December 31, 2020Developed a Unity and WebGL-based training platform supporting remote AR and VR education. Combined separately sourced anatomical models into an interactive representation of childbirth, including multiple stages of labour and possible medical complications. Created animation, rigging and interaction systems to let complex medical processes be explored visually in remote and under-resourced learning environments.
Photogrammetry Assistant at Japanese Sodeisha ceramic collection (Immersive VR exhibition)
January 1, 2019 - December 31, 2019Assisted digitisation of selected works from the Japanese Sodeisha ceramic collection for an immersive VR exhibition. Enabled public interaction with culturally significant and physically fragile ceramic works in ways not possible in a traditional gallery environment. Investigated use of gloss meters as part of a digital archival workflow to reproduce ceramic surface properties more accurately.
Lead Developer at Dope Lemon (Unity geofenced game for Sony BMG & Angus Stone)
January 1, 2019 - December 31, 2019Developed a geofenced Unity game to promote the Dope Lemon album Smooth Big Cat. Connected real-world licensed venues with an interactive digital experience where players could begin at participating venues, explore an in-game environment, race with friends, and collect randomly placed Dope Lemon merchandise redeemable for physical rewards. Integrated geolocation, live venue availability, game systems, digital collectibles and promotional music content.
Web Designer & Developer at Baraya Studios
January 1, 2019 - December 31, 2019Designed and developed a custom WordPress theme for Baraya Studios, the client-facing production and collaboration arm of the University of Newcastle Conservatorium of Music. Built the site to showcase creative projects, studio services and industry collaborations.
Lead Developer at FASTLab Research Platform (University of Newcastle)
January 1, 2019 - December 31, 2019Designed and developed a custom research and industry engagement platform for the University of Newcastle. Initially built in React and later migrated to SvelteKit. Functioned as an enterprise content management platform promoting research projects, partnerships, capabilities and student opportunities. Added an AI-assisted version to generate demographic/descriptive metadata via sentiment and content analysis to improve content organisation and search visibility.
Photogrammetry Assistant at Newcastle Art Gallery (Sodeisha ceramic collection VR exhibition)
January 1, 2019 - December 31, 2019Assisted with digitisation of selected Japanese Sodeisha ceramic works for an immersive virtual reality exhibition. Enabled public interaction with culturally significant and fragile ceramics beyond a traditional gallery setting. Investigated using gloss meters (commonly used in automotive workflows) as part of a digital archival approach to reproduce ceramic surface properties more accurately.
Lead Developer at Dope Lemon (Sony BMG & Angus Stone)
January 1, 2019 - December 31, 2019Developed a geofenced Unity game promoting the Dope Lemon album Smooth Big Cat. Connected licensed real-world venues with a digital interactive experience where players could start at participating venues, explore an in-game environment, race with friends and collect randomly placed digital merchandise redeemable for physical rewards. Implemented geolocation, live venue availability, game systems, digital collectibles and promotional music content.
Founder & Lead Developer at Metarank
January 1, 2019 - PresentCreated an AI-powered SEO generator that analyses written content and metadata to produce, assess and improve search metadata. Uses a layered approach evaluating relevance, content structure, context, quality, relationships and metadata signals rather than treating metadata as flat or isolated information. Supports stronger titles, descriptions and tags while keeping the author in control of the final result, with planned/ongoing feedback loops to analyse generated metadata and ranking performance to improve weighting and future retraining.
Founder & Lead Developer at AIMirror
January 1, 2019 - PresentBuilt an AI-powered behavioural analytics platform that analyses user interactions to identify friction, hesitation, dead clicks, confusing flows and mismatches between interface design and user intent. Designed the platform around intelligent middleware, semantic caching, compression and behavioural fingerprinting to reduce repetitive or unnecessary information sent for inference while enabling previously analysed patterns to be recognised and reused. Created AIMirror as a debugging tool to help developers, designers and product teams understand where users may become confused.
Senior Full Stack Engineer & Creative Technologist at University of Newcastle
January 1, 2018 - PresentDesigned and delivered creative technology projects across healthcare, research, education, government, arts and public engagement. Led development of web applications, interactive installations, immersive experiences and research prototypes. Worked directly with academics, artists, government organisations, technical contractors and industry partners. Took projects from concept and feasibility through to development, installation and public deployment, combining interaction design, software engineering, hardware integration, animation and real-time media systems.
Lead Designer & Developer at Koala Quest
January 1, 2018 - December 31, 2018Built a citizen science platform enabling volunteers to identify koalas in aerial infrared imagery. Implemented drone surveys using automated lawnmower-pattern flight paths across tree canopies with thermal calibration aligned to expected healthy koala temperatures. Volunteers reviewed frames and classified potential koalas, reducing the amount of imagery researchers needed to manually review. Explored additional techniques including sequential drone imagery, photogrammetry and Agisoft Metashape for body proportion and characteristic estimation to reduce false positives.
Senior Full Stack Engineer & Creative Technologist (Creative Technologist) at University of Newcastle
January 1, 2018 - PresentDesigned and delivered creative technology projects across healthcare, research, education, government, arts and public engagement. Led web applications, interactive installations, immersive experiences and research prototypes from concept and feasibility through to development, installation and public deployment. Worked with academics, artists, government organisations, technical contractors and industry partners, combining interaction design, software engineering, hardware integration, animation and real-time media systems.
Lead Designer & Developer at Korrawinga Women's Aboriginal Association
January 1, 2015 - December 31, 2018Designed and developed native iOS and Android applications supporting preservation and teaching of the Butchulla language. Translated between English and Butchulla and were built for use within local schools and community programs. Added interactive flashcards and jigsaw-style learning activities and planned an interactive kiosk on K'gari.
Lead Designer & Developer at Butchulla Language Application (Korrawinga Women's Aboriginal Association)
January 1, 2015 - December 31, 2017Designed and developed native iOS and Android applications supporting preservation and teaching of the Butchulla language. Implemented translation between English and Butchulla and designed for use within local schools and community programs. Produced a second version featuring interactive flashcards and jigsaw-style learning activities, with a planned kiosk stage on K'gari.
Systems Administrator at Hi-Po Tech
January 1, 2008 - December 31, 2009Administered infrastructure for local businesses, legal firms, printers and sign manufacturers. Supported Windows Server, Slackware, Ubuntu, FreeBSD and Red Hat environments. Managed networking, backups, system maintenance and troubleshooting.
Creative Technologist at Freelance & Contract
January 1, 1996 - December 31, 2018Produced interactive applications, mobile software, websites, games and public installations across multiple sectors including design, music, education, commercial production and emerging technology. Delivered motion graphics, 3D modelling, animation and real-time media systems. Developed early 3D Studio Max FBX import/export plugin and provided end-to-end technical and creative production for independent and commercial clients.
at Freelance & Contract Roles
January 1, 1996 - December 31, 2018Produced interactive applications, mobile software, websites, games and public installations. Delivered motion graphics, 3D modelling, animation and real-time media systems across design, music, education, commercial production and emerging technology.
Education
Bachelor of Visual Communication Design (Digital Design Major) at University of Newcastle
January 1, 2016 - August 11, 2026Bachelor of Visual Communication Design (Digital Design Major) at University of Newcastle
January 1, 2016 - August 11, 2026Qualifications
Industry Experience
Software & Internet, Education, Healthcare, Government, Media & Entertainment, Gaming, Non-Profit Organization
Skills
Experience Level
Expert
Expert
Expert
Expert
Expert
Expert
Expert
Expert
Expert
Expert
Expert
Expert
Expert
Expert
Expert
Expert
Expert
Expert
Intermediate
Intermediate
Intermediate
Intermediate
Intermediate
Hire Michael Cuneo today
To get started post up your job and then invite Michael Cuneo to your job.