Get to Know the Intel® Software Network Community Members

Meet some of the people that helped shape the Intel Software Network community by contributing their feedback, opinions and expertise back into the community. We would like to recognize them for their time and effort to help make ISN a valuable developer resource.

Thank you for being a part of our community.

Zach Aikman, Andy Maneri, Will Towns, and Joe Tkach from Digipen Institute worked together to create Synaesthete, a music-driven-arcade style shooter game. Zach is the Producer for this project and is responsible for gameplay/game logic code and Lua scripting. He also wrote the terrain system, which procedurally generates levels for each song. Will is the Technical Director and primary audio content designer and coder for the game. Joe is the Designer and graphics programmer and created the particle system/effects. Andy is the Product Manager and in charge of the user interfacE. He's also done extensive modeling, including the Zaikman (the game's main character) and all of the enemy models.

Rasmus Barringer, creator of Burning Tires, is a full-time Master’s student in Engineering Physics at Lund University, Sweden. He is very interested in various aspects of computer programming such as compiler technology and code optimization (both single and multithreaded) and enjoys working with graphics, AI and physics simulations. He has been playing games since childhood and creating an awesome game has always been somewhat of a dream for him.

Christophe Canon, creator of Penguin’s Arena, is a French artist with digital game, multimedia and web design experience. He worked as a project manager in different companies in advertising and communication, as a multimedia artist and web designer. In 2005, Christophe launched Frogames, a freelance game art and design studio. Christophe has worked on several commercial projects including Minions of Mirth (3D MMO), Shelled!, MiniOne Racing, The Game Programmer's Guide to Torque.... Christophe also developed his own website to sell art elements (www.frogames.net) to professional video game developers. Christophe has served in the French Army and studied history and mathematics at the University of Reims.

 Erik Chan is a co-founder of Bottomless Pit Games, a studio based in Bellevue, WA, creators of Harmotion. His previous work experience includes such major game developers as Midway Games and Activision. He holds a BS from Johns Hopkins University in Biomedical Engineering with focus on Math and Computer Science. Recently, Eric has focused his pursuits on creating businesses which fuse technology, art, and design, bringing him back to where he spent much of his childhood time: video games. www.Harmotion.com.

Jean-Philippe Doiron and Simon Ampleman, co-creators of Helicomaster are professional software developers who have worked and played together for over 7 years. In that time both have attended the Game Institute as well as done self-study in game programming. The 2007 Intel Contest was a perfect opportunity for them to gather their knowledge and produce a very good game with as much "on-the-go" features as possible.

Lev Dymchenko, creator of AntiPlanet, is a graduate of Moscow State University, department of mathematics and mechanics. Lev looks at computer games as a kind of art. His interests are in advanced visualization technologies, optimization problems, data encryption and computer chess. He’s published several articles on computer-related themes. The AntiPlanet game includes custom visualization technology. Modeler-enthusiast Roman Sharapov assisted with game levels, model design and textures. Music was supplied by indie musician M. Krasilnikov.

Reed Gonsalves and Chad Taylor of Double Hawk Games are the creators of Empyreal Nocturne. These recent graduates of DigiPen Institute of Technology quickly realized their similar taste in movies, music and games. They have since collaborated to create 4 game titles during their tenure of school, with "Empyreal Nocturne" as their biggest accomplishment. Both strive to create fun and innovative games. Reed Gonsalves now works at Nightlight Studios in downtown Seattle, WA and Chad Taylor works for ArenaNet in Bellevue, WA.

Tim Hackett's passion for video games began as a child; playing Mario Brothers inspired him to pursue a career in programming. After several years as a self-taught process automation programmer, Tim turned his attention to full-time video game development. His latest project, Hexaxis XXI, reflects Tim's obsession with addictive puzzle games. To flex his programming muscle, Tim went on to code the Sony PSP version of the game in only 2 days from scratch. The game won first place in a PSP programming contest and is a favorite among PSP homebrew gamers. Tim is 24 years old and currently resides in Charlotte, NC.

 Greg Kennedy, creator of Tilt-n-Roll, is a professional Software Developer for Acxiom Corp. He co-founded the University of Arkansas Game Development club and has been writing games for over 5 years in his free time. He also plays violin in “The OneUps” a video game music cover band.

Kurosh F., creator of SOCCERnPOOL, graduated in Physics and Mathematics and later in Computer Engineering, and has worked in R&D Automation in industry.
He also runs a website that principally develops games and other miscellaneous software at www.kdfinfotech.com

Alain Labrie, creator of Othello³(cubed), is the founder and lead programmer of Ware-Wolf Games, a small dynamic company based in Halifax, Nova Scotia, focused on developing brainy, non-violent, casual games. Alain is a graduate of Concordia University with a degree in Mathematics and Computer Science. He started his career working for an R&D company in robotics and machine vision. He is now an independent developer and the brains behind Ware-Wolf Games.

Natalia Lapteva, leads IT-Forge, a small Russian team, mainly focused on making products for demoscene and creating small games. Working for the demoscene gave them great experience in programming real time computer graphics, taking everything they can from latest videocards and CPU. We all like big and impressive games, with well-done graphics and interesting gameplay andkeeping in mind that demoscene is very close to the game making, so we’ve decided to take the challenge and enter the contest with Tank-Raider – the game that effectively uses the advantages given by Intel multi-core technology. The Tank-Raider was created by: Andrey Smorkalov (programming, game concept, managing and supervising), Ilya Palavoshev (modeling, art, UI design), Natalia Lapteva (level design, art, modeling, UI programming, video, PR)and Naumov Vasily (music).

Andreas Papathanasis, creator of Red Assault, is a game programmer from Greece, now living in Canada. He holds a physics degree from the University of Athens and a software development certificate with a specialization in video games programming from the Guildhall at SMU in Dallas, Texas. Andreas spends lots of time with independent game projects, being equally interested in exploring innovative gameplay and utilizing the latest technology features in the game engine he has developed.

Jeremy Spiller, creator of Zenix3D, has been programming and writing shooter style video games for almost 20 years. His original releases, Zenix (1989) and Crystal City are considered to be the fastest and most spectacular arcade games ever developed for the CoCo3. In his spare time he likes to windsurf and rock climb.

 Grzegorz Slazinski, founder and manager of the Esenthel Game Demo project, is a passionate gamer and programmer from Poland. He does not limit himself to a specific section of programming, he does everything that has at least something to do with game programming, including graphics, physics, special effects, sounds, GUI, AI, mechanics, input, networking and general optimization, they interest him all the same. He would like to thank the people that joined him recently and they are now working as a team. You can see more details at www.esenthel.com.

Xiaodong Yang, author of CityDriver is an application software programmer in China Shenyang, where he lives with his wife and lovely daughter. In his free time he enjoys making and playing games with his friends. CityDriver was made by Sleeping Bear Group, a team of twelve artist lead by Yufang Li with only one programmer!

Meet the first 3 winners in our Contest for a Manageability Idea!

Jim Corrigan has been an active member in ISN’s manageability community. He is the CEO and founder of Manage Operations f/t/a Ki NETWORKS, a dedicated software engineering company delivering a toolset that has the distinction of being the only software that manages console servers and remote Power units from every major vendor. Jim began his career at TRW DSSG, System Development Corp and Digital Equipment Corporation before founding Ki NETWORKS, now Manage Operations, in 1984 with the goal of providing DECnet, LAT and MOP for non-Digital systems. Jim received his BIS in Computer User Interfaces at George Mason University in 1981. He has been affectionately referred to as the "Grandfather" of console and remote management!

Game Demo Contest Weekly Winners

Leo Ferrer started creating games two years ago. He developed several "little 2d and 3d games", but his entry for the game demo contest is the most complicated one he has worked on thus far. Leo has taken the full track of the game developer courses, certified by Microsoft. In the future he would like to obtain a scholarship and study computer science, ultimately striving for a Masters Degree in Artificial Intelligence. After college, he intends to work for a gaming company developing the AI for games or working in the robotics industry.

Paul Fabella, recently graduated from Asia Pacific College, AB Multimedia Arts. He is a long time gaming and 3D hobbyist. Paul has done work for different animation studios, assisting with various popular game titles. He has also produced several small games himself and currently specializes on 3D modeling, Animation, and Visual Effects. He is a 3D instructor and conducts seminars on the subject. Project: Republika was developed with help from his teammates. Take a look at his Game Demo Contest entry.

Colin Witow, creator of Tree Ants, got familiar with the benefits of threading during his Master's thesis where he used threading to manipulate the many aspects of controlling multiple robots. His Master's Degree is in Computer Science from the University of Regina and he has plans to enter the game industry, just as soon as he gets his student loan paid off. Tree Ants is one of 3 games he's currently working on; the others are a puzzle game for the PC and a MMORPG using the XNA development kit.

GBoot Software has a distributed team of programmers and art/modeling members from both Spain and Argentina working together on Lightning Wheels, a racing game with three perspectives. Carlos Gutierrez (Programmer), David Moratilla (Art/Modelling), Luis Fornero (Programming), Christian Torres (Art/Testing) mainly use the internet for their collaboration. It helps that several team members previously worked together on ‘gerwalk,’ an open source game available at www.gerwalk.net. Check out their entry to the 2007 Intel Game Demo Contest—Lightning Wheels.

David Santoro is a self described “Italian wannabe game programmer” working as Web Developer for the website www.confetti.co.uk. He moved London recently in order to be closer to where the game industry is happening and hopes to meet important game programmers from company like "EA Criterion", "Lionhead", and "SCEE". His demo, Multiverse, is a collaboration with Ken Fasson and Federico Rebora with Alessandro Serani doing the 3d art. Take a look at their excellent work.

Kaushik Ramachandran is a professional Web designer and developer from Theni, Tamil Nadu, India. He enjoys working on 2D and 3D games in his free time and distributes these as freeware. As a Pro Gamer and Developer, gaming is his passion and he’s very pleased to recommend Legend of Tana. Take a look at his Game Demo Contest Entry.

Matt Yopp, a North Carolina native, is a currently studying Game Design at Collins College in Tempe, Arizona. In addition to designing video games he enjoys 3D modeling, working on and building computers, hiking, fishing, metal and wood working. His dream job would be with Epic Games, who he considers at the highest echelon in PC game development. “Making games and working with computers has always been my passion and calling in life.” Take a look at Matt’s winning entry.

Mobile Mod Winners

João Charles Carvalho is a student of Information Systems at Strayer University. Originally from Brazil, João has been working on software for the Pocket PC and other wireless technologies. He works in .Net, Java and has recently started using C++ to create natives libraries. He enjoys getting creative with the UMPC and is working on new ideas for applications everyday. Take a look at the idea that won João $200!

Zi Bin Cheah is currently residing in Stockholm, Sweden, working on a Masters Degree in "Internetworking" at the Royal Institute of Technology. When he’s not coding or studying, he’s playing squash, basketball or jogging. He’s a great proponent for the future of wireless. Zi Bin ponders whether "the trend is for all wired stuff to become unwired, and all wireless stuff to become wired again." As for mobile devices such as phones, he’s still wondering whether 3G will lead or follow WiMAX. Take a look at the Mobile Mod idea that won him $200.

Bernard Lim is a full time MBA student at Multimedia University in beautiful Malaysia. He's a sports fan who enjoys soccer and listening to music. Current interests are in Web Technology Mashups and Networking. He's involved in many new things including mobility. See his winning entry in the Mobile Mod Challenge.

Akram Shaker is an Egyptian IT engineer working in Qatar developing networks and applications to help connect branches in 37 different countries. From this perspective he is understandably interested in mobility and wireless communications. “Mobility saves time, which can mean huge amounts of money in business. It needs more attention.” Akram is also interested in assembly and microchips programming and aspires to become a microchip programmer. Horseback riding is his favorite sport. Akram’s Mobile Desk Link idea won him the popular vote in the mobile mod challenge, take a look.

Mardav Wala is a full-time Doctoral student currently enrolled in the Electrical & Computer Engineering program at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville. His research interests include wireless networks, microwave circuits and Ultra-Wideband (UWB) systems. He enjoys C and assembly language programming and his current work involves FPGA implementation of UWB systems. See his Mobile Mod Challenge entry.

Mobile Community Champions

Christophe Leske is a french-german multimedia and application developer with a hinge for 3d, Lingo, Actionsript, Python, C# and C++. He recently developed the TDKXtra* a code extension for the multimedia creation tool, Adobe Director*. View a demo of the Xtra at www.director3d.de*. And check out his website, www.multimedial.de*

Show Us Your Threads Contest Winners

Ashita Dave is currently enrolled as a full-time graduate student at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. She is pursuing a degree in Biochemistry and Cellular-Molecular Biology. The focus of her research is structural protein biochemistry and she is also teaching first year biology students at the university. She enjoys listening to music, and she is trained in Indian classical dance. See Ashita's "Threaded Glory" entry.

Murali Krishna is currently pursuing a Master's degree at IIIT in Bangalore, India. A few of his projects have incorporated multi-threading and in his own words "Multi-threading rocks" Murali also loves Indian culture and traditions. Take a look at Murali's "Image of Life" entry.

Dhananjay Kumar is working as a lecturer in the Department of Information Technology, Anna University, MIT Campus, Chennai, India. He has been teaching subjects like Mobile Communication/Computing, Digital Signal Processing and Telecommunication for the last six years. He is also pursuing a part-time doctoral program in the area of mobile communication. His research is focused on analysis and design of MAC protocol for next generation mobile communication systems. He also likes implementing real-time projects in multimedia systems. In Dhananjay’s own words "I like Intel Inc. and its software community, as they focus on research and development. Wining a contest organized by Intel was a pleasant surprise to me." Take a look at Dhananjay Kumar's " My Taj, The Pride of India" entry.

Cijo Abraham Mani writes poetry and the poem he used with his contest entry is his own creation about the color black. In Cijo's words "this contest has helped me a lot in understanding about threading". See Cijo's "Me In My Black Threads" entry.

Joe Shepherd is a student at Utah Valley State College, studying Computer Engineering. He works in the IT department at a speech software company. As part of his job, he does synthetic voice tuning, in which he has many complex signal processing tasks running at once, which makes the new multi core processors extremely nice. As a hobby he has a Windows Media Server that he uses to record and edit TV programs and movies, then stream them over the network to the TV. The server has a Core Duo processor. In Joe's own words "Without it, I would not be able to preform the complex video operations. I am very excited to see these new multi-core processing technologies as well as Intel's new hyper-threading technology." Joe thought of his entry idea at work after a coworker sent him a link to the contest. A coworker suggested he dress up as a computer; however, he decided that dressing up like dual processors would be more fitting, and incorporating hyper-threads would make it even better. Take a look at Joe Shepherd’s "How Embarrassing!" entry!

Mardav Wala is a full-time doctoral student in the Electrical and Computer Engineering program at the University of Tennessee as well as a part-time web master, learning cool things such as CSS/XHTML and PHP/JavaScript. When he is not studying or working, he enjoys hiking and playing tennis. See Mardav's "Threaded Prediction" entry.

Check Out Some of Our Other Weekly Winners Entries

See Stefania Ciavarra's "Threading is Fashion" entry.

See Vicky Tickoo's "Standing Against The Fall" entry.