Resume

Education

Ph.D., Educational Technology, Arizona State University, 2014

Dissertation: Space Vector: Video Games for Introductory Newtonian Mechanics
Committee: Dr. James Paul Gee (chair)
Dr. Brian Nelson
Dr. Robert Atkinson
Dr. Scott Stevens (Entertainment Technology Center, Carnegie Mellon University)


M.E.T. (Master of Entertainment Technology), Carnegie Mellon University, 2006

The M.E.T. is a two year, professional graduate program in applied media, where the focus is on project-based work. The program is housed at the Entertainment Technology Center, and the degree is conferred through both the School of Computer Science and the School of Drama. Alumni pursue careers in the video game industry, location-based entertainment (theme parks) industry, and related entertainment media industries.

Project Work: Programmer for PeaceMaker, an award-winning video game about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.


B.A., Music, Yale University, 1997

Graduated cum laude with distinction in the major.
Co-directed a student ensemble with a classmate. Works I conducted:
Bach Cantata #140 (Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme)
Bach Orchestral Suite #2
Beethoven Eighth Symphony
Beethoven Fidelio Overture
Dvořák String Serenade
Semester Abroad: University of Tübingen, Germany


Work Experience

Instructional Designer/Senior Developer, D’Angelo Technologies, LLC, November 2015 – Current

  • Designed and developed a modifiable, interactive instructional software system for desktop computers and a virtual reality platform (Oculus Rift).
  • Implemented a three module introductory course prototype for personal protective equipment and tool use. (One module processed sensor input from a micro controller.)
  • Demonstrated the instructional architecture at a defense industry conference.
  • Co-wrote funding proposals (Broad Agency Announcements, Small Business Innovation Research grants, other federal agency program solicitations).

Freelance Instructional Designer, March 2015 – September 2015

  • Advised on instructional design (Handsfree Learning, now Practice) to improve efficacy of a new e-learning platform for corporate training and higher education courses emphasizing competency-based learning and soft skills.
  • Converted instructional videos of a new surgical knot tying and suturing course developed at the University of California San Francisco School of Medicine into an e-learning course.
  • Created and presented instructional manuals and worksheets for using the e-learning platform.
  • Worked with clients to assess their needs and recommend strategies for using the platform.

Educational Game Development (PhD Research), 2010 – August 2014

  • Designed two physics games that produced gains as measured on the Force Concept Inventory, one the best evaluation tools for measuring introductory Newtonian mechanics conceptual understanding.
  • Developed all aspects of the games including the UX design (including 2D art assets) and programming (including Python programming in Panda3D and C# programming in Unity).
  • Evaluated the games with high school, undergraduate, and graduate students (about 100 total players).
  • Used iterative testing to design tutorials and improve the player experience.
  • Used Bayesian statistical methods for analysis including a Bayes net.

Research Staff, Carnegie Mellon University, 2012 – April 2013

  • Programmed front-end UX improvements in Rails for the Working Examples (WEx) site, an open publishing site for the digital media and learning community supported by the MacArthur Foundation and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
  • Modified back-end Ruby code to improve WEx usage based on community feedback.
  • Ported the database of WEx into a new MySQL database for a site redesign.
  • Analyzed the WEx database to create usage reports for strategic planning and for documentation requested by the grant funders.

Research Assistant, Arizona State University, Aug 2008 – 2010
Assistant to Dr. James Paul Gee.

  • Content writer and game designer for Argument Wars, a video game used nationally as part of iCivics, a series of video games for middle school civics education founded by Justice Sandra Day O’Connor (funded by the MacArthur Foundation).
  • Evaluated iCivics prototypes with middle school students in Arizona.
  • Designed an instruction manual for the first Working Examples site.

Special Faculty, Carnegie Mellon University, 2006 – 2007

  • Managed and assisted two required courses (Building Virtual Worlds and Fundamentals of Entertainment Technology) at the Entertainment Technology Center.
  • Organized a lecture series at the Entertainment Technology Center – Silicon Valley.
  • Co-advised a client-based graduate student project, a video game for the Spaceship Earth aftershow exhibit at Epcot, for Siemens AG and Walt Disney World Parks & Resorts Online.
  • Co-advised a client-based graduate student project supporting a technology class redesign using Alice3D for The International School of the Peninsula (Palo Alto, CA).
  • Associate Director of the National High School Game Academy: Led the curriculum design for the expanded pre-college summer program for rising seniors held at Carnegie Mellon University, managed the daily operation of the program (60 high school students, 9 instructors), taught two sections of game programming.

Assistant Director, National High School Game Academy, Summer 2005

  • Designed and managed a six week video game design program for 11 rising senior high school students at Carnegie Mellon University.


Professional Skills

Programming:
Game Engines: Unity, Panda3D
IDEs: MonoDevelop, Eclipse, IPython
Languages (Most Used): C#, Java, JavaScript, Python, R, Ruby
Languages (Used in the Past): ActionScript, C/C++, FORTRAN, Lisp, Maple, Perl, PHP
Web Application Frameworks: Rails, Grails

Software: Adobe Suite (Illustrator, Fireworks, Photoshop), Microsoft Office (Excel, Word, including VBScript), WordPress

Other: Git, Google Apps Scripting, HTML/CSS, SQL


Teaching Experience

Building Virtual Worlds (head teaching assistant, Carnegie Mellon University)
Fundamentals of Entertainment Technology (teaching assistant, Carnegie Mellon)
Computer Graphics (instructor of record, Youngstown State University)
Human-Computer Interaction (instructor of record, Youngstown State University)
Object-Oriented Programming (instructor of record, Youngstown State University)


Honors and Awards

Arizona State University Foundation Scholarship (2009-2010)

These awards were given to the PeaceMaker team:
University of Southern California Public Diplomacy Games Contest (2006 Winner)
Ashoka Entrepreneuring Peace Contest (2007 Finalist)
Games for Change Annual Contest (2007 Winner)
Serious Games Showcase and Challenge (2007 Finalist)

Professional Memberships

American Educational Research Association
American Modeling Teachers Association,
Association for Computing Machinery
International Game Developers Association