PROFESSIONAL SUMMARY
> cat professional_summary.txt
Software engineering graduate from the University of
Northern Colorado with five years of hands-on experience
across IT support, systems administration, and software
development.
I build software and I keep the systems it runs on
working. The degree is in software engineering, but most
of the practical experience came from five years inside a
university IT department and a campus operations role,
which meant learning to write code and support real users
at the same time.
Today I am co-founder and Lead Software Architect at
Black Fire Interactive, LLC, an independent software and
game development studio. I lead development across our
projects from concept through execution, including a
contracted mobile game accompanying the 2027 film
Cyborg Recall.
Alongside that I consult independently on Microsoft 365,
Azure, and Intune for small business clients.
The combination is the thing I bring to a team: I am
equally comfortable in application code and in the
infrastructure it deploys into.
> END OF FILE
CURRENT FOCUS
> status --verbose
PRIMARY ROLE.......... Lead Software Architect
Black Fire Interactive, LLC
ALSO OPEN TO.......... Software engineering roles
IT / systems administration roles
EDUCATION............. B.S. Software Engineering
University of Northern Colorado
LOCATION.............. Colorado, USA
CORE LANGUAGES........ C#, Python, Java, C++, SQL
PLATFORMS............. Microsoft 365, Azure, Entra, Intune
RECOGNITION........... Student Employee of the Year
UNC IT Department, 2024
AVAILABILITY.......... Open to opportunities
> END OF STATUS
CAREER HIGHLIGHTS
> highlights --top 5
[01] CO-FOUNDED A SOFTWARE AND GAME STUDIO
Black Fire Interactive, LLC. Leading technical
direction across game and software projects,
including a contracted mobile title tied to a
2027 film release.
[02] MIGRATED DEVICE MANAGEMENT TO INTUNE
Moved endpoint management off legacy Active
Directory group policy and onto Microsoft Intune
in a live university environment.
[03] FIVE YEARS SUPPORTING UNIVERSITY IT
Desktop support, troubleshooting, imaging, and
maintenance for students, faculty, and staff,
plus documentation for new system rollouts.
[04] RAN CAMPUS OPERATIONS AFTER HOURS
Senior on-site authority for two commons
buildings from 5 PM through close, supervising
staff while carrying a full course load.
[05] BUILT AI AND FULL STACK APPLICATIONS
Adversarial game-tree search agent, an Android
route planning app on Google Cloud APIs, and a
stock analysis web application.
> END OF LIST
IDENTITY RECORD
> whoami
NAME.............. Ethan Gimmestad
TITLE............. Lead Software Architect
ORGANIZATION...... Black Fire Interactive, LLC
ROLE.............. Software Engineer
LOCATION.......... Colorado, USA
EDUCATION......... B.S. Software Engineering
University of Northern Colorado, 2025
EMAIL............. ethan.gimmestad@icloud.com
GITHUB............ github.com/ethan-gimmestad
LINKEDIN.......... linkedin.com/in/ethan-gimmestad
AVAILABILITY...... Open to opportunities
> END OF RECORD
BLACK FIRE INTERACTIVE, LLC
> open record: employment/black_fire_interactive
ROLE...... Co-Founder & Lead Software Architect
ORG....... Black Fire Interactive, LLC
PERIOD.... 2025 to present
- Co-founded an independent video game studio and
software development company.
- Lead development efforts across video game projects
and other software from concept to execution,
setting technical direction and architecture.
- Currently contracted to produce a mobile game to
accompany the release of a 2027 film called
Cyborg Recall.
- Responsible for the technical stack, tooling, and
the infrastructure our work ships on.
> END OF RECORD
FREELANCE IT CONSULTING
> open record: employment/freelance_consulting
ROLE...... Freelance IT Consultant
FOCUS..... Microsoft 365, Azure, Intune
CLIENTS... Small business
- Tenant configuration and administration across
Microsoft 365 and Azure environments.
- Identity and access management in Entra ID,
including Conditional Access policy design.
- Device enrollment and endpoint management through
Intune and Windows Autopilot.
- Advising small business clients on cloud migration,
licensing, and security posture.
> END OF RECORD
UNIVERSITY OPERATIONS
> open record: employment/unc_university_operations
ROLE...... Student Assistant Manager
ORG....... University of Northern Colorado
LOCATION.. Greeley, CO
PERIOD.... 2022 to 2025
- Managed two campus commons buildings as the senior
on-site authority after 5 PM, overseeing operations
until 11 PM closure most nights.
- Supervised building staff and ensured facilities ran
smoothly in the director absence.
- Balanced 40 hours per week of work alongside a
full-time course load for three of five years.
> END OF RECORD
UNC IT DEPARTMENT
> open record: employment/unc_it_department
ROLE...... Desktop Support Technician &
Technical Support Representative
ORG....... University of Northern Colorado, IT
PERIOD.... 2021 to 2025
- Provided technical support to students, faculty,
and staff across hardware and software issues.
- Performed desktop support including troubleshooting,
imaging, and maintenance.
- Contributed to a migration of device management from
legacy Active Directory group policy to Microsoft
Intune across university endpoints.
- Attended weekly software integration meetings and
took part in creating documentation for new systems.
AWARD..... Student Employee of the Year, 2024
> END OF RECORD
CODING COLORADO
> open record: employment/coding_colorado
ROLE...... Software Development Intern
ORG....... Coding Colorado
LOCATION.. Greeley, CO
PERIOD.... 2018 to 2019
- Documented the company software repositories,
improving developer onboarding and code
maintainability.
- Gained early exposure to professional software
development workflows and version control practices.
> END OF RECORD
EDUCATION & RECOGNITION
> open record: education
DEGREE.... Bachelor of Science, Software Engineering
SCHOOL.... Monfort College of Business
University of Northern Colorado
PERIOD.... 2020 to 2025
COURSEWORK:
- Artificial intelligence
- Networking
- Systems administration
- Cybersecurity
- Software architecture and design
> open record: recognition
AWARD..... Student Employee of the Year
ISSUER.... UNC IT Department
YEAR...... 2024
Departmental recognition across the IT student
workforce.
> END OF RECORD
MICROSOFT 365, AZURE & INTUNE
> describe capability: cloud_and_endpoint
I work across the Microsoft cloud stack, both in a
university environment and for independent clients.
IDENTITY:
- Entra ID user and group administration
- Conditional Access policy design
- Hybrid identity with Active Directory
ENDPOINT MANAGEMENT:
- Intune device configuration and compliance
- Windows Autopilot enrollment
- Application deployment and update rings
TENANT ADMINISTRATION:
- Microsoft 365 tenant setup and licensing
- Azure resource configuration
- Security baseline and posture review
I maintain a personal Microsoft 365 and Entra tenant
purely for testing, so policies get validated before
they touch a client environment.
> END OF RECORD
ACTIVE DIRECTORY TO INTUNE MIGRATION
> describe project: ad_to_intune_migration
CONTEXT:
Device management at the university ran on legacy
Active Directory group policy. The goal was to move
endpoint management to Microsoft Intune.
WORK:
- Translated existing group policy objects into
Intune configuration profiles.
- Set up device enrollment paths, including
Windows Autopilot for new hardware.
- Tested compliance policies and application
deployment against real endpoints.
- Contributed documentation so the rest of the
team could support the new system.
WHY IT MATTERED:
Real users, real hardware, real consequences. Not
a lab. Migrations like this are where I learned
that the rollout plan matters as much as the
configuration itself.
> END OF RECORD
IT SUPPORT & SYSTEMS ADMINISTRATION
> describe capability: it_support
Five years in a live university environment supporting
students, faculty, and staff.
- Tier 1 and Tier 2 troubleshooting across hardware
and software
- Endpoint imaging, deployment, and maintenance
- Account, access, and permissions administration
- Technical documentation for new system rollouts
- Weekly software integration planning meetings
The practical lessons: diagnose quickly, write
documentation other people can actually use, and
communicate with users who do not share my technical
vocabulary.
Recognized as Student Employee of the Year for the
department in 2024.
> END OF RECORD
HOME LAB
> describe environment: home_lab
HYPERVISOR....... Proxmox
FIREWALL......... pfSense
NETWORK.......... VLAN segmentation
CLOUD TENANT..... Personal Microsoft 365 / Entra
The lab exists so I can break things that are not
production. Proxmox handles virtualization, pfSense
handles routing and firewalling across segmented
VLANs.
The separate Microsoft 365 and Entra tenant is where
I test Intune policies, Autopilot enrollment flows,
and Conditional Access rules before they go anywhere
near a client.
Most of what I know about infrastructure I learned
here first and applied at work second.
> END OF RECORD
SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT
> describe capability: development
LANGUAGES:
C#........ Primary. Game and application development.
Python.... Scripting, tooling, AI coursework.
Java...... Android and general application work.
C++....... Systems and performance-sensitive work.
SQL....... Data modeling and queries.
Clingo.... Answer set programming, AI coursework.
AREAS:
- Full stack application development
- Game development in Unity
- Mobile development for Android and iOS
- Artificial intelligence and search
I care about code that someone else can pick up
later, which is a habit that came from documenting
other people repositories as an intern.
> END OF RECORD
OPERATIONS & LEADERSHIP
> describe capability: operations
For three years I was the senior on-site authority
for two campus commons buildings after hours,
supervising staff and running operations through
closing at 11 PM.
I did it while carrying a full course load and
40 hours a week.
It is not engineering work, but it is where I
learned to manage people, make decisions without
escalation available, and keep something running
when I was the one responsible for it.
> END OF RECORD
CYBORG RECALL (MOBILE)
> open project: cyborg_recall_mobile
STUDIO.... Black Fire Interactive, LLC
STATUS.... In development, under contract
STACK..... C#, Unity, mobile
A mobile game produced under contract to accompany
the release of the 2027 film Cyborg Recall.
I lead development, covering architecture and
technical direction from concept through execution.
> END OF FILE
DRIFT+
> open project: drift_plus
STUDIO.... Black Fire Interactive, LLC
PLATFORM.. iOS
STACK..... SwiftUI
A minimalist sensory application for iOS, built and
released under Black Fire Interactive.
LINK...... blackfireinteractive.com/drift
> END OF FILE
AI GAME AGENT
> open project: isolation_ai_agent
TYPE...... Academic project
DOMAIN.... Artificial intelligence
STACK..... Python, game-tree search
Built an adversarial AI agent for the game Isolation
using game-tree search.
- Minimax search with alpha-beta pruning
- Custom heuristic move evaluation
- Iterative deepening under time constraints
The interesting constraint was time: the agent had
to return a competitive move before the clock ran
out, which made search depth a budgeting problem
rather than a correctness one.
> END OF FILE
ROUTE PLANNING MOBILE APP
> open project: android_route_planner
TYPE...... Academic project
PLATFORM.. Android
STACK..... Java, Google Cloud API
Developed an Android application from scratch
featuring route planning built on the Google Cloud
API.
- Full path from UI through to third party
service integration
- Location handling and map rendering
- Route calculation and display
> END OF FILE
HOME LAB INFRASTRUCTURE
> open project: home_lab
TYPE...... Ongoing personal infrastructure
STACK..... Proxmox, pfSense, VLANs, Entra
A self-managed lab environment running Proxmox for
virtualization and pfSense for routing and
firewalling across segmented VLANs.
Paired with a personal Microsoft 365 and Entra
tenant used to test Intune policies, Autopilot
enrollment, and Conditional Access rules.
It is where new configurations get proven before
they reach anything that matters.
> END OF FILE
STOCK ANALYSIS WEB APPLICATION
> open project: stock_analysis_web_app
TYPE...... Academic project
DOMAIN.... Full stack web development
A web application for analyzing stock data, covering
the full stack from data retrieval and processing
through to the front end presentation layer.
> END OF FILE
WHAT I AM LOOKING FOR
> cat looking_for.txt
Roles where software engineering and infrastructure
overlap.
I am most useful on teams that need someone who can
write the application and also understand the
environment it deploys into. That covers:
- Full stack and application development
- Systems administration
- Cloud and endpoint administration
- Technical support engineering
I am also open to project inquiries for Black Fire
Interactive.
CONTACT... ethan.gimmestad@icloud.com
> END OF FILE