Adventures in Life and Stuff
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PRESENT
AUG 2014
- Make School Gap Year
- Alternative Computer Science Education
August 2014 - Present
- Selected as one of 11 founding class members, out of 150 potential students
- Participated and provided mentorship at five high school and college hackathons nationwide
- byjor.com
- Where you are right now
HTML/CSS, Bootstrap, SASS, Photoshop
- Imported and tweaked Neu Profile bootstrap template
- Redesigned timeline appearance
- Converted to SASS variables for faster theme-wide color changes
- Spritebuilder Open Source Contributions
- iOS/Android game development suite
Objective-C, Storyboard, GitHub
- Implemented font and image previews in menus
- Learned the art of git squashing
- Get Piercing!
- Ridiculous and gory infinite scroller
(StartX Game Jam Hackathon) Objective-C, Spritebuilder, Illustrator
- Created all static and dynamic art assests
- Characters are randomly generated from assets and color options
- Fancy bloodspatter effect
- Team: Harlan Kellaway
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- CVALT
- Location and photo sharing app for the parkour community
Objective-C, Storyboard, Node, Heroku, AWS
- Discover tagged locations nearby
- Add new locations and pictures from the camera or existing photos
JUN 2014
- Make School Summer Academy
- iOS Game Development
June 2014 - August 2014
- Full cycle product development of iOS mobile game, Powermore
- Acted as product manager for my classmate's game Lunch Launch
- Pitched game design and monetization strategy to players and judges at end of program demo day
- Powermore
- Arcade-style game with unique UI
Objective-C, Spritebuilder, Photoshop, Beatwave
- Uncommon control scheme of following a player drawn path on screen
- Harmonious sound effects and relaxing music
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- Shattered Worlds
- 2D Puzzle-y Platformer
(Ludum Dare #30, 72-hour game hackathon entry) Javascript, Illustrator, GitHub
- Placed in the top 5% in 2 categories and in the top 25% in 3 others (out of over 1,000 entries)
- Designed, playtested, and fine-tuned 10 levels across 5 different world mechanics
- Created over 50 individual art assets for sprites and backgrounds
- Flacq
- Real world capture the flag with mobile scoring
(YCombinator Hackathon) Objective-C, Spritebuilder, Storyboard, Firebase API, Estimote API
- Uses Estimote beacons as "flags"
- Allows for creative gameplay by modifying the "real world" rules and letting the app keep score
- Featured in the 2014 San Francisco Come Out and Play Festival (COAP)
AUG 2010
- University of California, Berkeley
- BA in Cognitive Science, 3.76 GPA
August 2010 - May 2014
- Emphases in Linguistics, Design, Programming
- Selected coursework: Computational Models of Cognition, Quantitative Methods in Linguistics, Tangible User Interface, Multimedia Narrative, Creative Writing, Technologies for Creativity and Learning
- Member of Phi Beta Kappa, national honor society
- Asteroid Tycoon
- Multi-Level Mining RPG
(Ludum Dare #29, 72-hour game hackathon entry) JavaScript, Photoshop, Pickle
- Placed in the top 25% in 6 out of 8 categories, including Overall (out of over 1,000 entries)
- Planned and balanced game across multiple variables to optimize challenge curve for players:
- 6 robots with 7 traits each and multiple tiers of upgrades
- 21 rock and mineral types with 2 traits each
- 5 programmatically generated asteroid levels with different rock and mineral compositions
- Designed all the pixel art and animation effects
- Helped write in-game narrative elements
- Echolocation Experience
- Audio-based embodied educational game
Processing (Java), Xbox Kinect, Audacity
- Learn to navigate using only your ears with simulated echolocation
- Tilt your "wings" to change direction of flight or send out an echolocation pulse
- Stampede!
- Arcade runner with tangible user feedback
Processing (Java), Arduino
- Escape herds of randomly selected stampeding creatures
- Vibration increases the closer you are to being trampled
FEB 2009
- JTG, Inc.
- Arabic Language Analyst / Intelligence Specialist
February 2009 - March 2010
- Generated and documented time-sensitive Iraqi-to-English translations and intelligence analyses
- Sorted and prioritized 500-1000 actionable intelligence items daily
- Sustained effective communication of task division across 30 person team working 24/7 missions
OCT 2008
- GameStop
- Senior Game Advisor / Key Holder
October 2008 - April 2009
- Handled cash and merchandise assets valuing up to $250k
- Served as acting manager and efficiently conducted store opening and closing duties
AUG 2002
- United States Navy
- Cryptological Technician Interpretive (CTI2) / Arabic Translator and Intelligence Analyst
August 2002 - September 2008
- Top Secret/SCI Security Clearance
- Optimized task delegation for shifts of over 20 personnel while simultaneously coordinating with and providing valuable intelligence to units in Iraq and Afghanistan
- Monitored the function of over $40 million in assets and adaptively troubleshot issues to maximize mission effectiveness
- Identified weaknesses in existing job qualification standards and developed new methodology for training and assessment, improving team’s linguistic and technical proficiency and accelerating qualification of new trainees