On Monday, May 8th, 2017, we announced the winners of the 2017 NYS Game Dev Challenge at the Strong National Museum of Play. We were joined by Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul. Student category First place—RIT; Nathan Stevens (a fifth-year computer science major from Seneca Castle, N.Y.), Michael Ray (a third-year game design and development major […]
Kristana is a doctoral student at the University of Rochester’s Warner School of Education and the founder of Games for Curious Scholars. Her work focuses on learning, identity, and engagement in video games and interactive media. She is committed to developing scholarship and community around emergent tech in the Rochester area.
Shannon Symonds is Curator for the International Center for the History of Electronic Games at The Strong National Museum of Play, where she collects, preserves, and interprets more than 60,000 artifacts related to gaming history. She has a master’s degree in history from the State University of New York College at Brockport, with a concentration […]
Tobi Saulnier, PhD, is the founder and CEO of 1st Playable Productions LLC, a game development studio whose mission is to make games that will entertain, educate, and leave a positive lasting impression on its users in the community. Saulnier and her organization’s work serves the community through initiatives such as the annual Games in […]
Andrew “Andy” Phelps is an educator, digital artist, and technologist with over 17 years’ experience. He currently serves as the founder and director of the RIT Center for Media, Arts, Games, Interaction and Creativity (MAGIC), and holds the rank of Professor in the School of Interactive Games & Media that he founded in 2011. His […]
Valentina Peric is a software developer based in Rochester, New York. She is also a co-chapter leader of Rochester’s chapter of Girl Develop It. This non-profit organization provides affordable, judgement-free classes for women in software and web development. She exhibits a passion for learning so you can almost always find her at a coffee shop […]
David Nathanielsz is the Studio General Manager at Velan Studios. He has over 20 years of game development experience as a Producer, Designer and Writer. David spent much of his career at Vicarious Visions, part of Activision Blizzard, and was the Executive Producer on over 25 different titles, including Skylanders: SWAP Force and Skylanders SuperChargers, […]
Dylan McKenzie is a game developer, teacher, and community organizer living in New York City. He is the Incubator Director and Program Coordinator of the NYU Game Center. His work has been shown at important institutions ranging from the Smithsonian American Art Museum to the Brooklyn Brewery. Dylan is most interested in games’ capabilities of […]
Keith McCullough is co-owner of Workinman, a Rochester-based game studio that recently celebrated its tenth anniversary. An alumni of the New Media program at RIT, Keith has evolved from developer to game designer and reluctant manager. He’s been playing, making, and generally obsessing over video games as long as he can remember.
Bob Jeffery is a video games industry professional with over 20 years experience creating art and animation for entertainment studios such as Activision, Sony, EA, and Nintendo. He was most recently Lead Artist at Rochester-based Second Avenue Learning, and is currently enjoying his role as Lead Animator at Sanzaru Games. Bob earned a B.F.A. in […]
Elena is a games industry expert with several years of experience. Previously, she worked at the leading game platform Mail.Ru Games in Russia. There she was the Senior Localization QA on company’s top free-to-play projects such as Warface, ArcheAge and Lord of the Rings Online. At SuperData Elena built and expanded company’s console and PC […]
Ben Chang is an electronic artist and designer who creates virtual reality environments, interactive installations, and digital games. Combining a background in fine art and computer science, his work explores the chaotic, human qualities in technological systems. Ben’s projects include virtual reality soundscapes, furniture mutations, shy security cameras, antique telegraphs, and philosophical video games. His […]