Megan “Mj” Johns Mj Game Design and Development |
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MEGAN “MJ” JOHNS MJ GAME DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT | WWW.ASTIREGAMES.COM OBJECTIVE EDUCATION With over four years of M.E.T. GAME DESIGN • DEC 2013 • CARNEGIE MELLON UNIVERSITY teaching experience and Masters of Entertainment Technology with a focus in Game Design seven years working professionally in the game B.A. COMPUTER SCIENCE • MAR 2011 • OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY industry, my goal is to find Bachelor of Art in Computer Information Science with Honors where games and academia Emphasis in Computer Graphics and Minor in Mathematics meet. Whether it’s teaching DSGA CERTIFICATE • MAY 2015 • UNIVERISTY OF TEXAS Game Design, or creating Participant in the Denius-Sams Gaming Academy, received a educational games, I strive certificate of Management and Leadership in the Games Industry to stay true to my two passions: Education and Entertainment TEACHING EXPERIENCE SKILLS ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF PRACTICE • UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS • AUG 2018 – PRESENT As a full-time Faculty, I teach 3 to 4 courses per semester, serve on Rapid Prototyping committees, mentor and advise students, and develop curriculum. Design and Documentation Some of the committees I’ve served on include: Game Steering Gameplay Scripting Committee, Interaction Design Faculty Search Committee, and AR/VR/MR Development Bridging Disciplines Program Faculty Panel. Systems and Level Design 2D / 3D Animation ADJUNCT INSTRUCTOR • UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS • SPRING 2018 VFX In the Spring semester of 2018 I joined UT to teach a new course: AR UI / UX Design and VR for Games. This course has never been offered before, so I Audio Integration created the curriculum and schedule and designed the Build Deployment projects/assignments and grading criteria. Interactive Installations User-Centered Design SAGA LAB ADVISOR • UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS • SPRING 2018 Playtesting Mentored and advised semi-professional student-led projects where students interfaced directly with clients to build games. PROGRAMMING ADJUNCT INSTRUCTOR • ART INSTITUTE • 2015 – 2018 In my 3 years at the Art Institute of Austin I taught a wide range of Java, C#, Processing, courses, occasionally making curriculum adaptations to better suit Javascript, C/C++, XML, the needs of the students. Although I was adjunct, I frequently taught Actionscript, HTML, CSS 3+ courses in a quarter, 4 quarters per year. I also advised at least 15 independent studies, led workshops, and participated in panels and open houses. I achieved the rank of Senior Lecturer in my time there. SERVICE / CAMP INSTRUCTOR • UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS • SU 2016, SU 2017 I instructed the 2-week Summer Video Game Production camp in the ORGANIZATIONS RTF department in 2016 and 2017. For this camp, I created a 2-week curriculum (8 hours per day) for students in junior high and high IGDA Volunteer at GDC school. (2015), Volunteer Judge for IGF (2016, 2017), IndieCade ONLINE COURSE AUTHOR • PLURALSIGHT • 2017 – PRESENT Conf. Volunteer (2015), In Jan 2017 I began working with Pluralsight to create online courses Volunteer Judge for for Game Development. I currently have three courses available: IndieCade (2016, 2017), www.pluralsight.com/authors/megan-johns Oculus Launchpad Member TEACHING ASSISTANT • CARNEGIE MELLON • SP 2013 (2016 - present), IGDA During my graduate degree, I served as Teaching Assistant for the Booth Presenter at SXSW Intro to Maya course. (2017), Astire Intern Team presented at AAUGA (2017), TEACHING ASSISTANT • OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY • SU 2010 Indie Prize Volunteer Judge I was one of the Assistant Teachers for the Summer Bridge Math (2017), Amplifying New Program, a college prep course to help incoming freshman. Voices Participant (2017), Global Game Jam Austin co- RESIDENT ADVISOR • OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY • 2009 – 2010 coordinator (2018, 2019) As an RA in an Honors dorm, I monitored one floor of students. I also organized events and worked at the front desk. COURSES TAUGHT MATH TUTOR • OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY • 2008 – 2011 Tutored math courses including: algebra, calculus, statistics, and Game Prototyping business math. Level Design Interface Design COUNSELOR • YOUNG WOMEN’S SUMMER INSTITUTE • SU 08 SU 09 Creative Coding Led a group of middle school girls perusing STEM studies. Programming for Artists 3D Scripting INDUSTRY EXPERIENCE Advanced Game Prototype Advanced Level Design DIRECTOR • ASTIRE GAMES • 2016 – PRESENT Game Animation In 2016 I founded the indie game studio Astire Games. We do a Project Management variety of contract and consulting work, as well as developing our Animation Dynamic Systems own internal projects. In my responsibilities as director, I oversee all AR and VR for Games of the projects and hiring, and I handle the creative and tech Virtual Reality for Games direction, biz dev, and marketing. I also mentor teams of interns - Scripting and Modding we’ve had four successful internship teams since we began, with 3-7 Prototyping Game Systems interns in each. Unity VR Fundamentals SYSTEM DESIGNER • CERTAIN AFFINITY • 2015 – 2016 SOFTWARE / TOOLS I worked on two shipped games, primarily scripting and design. TECHNICAL DESIGNER • PLANET3 • 2014 Unity3D, Maya, Adobe This was a collaborative team of educators and gamers, we worked to Creative Suite, Microsoft design a platform that would make learning fun again. Office, Processing, Axure, Trello, Jira, Hansoft, Slack, TECHNICAL DESIGNER • PART TIME EVIL • 2014 – 2015 Perforce, SVN, Visual Studio I worked on design and technical tasks for mobile games. PLATFORMS TECHNICAL DESIGNER • VIRTUIX • 2014 Created showcase pieces to demo at events using the Virtuix Omni, a 360 treadmill to walk in VR. I also helped with the creation of the SDK Android, iOS, HTC Vive, AR and hardware design, and assisted with the booth demos at SXSW, Core, Google Daydream, GDC, and private demos for VCs and investors. Oculus Rift (DK1, DK2, CV1), Gear VR, Leap DESIGN INTERN • ETCETERA EDUTAINMENT (SIMCOACH) • 2013 Motion, Kinect, Wii Fit Designed content for health and training applications. Balance Board, Tobii Eye Tracker, PC / Mac / Web SPECIAL OPPERATIONS INTERN • SCHELL GAMES • 2012 Assisted with general office tasks and displaying studio work. GAME CREDITS 3D ART INTERN • CARNEGIE MELLON • 2012 Modeled and textured 3D art assets for The Alice Project. Certain Affinity CoD: Modern Warfare JUNIOR MULTIMEDIA DEVELOPER • FIVE STAR DEV • 2011 Remastered - Scripter Promoted from intern to full time developer. I designed and Mafia III - System Designer programmed interactive media and games for training applications Astire Games and websites. Cat Cave - Creative Director Slapdash Bones - Solo Dev PROFESSIONAL RECOGNITION / PUBLICATIONS Out Foxed - Publisher Death’s Daughter - Publisher “Most Innovative” Award for Gear VR game Sundown Arcadia, Intel Virtuix Omni Showcase (Austin Game Conf 2016) Virtual Amsterdam - Research Publication: “Webz of War: A Cooperative Exergame Designer Driven by the Heart” published in Games Innovation Conference, Gold Rush - Developer IEEE 2013 http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/6659125/ University of Texas Audience Choice Award, Pittsburgh Global Game Jam 2013 Calm Before - Programmer Blog post published by Gamasutra “Marketing vs. Promoting” Carnegie Mellon ETC www.gamasutra.com/blogs/MJJohns/20161031/284468/Marketing_vs Hop the Fence - Designer _Promoting.php Webz of War - Lead Speaker, “Non-Human Behavior AI”, Montreal Int’l Games Summit Designer Panelist, “Improving Reality with Virtual Reality”, AGC 2017 Alice Project - 3D Art Intern Panel Moderator, “Weird Tech”, Unite Austin 2017 Schell Games Speaker, “Non-Human Behavior AI”, PAX Dev 2017 PlayForward: ECS – Intern Panelist, “Breaking Into the Industry”, Classic Games Fest 2017 SimCoach Presented a Unity Workshop for High School Teachers, Ai 2017 Heart Failure Coach - Intern Panelist, “Surviving as an Independent AAA Studio”, SXSW 2017 Part Time Evil Featured Speaker, Unity Women in Gaming Austin 2016 Zig Zag Zombie – Designer Speaker, “Technology and User Experience”, Unite LA 2016 Panel Moderator, “The Reality of Virtual Reality”, PAX South 2016 Panel Moderator, “The Reality of Virtual Reality”, PAX West 2016 Panelist, “The Current State of VR”, Texas Women in Games 2016 Speaker, “Creating Immersive Interfaces/Interactions”, PDC 2017 Guest Lecturer, “What Do Game Designers Do?”, DSGA/UT 2016 Presented Exergaming Research, Games for Health 2013 Public Speaking Portfolio: http://thefutureisimportant.com/ Dev Blog (2013-present) www.meganlaurajohns.blogspot.com/ Youtube Tutorial Series: https://youtu.be/u6yW1Nm37Bc .