Matthew Anderson is a creative director at and co-founder of Broken Compass Studios, co-founder of Cobalt Flux and a current MFA candidate at the University of Utah. He has done extensive work to promote video games as a viable tool in physical education and therapy, and has co-developed hardware and software utilized by thousands of schools nationally and internationally. Products originated at Cobalt Flux have been featured in Wired, PSM, the New York Times, and on Good Morning America. Most recently, he worked on the iOs title Catball Eats it All, recently featured as a “Staff Favorite” on the Apple App Store main page.

Jennifer Ash is a second-year graduate student at New York University studying Digital Media Design for Learning, focusing on games and learning. She received her bachelor’s degree at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, graduating with a dual degree in Games and Simulations Arts and Sciences and Psychology. While at RPI, Jennifer interned at 1st Playable Productions as a design associate on Club Penguin DS. Her professional focus is game design, integrating education and user research.

Chin Xiang Chong is a second-year master’s student at DigiPen Institute of Technology, trying to fulfill a childhood dream by breaking into the games industry. A programmer by training and a designer at heart, Chin’s greatest pleasure comes from watching people enjoy the games he has made. He is fluent in English, Chinese and Japanese, enjoys talking to people from all walks of life, and is grateful to the IGDA for this tremendous opportunity to meet and learn from budding game developers from all over the world.

From an early age Michael Chu was exposed to the wonders of fantasy and science fiction novels, way too much Star Wars (if there is such a thing) and video games. Born and raised in the mystical lands of Northern California, in 2007 he moved to Los Angeles to attend the University of Southern California. While completing a degree in business, he enrolled in interactive entertainment classes, picking up a double-major in Interactive Media. Among his fellow students and faculty who all loved their work he found the opportunity to do something he’s always wanted to do: make games. He hopes to create games that both entertain and surprise people.

Dai Yun is a Chinese girl who dreams about using games to change the world. She was seen multiple times in Beijing after the mid-’80s, and now can be found either in a small room at the Interactive Media Division of the University of Southern California or on the nearby basketball court. It is said that she is neither a good programmer nor a professional artist, but she received a combined background of engineering and design during her stay on the largest campus in Beijing. She is known as a quick learner, and always passionate about learning new things.

Luke Dicken is a member of the Strathclyde AI and Games research group at the University of Strathclyde in Scotland, where he supervises research projects, lectures on Game AI and occasionally works towards a PhD. He is a contributor to AltDevBlogADay.com and one of the organisers for the AltDevConf. Luke holds a BSc(Hons) in Artificial Intelligence and an MSc in Bio-Informatics, both from the University of Edinburgh. He also holds a Master of Research with Distinction in Automated Planning for Autonomous Systems. He is a two-time IGDA Scholar and was the 2012 recipient of the Eric Dybsand Memorial AI Scholarship.

Kornel Kisielewicz is a Computer Science PhD student at the Institute of Computer Science at Wroclaw University in Poland, specializing in computer graphics. He holds self-made lectures on Game Programming and does research on procedural content in computer games, including but not limited to procedural textures, models and plot. While aspiring to be an indie game designer, currently he is most known for his freeware games in the roguelike genre, most notably Doom, the Roguelike — a turn-based de-make of the classic id Software title. He also runs the ChaosForge, a web-based community for his games that he hopes to convert some day into the seed for his own game company.

As a graduate from the University of Chicago with a double degree in math and computer science, Pavel Krajcevski was quick to jump into game development at his first opportunity. He spent two years working at Wideload Games, where he was part of the team that created Disney Guilty Party, which won best family game at E3 2010. Now, as a first-year graduate student at University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, he’s excited to be continuing his education towards the state of the art in game development.

Anna Lotko is pursuing an MFA in Interactive Media at the University of Southern California. She works as a research assistant in USC’s Game Innovation Lab and is a designer for the lab’s Collegeology Games project. Anna is interested in designing educational games and experimenting with storytelling through gameplay. She serves as the director of operations for Glitch Lab, an LA-based space for art, games and other experiments. Anna grew up in Hanover, New Hampshire, where she also attended Dartmouth College. As an undergraduate she worked for Tiltfactor, Dartmouth’s game design and research lab.

Jacqulyn MacHardy is a new IGDA Member and an even newer volunteer in the Global Community Management Group. She studies Music Composition as an undergraduate at James Madison University in Virginia. The JMU School of Music employs her part-time working with a crew of faculty and students to record and do sound reinforcement for concerts given by the School of Music and guests of the Performing Arts Center. She devotes her remaining time to making her own recordings and writing music electronically and manually. Her musical efforts lately are geared toward game projects she’s involved in at a small, independent company called Shark Tooth Entertainment.

Arthur Marris will soon be a graduate of George Brown College’s Game Development program in Toronto, where he specializes in 3D animation. He’s heavily involved in Toronto’s game development community. He co-produces a local podcast called “The Toronto Indie Guys”, which helps developers get involved and stay aware of what’s happening. In the past he’s volunteered for events like Gamercamp, TOJam, and the Global Game Jam. He’s also completed contract work as an animator and rigger for the Canadian Film Center at Nuit Blanche 2011. Some of his favourite games include Knytt, Flower, Splinter Cell: Conviction and the Pro Evolution Soccer series.

Molly Maloney is a graduate student at the Academy of Art University pursuing her MFA in visual development for game design. As a concept artist her passion is for creating compelling worlds through environments and props. She believes that one of the best ways to design interesting game worlds is to be curious about our own world, so when she’s not drawing or playing games she love to travel and read. Originally from Anchorage, Alaska, she received her BFA in Fine Art and BS in Japanese language from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Kyle Rentschler received his B.A. in Film Studies and Rhetoric from the University of California at Berkeley, where he started designing educational games. Currently, Kyle is halfway through a Ph.D. program in Media, Culture, Communication at New York University. His dissertation, tentatively titled “Value-able Circuitries: How Social, Ethical, and Political Values are Embedded in Commercial Game Design”, examines how human values exist in video games and which values tend to be most prevalent in commercial games. Kyle still designs non-digital games on the side at the NYU Game Center, and is interested in how complicated and rarely expressed emotions and experiences can be communicated through games.

Born in London, raised in San Antonio and Dubai, and now finally residing in Los Angeles, Mihir Sheth is a senior in the Computer Science-Games program at the University of Southern California. Mihir has made games about an inter-species lesbian couple fighting off galactic bigotry with their love, an easter egg spaceship shooting a bubblegum planet, a pink blob bouncing around the keys of a keyboard and a teleporting saboteur who destroys mechs with style. He graduates in May 2012, and can’t wait to help make the games industry more awesome!

Katharina Tillmanns is a writer, director and producer for linear and interactive media and a first year student of the Master’s program in Game Development and Research at the Cologne Game Lab in Germany. Throughout her studies and her work as an academic assistant, she has been focusing on the expressive qualities of games. In summer 2011, Katharina was initiator and festival director of the NOTGAMES FEST in Cologne, which was co-curated by Tale of Tales. She is currently working on an interview-based book on the art and attitude of indie games that will be published by daab media in spring 2012.

Andrew “Dru” Erridge is a sophomore from the University of Southern California’s Computer Science Games program. He loves all things at the intersection of tech and art, and has been programming since he was young. His second passion, behind meeting technical challenges, is bringing smart, creative people together which he exercises as an organizer for USC’s Association for Computing Machinery and Makers of Entertaining Games Association. Current areas of interest include musically generated, location-based, or mobile games and applications.

Christopher Vu is a student at Carnegie Mellon University’s Entertainment Management program. Originally from Houston, Texas, he abandoned a pre-med past to pursue his passion in life: games. Even when the world suffers from economic turmoil or political disasters, people still turn to entertainment to lighten their days; and because of this, the industries remain strong. For this reason, Christopher is specifically focused on cross-platform marketing, integration, and business development. He currently is an intern at NBC Universal for TV cable and alternative programming and development, and hopes to run a multi-dimensional agency in the near future.

Nicholas Cassleman is a third year student at the University of Chicago, where he has created his own ‘Digital Storytelling’ major and has started a club focused on the design, development, and discussion of games. Focusing on design, he is passionate about the artistic, experimental, and interdisciplinary potential of games and is most experienced developing augmented reality games. He also helps out at the Institute of Play’s ChicagoQuest school, performs in the circus, practices aikido, and is helping write this year’s list for the world’s largest annual scavenger hunt.

Sarah Chu is a PhD student in Curriculum and Instruction at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Her research interests are centered on the design of digital games and exhibits in museums and how learning takes place in and around them. She has done research on learning and literacy practices in massively multiplayer online games with Dr. Constance Steinkuehler’s Pop.Cosmo research team. Currently, she works at the Morgridge Institute for Research where she designs and studies games for learning science. She holds an MEd in educational technology from York University and an Honors BA in visual studies from the University of Toronto.

Simon Wiscombe is a game and interaction designer in Los Angeles. He is currently pursuing his MFA in Interactive Media Design within USC’s School of Cinematic Arts. His research and designs are aimed at exploring games as a transformational medium: one that can alter peoples’ relationships with each other, themselves and the space around them.

Joe Ferfecki is a soon to be graduate of Purdue University with a major in Computer Graphics Technology and a minor in Computer Science. He is interested in Technical Art, Tool Development, and Programming for interactive & real-time 3D applications. He is the Co-President & Lead Technical Director of Purdue’s game development club and is a member of ACM SIGGRAPH.

Scott Wilkewitz got into programming games after taking his first programming class in high school. He started with a basic 2D platformer using a tutorial and worked his way up to writing his own 3D space flight simulator from scratch. He is studying Computer Science at Purdue University, and serves as the lead engine programmer for a game development group under Purdue ACM. His current goal is to obtain an early internship as a game programmer.

Adam LeClair is a junior at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute pursuing a dual major in Cognitive Science and Games and Simulation Arts and Sciences. Aside from making games in and out of class time, he is an officer in RPI’s Game Development Club, through which he reaches out to local studios and the community, including IGDA Albany. Adam has organized many of the club’s events, including game jams, showcase events, and guest speakers.

Adam Stark is a sophomore majoring in Computer Science at Boston University. He has played games since the Sega Genesis, and has grown up with some of the best games ever made. He also plays hockey on a near-daily basis at his school. His eventual goal for his career is to become either a producer or creative director for a video game studio. In the meantime, he practices his programming skills by creating games in either Java or C, his latest project being a Fallout Terminal Mini-Game Emulator written in C.

Robert Yang is an MFA student at Parsons the New School for Design in New York City, researching architectural theory as it pertains to level design in first person games. His games have been exhibited in California, Canada, New York City, and Spain, and he has written about video games for The Escapist, Rock Paper Shotgun, and PC Gamer UK.

Michael Lin is a first-year MFA student in the Interactive Media Division at USC, with a bachelor’s in Comparative Media Studies from MIT. He considers himself an aspiring game designer, and views designing 2D puzzle levels one of the simple pleasures of life. He also enjoys watching and discussing theatre and film, writing, archery and playing the piano. Oh, and he doesn’t mind playing the occasional video game, if he really must. And there’s nothing good on television.

Sarah Schoemann is a Brooklyn-based artist and educator pursuing an MS fellowship in Integrated Digital Media at NYU’sPolytechnic Institute. Her focuses are interactive art and game design as wellas theory relating to the social implications of technology, and she iscurrently co-authoring a paper for the LeonardoElectronic Almanac, an online arts and technology journal published by MIT press about the use of AugmentedReality as political interventionist art.Her work was recently nominated for best visuals at this year’s Global Game Jamat the NYU Game Center.She also teaches LEGO robotics classes to elementary schoolers in Brooklyn.

Matthew Mauriello is currently a doctoral student at the University of Maryland studying: human-computer interaction, social computing, robotics, and artificial intelligence. He is affiliated with recent research involving educational gaming that has been accepted into the proceedings of CHI 2012. Prior to his doctoral work, Matthew worked in the cyber security and career services industries while also consulting. He has been involved in independent game development since 2005 and is currently working on a Unity project entitled “Tumbleweed Express”. Matthew is a member of the International Game Developers Association with the DC Chapter and the Association for Computing Machinery.

Joe Ferfecki is a graduate of Purdue University with a major in Computer Graphics Technology and a minor in Computer Science. He is interested in Technical Art, Tool Development, and Programming for interactive & real-time 3D applications. He was the Co-President & Lead Technical Director of Purdue’s game development club and is a member of ACM SIGGRAPH.

Alexandra Giasi is pursuing a B.S. in Computer Science at The George Washington University. She currently works for an organization that produces educational video games that teach students the principles of law and civics. At the same time, she researches and writes about issues of video game intellectual property law for a D.C. firm. Previously, she contributed to a treatise a Virginia law firm prepared on how patents relate to virtual worlds. She is very interested in the application of video games as effective teaching tools for students, especially in areas where they most struggle. Alexandra now aspires to improve upon her programming skills and aims to learn more about game development, educational or otherwise.

Jon Gill is an English-born, California-raised programmer, game designer, and writer. Jon enjoys good games, smart writing, and movies that surprise him. He has less love for lowest common denominator humor, grinding in games, and memorizing Japanese kanji (five years of study later, it’s still hard). Jon is currently finishing the third year of his Computer Science: Game Design degree at the University of California, Santa Cruz. He has developed multiple independent games, written a play, and worked on the PlayN games library as an intern at Google. He maintains a personal portfolio and blog at www.jonagill.com. Don’t let the accent fool you–he knows nothing about soccer.

Daniel Hausmann grew up in the jungles of Venezuela, amidst waterfalls, fried corn cakes, and baboons. He was raised there until he was 8, whereupon he was taken to a region where bulletproof vests were not highly-recommended vestiges. In America he learned French. He also kindled an interest presentations of all forms: comedy, magic, dance, puppet, piano, and radio. He went to Brown University, majored in East Asian Studies, and worked at Google as a Learning Designer for 5 years. He’s currently doing a Masters of Entertainment Technology at Carnegie Mellon and creating a startup focused on making online education fantastic.

Emory Irpan is a rising senior at the University of Southern California majoring in Business Administration with a concentration in project management and marketing, and minoring in 2D art for video games. He’s thrilled to be able to work in the industry he’s dreamed about since childhood. This summer, he will be a production coordinator intern at Activision. Emory is also the team lead on a yearlong, senior capstone video game development project at USC. Visit http://www.metagame-studios.com/ to follow him and the rest of the team on their final game development journey at USC.

Owen Leach is a second-year graduate student at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, earning a degree in Interactive Media and Game Development with a focus in serious games. Outside of WPI he spends his time running his own company, Bomb Shelter Games, and working at Tencent Boston as a design intern. A strong proponent for serious games, he hopes one day to found his own educational gaming company so his games can help shape the future of children around the world.

Paul Andrew McGee is an independent game developer and game designer who, after receiving his B.Sc. in Software Engineering at Dublin City University, Ireland, travelled across the sea to study for a Professional Masters in Game Development at Abertay University in Dundee, Scotland. He is actively involved with the independent development scene including organizing frequent game jams such as most recently a Dundee location for the global Molyjam. He believes we have still only scratched the surface of what computer games are capable of, especially as an expressive medium, and is driven and excited by a need to help discover and push what our little games can do.

Lyndsey Moulds is a graduating senior at the University of Chicago, where she studies English and is a co-founder of the games club LUIGI. Interested in both production and design, Lyndsey is fascinated by the power of quirky and innovative mechanics. If she isn’t furiously coding her latest Ludum Dare experiment, she can usually be found working with Chicago youth in various after school programs, where her experiences inspire her to find ways to bring games and new media into the classroom.

Liza Singer holds a BA in Narrative Media and Entertainment Technologies and earned her MPS from NYU’s Interactive Telecommunications Program in May 2012. An award-winning writer, animator and game designer, her interdisciplinary skills enable her to seamlessly integrate all aspects of game development. Her thesis project, Genesis, uses emotive AI to create unique, adaptive narrative spaces and characters. She interned with Marvel Entertainment, and was a finalist in the 2011 Microsoft Imagine Cup. Her installation “Breathe Life In” is currently on display at the IAC Building and was showcased at the NYU Tisch Gala 2012.

Spencer Taylor, born and raised in Los Angeles, had no idea what to do with his life upon graduation from high school. So he joined the United States Navy and served four years, during which time he figured out what he wanted to do: after considering a career in the military, he decided he wanted to make video games. In February 2012 he enrolled in the Game Programming major at The Art Institute of California, Los Angeles. Though he only recently started his journey into the games industry, he attends as many events as he can to get his name out there as much as possible. He designs both analog and digital games and aspires to be a gameplay programmer.

Drew Utterback attends the University of South Dakota where he is earning his bachelors in Business Management. He is working towards starting the first IGDA-recognized video game developer club at USD. In summer 2011, Drew interned with SkyVu Entertainment in Omaha, Neb. where he worked on marketing the popular mobile franchise BATTLE BEARS. Previously, Drew earned his associates in Video Game Design at Western Iowa Tech Community College in Sioux City, Iowa, where he was an officer and founding member of the IGDA club. Drew looks forward to working in marketing video games after finishing school.

Empassioned by video game creation since his youth, Geoffrey Cambefort is endlessly curious about the game industry, particularly interested in innovation in gameplay. He holds a fifth-year Master of Science from Supinfo International University, validated by an internship at Anuman Interactive as an assistant producer. He recently graduated from the University of Montpellier III Paul Valéry, where he earned a Master of Digital Fiction with a concentration in Video Games, specializing in flow theory, to improve his game design skills. His social touch game Darkness Threshold is a finalist in the Hits Playtime student game competition. Geoffrey now works as a level design intern at Cyanide Studio. He aspires to lead a creative team on projects for next-gen consoles.

Jorge Cid will soon graduate with MSc degree in Games Development at Kingston University. Jorge specialises in programming C-based languages and is assistant programmer on Glume, a Sony PSP game to be released on the Sony store. Jorge is a contributing member of inKUbator, Kingston’s creative game research and development lab, and is also programming a new game in Unity exploring the use of sound as a weapon. His passion for physical computing and building social platforms is leading him to embrace natural user interfaces in a road to engage players with their environments, making or reinforcing connections away from the keyboard.

A two-time IGDA Scholar, Paul Andrew McGee is an independent game developer and game designer who, after receiving his B.Sc. in Software Engineering at Dublin City University in Ireland and interning at Microsoft, travelled across the sea to study for a Professional Masters in Game Development at Abertay University in Dundee, Scotland. He organizes regular game jams including recently a Dundee location for the global Molyjam, and has had one of his games displayed at the Stattbad Galley in Berlin as part of the 5-Button EGP Game Jam. He believes we have still only scratched the potential of computer games and is driven and excited by a need to help discover and push what our little games can mean!

Thomas Smith is a fourth-year student at the University of Southampton in the UK, where he studies Computer Science with Artificial Intelligence. Having been fascinated with AI from a very early age, he is now also particularly interested in the combination of emergent behaviours and procedurally generated content in games. He has previously interned with Rare Ltd., where he worked on tools for Kinect Sports and Kinect Sports 2, and has mentored school-children for the Student Robotics competition. He is keen to learn more about both personal and games development, and start on the right track for a successful career.

Aidan Temple just completed his third year at Glasgow Caledonian University where he is studying BSc (Hons) Computer Games Software Development. For his fourth year Aidan intends to study the different uses for motion control in video games. During his time at university Aidan volunteers for his local IGDA chapter, IGDA Scotland, and as a computing tutor for his local council. He is also planning to teach an after school coding club for children as part of the CodeClub initiative and will also be a mentor at this year’s Young Rewired State. When Aidan is not busy volunteering he is working on taking his first steps into the independent gaming market by working on his first title for mobile platforms.

Spencer Buchanan is a producer and game designer. He is currently an MFA candidate at the University of Utah studying in the Entertainment Arts and Engineering Program: Master’s Game Studio. He is seeking to create new haptic feedback hardware for console games and is interested in human interaction within a game. His undergraduate in Sculpture/Intermedia has helped him explore experiences within both physical and virtual worlds. Spencer is trying to find new ways to shape the development of the ever more casual game and utilize new technologies to make the interaction with video games more worthwhile.

Tyler Coleman is the founder and creative director of Retora Game Studios, an independent game studio in Phoenix, Arizona. Through this company, he handles contract work including games for movies, colleges, independent investors, and more. He has been responsible for the organization of multiple game jams over the past two years, including the Global Game Jam. He has also assisted with IGDA Phoenix and educational groups in the Phoenix area. He recently earned a bachelor’s degree in Game Design from the University of Advancing Technology.

Heather M Decker-Davis recently completed her MFA in Interactive Design and Game Development through Savannah College of Art and Design, and is now a designer and artist for Robot Overlord Games. Heather serves as Secretary on the IGDA Chicago Board of Directors, and is one of the IGDA’s volunteer graphic designers. She regularly contributes to AltDevBlogADay, chaired the first AltDevConf in 2012, and is currently one of the principal organizers for AltDevConf 2013 and co-chair of the AltDev Student Summit.

Luke Dicken is a researcher with the Strathclyde AI and Games group at the University of Strathclyde where he is working towards a PhD developing new AI techniques for NPC Companions. Having completed several degrees in traditional AI, he is the founder of Robot Overlord Games. He is a contributor to AltDevBlogADay, one of the principal organisers for the AltDev Conferences, a Director of IGDA Scotland and the current chair of the IGDA Artificial Intelligence SIG. He is a three-time IGDA Scholar, previously having been selected for E3 2011 and the 2012 Eric Dybsand Memorial AI Scholarship for GDC.

Growing up in San Francisco did not prepare Lee Fieber for the sweltering heat and pollen that accompanies his rather enjoyable study of History and Creative Writing at the University of California, Davis. As a result, he spends the bulk of his day indoors reading the news, fiction, non-fiction, or anything else with words (and hopefully pictures). But video games were what spurred his interest in literature, history, and ultimately writing. His youthful dreams of becoming a game developer have matured and Lee has begun developing indie games “in-house” with the help of brilliant people–people who also happen to be roommates.

Alexandra Giasi is pursuing a B.S. in Computer Science at The George Washington University. She currently works for an organization that produces educational video games that teach students the principles of law and civics. At the same time, she researches and writes about issues of video game intellectual property law for a D.C. firm. Previously, she contributed to a treatise a Virginia law firm prepared on how patents relate to virtual worlds. She is very interested in the application of video games as effective teaching tools for students, especially in areas where they most struggle. Alexandra now aspires to improve upon her programming skills and aims to learn more about game development, educational or otherwise.

Owen Leach is a second-year graduate student at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, earning a degree in Interactive Media and Game Development with a focus in serious games. Outside of WPI he spends his time running his own company, Bomb Shelter Games, and working at Tencent Boston as a design intern. A strong proponent for serious games, he hopes one day to found his own educational gaming company so his games can help shape the future of children around the world.

Catie Mahfouz is a writer, visionary, and passionate innovator. As a single mother of a beautiful five-year-old girl, Catie is inspired to be and do her best in every aspect of life. She loves video games of all types, all platforms, and for all purposes, and believes in a powerful future for the video game industry. She is currently involved in her community as an animal activist and works as a creative writer in the Haunted House Industry through her own company, Blood Ink Writing Service. She has an exciting career ahead after her 2014 graduation from the Art Institute of Pittsburgh Online Division.

Heather S Plunkard is a sound designer and recording engineer living in the Bay Area of California. Originally from rural Pennsylvania, she moved to Orlando in 2010 to complete her Bachelor’s Degree in Recording Arts from Full Sail University. She currently works as an intern and assistant at One Union Recording Studios and A&D Studio, respectively. Her goal is to explore the technological and creative sides of game audio in order to create a more immersive player experience.

Kyle Rentschler received his B.A. in Film Studies and Rhetoric from the University of California at Berkeley, where he started designing educational games. Currently, Kyle is halfway through a Ph.D. program in Media, Culture, Communication at New York University. His dissertation, tentatively titled “Value-able Circuitries: How Social, Ethical, and Political Values are Embedded in Commercial Game Design”, examines how human values exist in video games and which values tend to be most prevalent in commercial games. Kyle still designs non-digital games on the side at the NYU Game Center, and is interested in how complicated and rarely expressed emotions and experiences can be communicated through games.