Thomas Farnsworth, Creative Lead
Bungie
Tom Farnsworth is a Game Designer with nearly two decades of experience in AAA game development. Over the past 12 years working at Bungie he has made broad contributions to the Destiny Franchise. He's currently a Creative Lead for Destiny 2 where he drives vision for many if it's Seasons. Prior to Bungie he designed levels and missions for the F.E.A.R., Tony Hawk, and Spider-Man game franchises. He's a graduate of Purdue CGT with a 2004 B.S. in Animation and a 2006 M.S. focused on VR / Games. He resides in Washington state with his spouse and their 4 boys, juggling school work during the week and family adventures on the weekend.
Tony Fernandes, CEO
UEGroup Incorporated
Founder and CdEO of UEGroup, a leading User Experience Consultancy in Silicon Valley. Prior to founding UEGroup, Tony Founded Netscape's User Experience Group, Apple Software Human Interface Group, and had executive roles at XEROX PARC and several startups. He is an author and regularly speaks on issues of technology, user-centered design, and AI.
Timothy Gerritsen, Chief Operations Officer
Lost Boys Interactive
I'm the Chief Operations Officer for Lost Boys Interactive but I've been an entrepreneur and game designer my entire life, starting my first business while in college designing table top games before moving on to my first break into the video games industry in 1992. My passion remains game development, be it for computer, video game console or table top. I strive daily to evolve both creative development and business models in which games are delivered in this fast moving industry.
Specialties: I've been a professional video game developer since 1992, having begun as a game designer at first, and eventually adding producing to my responsibilities. I quickly rose from an assistant producer to a senior and later executive producer and ultimately ran my own company as CEO for a decade before selling and moving on. I'm an old hand in all aspects of game development from project development to business development to purchasing, contract negotiation and executive management.
My games history includes: Designer at Dynamix, Inc, Associate Producer at Sega of America, Director of Development at American Laser Games/ Her Interactive, Senior Producer at FASA Interactive, CEO and Business Director at Human Head Studios, Studio Director at Irrational Studios, Studio Director at Fantasy Flight Interactive and Chief Operations Offier at Lost Boys Interactive.
I've been involved with numerous AAA game projects on a variety of platforms for over 30 years.
Jeff Hanna, Sr. Tools Developer
NVIDIA Corporation
After having worked on many notable titles and franchises such as Agents of Mayhem, Saints Row, Red Faction: Guerrilla, Dark Age of Camelot, Air Warrior, and Planetside, Jeff ended a three-decade video game development career in December 2021. He hasn't gone far, though. He is now a Senior Tools Programmer working on the Omniverse engine at NVIDIA. Along with bringing his Technical Artist skills to NVIDIA's innovative real-time 3D collaboration and simulation system, Jeff helps coordinate the technical artist community on Tech-Artists.org. He is a member of the GDC Advisory Board and sits on a curriculum advisory board for Purdue University. Every year at GDC he hosts the Technical Art Bootcamp and the Technical Art Rountables. He was awarded an Autodesk 3ds Max Master award in 2007 and was named an Outstanding Alum of Purdue University's School of Technology in 2012.
Anna Hardy, Associate VFX Artist
Beyond FX
I recently broke into the video games industry in August 2022 by working as a technical artist with LightForge Games, a start up that is creating an unannounced RPG. Now, I am working as an Associate VFX Artist at Beyond-FX, an outsourcing firm that has worked on my notable titles. I'm happy to chat with any students who are curious about technical art or visual effects in film or games!
Ben Hewett, Director, UX and Service Design
Allied Solutions LLC
Ben Hewett is a seasoned UX Strategist and Service Design leader in the fields of finance and insurance, adept at bridging the gap between technology and human experience.
With over a decade in the trenches of UX, marketing, sales and customer service, he now steers the helm of the UX and Service Design teams as their Director at Allied Solutions LLC in Carmel, Indiana.
From diving deep into user psyches to reshaping application interactions, Ben's days are a blend of tech savvy and human understanding. His journey has seen him as a Marketing Strategist and a creative Lead Producer, always with an eye for the 'why' behind consumer choices.
Armed with an MBA and BSBA from Xavier University, he's focused on both strategy and execution, wielding Excel and whiteboard markers with equal flair. In short, Ben is leading a team focused on making the digital world a bit more human, one interview...one prototype...one workshop at a time.
Kyle Jones, UX Research Manager
Esri
I am an applied anthropologist and UX researcher and designer. I earned my MS and PhD in anthropology from Purdue, where I honed my passion for using approaches from the human sciences to understand and improve people's interactions with digital technologies. I currently serve as the UX Research Manager at Esri, a digital mapping and spatial analysis software company.
Bill Kivi, Lead Animator/Art Director
Disney Experiences - Digital Experiences
Bill Kivi is a seasoned creative leader in themed entertainment, animation, and interactive experiences fields. He lives in Los Angeles and is currently working as a Lead Animator and Art Director for Disney's Digital Experiences team. This team works on digital experiences for Web3, smart technologies, AR/VR/XR experiences, digital learning content, and digital assets such as Premium Digital Collectables. Previously he was an Art Director and Designer at Sally Dark Rides where he contributed to the conceptualization, previsualization, and development of many interactive dark rides for theme parks, two of which won the prestigious THEA Awards. He has an MFA in Animation from Savannah College of Art & Design and a Bachelor of GS from Indiana University Purdue University Ft Wayne.
Tom Kraemer, Prinicipal
Kraemer Design + Production
As the Principal, Tom’s main focus is overseeing the running of the firm, the creative direction of projects, and acquiring new business for Kraemer Design + Production. He directs the design process while working closely with the client. Tom’s design expertise is a result of over 30 years of experience in creating galleries and displays for museums and discovery centers. He responds to the challenge of having to reconcile design, space and fabrication issues with educational and behavioral objectives. He is a member of the Industrial Design Society of America and is active in the Association of Children’s Museums, the Ohio Museums Association and the Association of Zoos and Aquariums. Tom enjoys running marathons and being with his grandchildren. In April 2018, he ran the Boston marathon and has ran the Cincinnati Flying Pig Marathon seven times.
Tyler Kupferer, Director of Cinematography
Walt Disney Animation Studios
Tyler Kupferer is a filmmaker and animator in Los Angeles, currently working as a Director of Cinematography at Walt Disney Animation Studios. He has a MFA in Animation from Savannah College of Art & Design and a BS in Computer Graphics Technology from Purdue University.
Armando Lanuti, President
Creative Works
My background in the industry began in operations management at an entertainment venue before launching my career with Creative Works in 2008. There I worked in Project Management, Product Development, Sales, and Marketing. In 2016 I became an equity owner and took over the role as President and we worked to expand our portfolio from Laser Tag and Mini Golf to include other attractions such as Escape Rooms, E-Sports, Virtual Reality, and larger more complex theme work.
Memories are shared experiences that last forever, even if the world changed tomorrow. That’s why Creative Works is so dedicated to helping our customers create experiences for their guests. As a huge technology geek, I’m always looking for ways to transform the attractions everyone knows and loves into modern, revenue- and memory-generative machines.
Jim McIntosh, Co-founder, Product Management
Primary Record
Graduated in '97 from CGT (Technical Graphics). My first job after graduation, I was a flight simulation database engineer for Evans & Sutherland. After E&S, my career evolved to support online retail, and b2d SaaS as a product manager. My wife and I moved back to Indiana after 10 years in Salt Lake and raised my two daughters in Fishers. We've lived there since.
Chris Melissinos, Principal Evangelist - Video Games and Immersive Technologies
Amazon Web Services
Chris Melissinos is the Principal Evangelist for Video Games and Immersive Technology at AWS, where he influences the next generation of game technology and offerings from AWS while also acting as a developer advocate, ensuring that the needs of game developers are met. Prior to AWS, he was the Chief Gaming Officer at Sun Microsystems, Inc., creator of the Smithsonian American Art Museum’s “The Art of Video Games” exhibition, and a founding board member of the Video Game History Foundation.
With a career in the games industry spanning more than two decades, he has led the creation of video game solutions in Java, mobile, server platforms, and next generation game distribution solutions. His “The Art of Video Games” exhibition explored the 40 year evolution of video games as an art form, its impact on American culture, and traveled to 10 additional museums across the US. For this work, he received the industry “Ambassador Award” at the 2013 Game Developers Choice Awards at GDC.
Speaking and press engagements include Game Developers Conference, PAX, Mobile World Congress, JavaOne, and TEDx, and has been featured in more than 30 news outlets including CBS, ABC, FOX, BBC, NPR, Wired, Time Magazine, National Geographic, Nintendo Power, and Game Informer. He is also the host of a variety of game industry programming on the “AWS for Games” channels on YouTube and Twitch.
Jacquelyn Piette, Agent
Government
Approximately 16 years experience as a technology and creative leader in both the tech and creative space as a technical director and an artist in the realm of lighting, look development, pipeline innovation, and compositing. Managed teams with direct reports ranging from 5 to 170 people. Specialized in Feature Animation, Feature Live Action Visual Effects (VFX), Commercial Visual Effects (VFX), Themed Entertainment Animation, and Video Games. Returned to business school full-time in order to transition out of independent contracting and received an MBA from the Boston College Carroll School of Management in 2017. Worked in the business office of e-commerce company Zappos and as a Senior Product Manager hospitality organization MGM Resorts International.
Matt Proulx, VP, Global Experiences, Partnerships and Music
Hasbro, Inc.
Matt has been with Hasbro since 2007 after completing his MBA from The Fuqua School of Business at Duke University. Matt has held various positions during his 16+ years with Hasbro, including managing the Transformers brand through the first three movies, overseeing the marketing and business development functions for Hasbro Studios, and most recently, leading a multi-business global division (Location Based Entertainment, Partnerships and Music) within the Entertainment & Licensing segment for Hasbro, Inc.
Executing against Hasbro’s Brand Blueprint, Matt has been responsible for formulating, constructing and implementing a long-term, global strategic plan for themed location-based entertainment to benefit long-term brand building and revenue growth for Hasbro. Included in this remit is to further enhance the company’s global presence in theme parks, themed entertainment attractions, FECs, hotels and resorts, exhibits and live events. That strategic plan has led to long-term partnerships with various partners, including Universal Theme Parks, Kingsmen, Gamepath and new innovative products such as Monopoly Lifesized, The Transformers ARK Restaurant in Hong Kong, NERF AX Manchester, Peppa Pig Play Café, amongst many others.
Dan Sawatzky, Founder/Director
Imagination Corporation
Dan Sawatzky is best described as a creative force and visual storyteller extraordinaire. His art career spans more than fifty years of magic. Dan's passion is to design and create imaginative worlds that take people from the normal world to places of delight and wonder.
Theron Skees, Founder/CCO
The Designer's Creative Studio
Theron is a highly adaptive, senior creative executive with 30 years experience assembling and leading multi-disciplined, cross-functional teams the Themed Entertainment Industry.
A veteran of Walt Disney Imagineering, he has led diverse concept, design and construction projects from hundreds of millions to multiple billions of dollars in a wide variety of experience types all over the world. Theron has spent his career injecting brand story, narrative and experience into theme parks, attractions, destination resort developments and cruise ships.
Today, he applies that broad expertise of storytelling, experience design and dynamic leadership across myriad applications. Shepherding individuals, companies and governments to transition from the traditional ""customer"" paradigm to re-imagining their brand DNA and attracting ""audiences"". Theron is focused on building true differentiation by creating experiences for every brand touchpoint that form emotional connections that last.
Landon Young, Vice President, Pre-Seed
Elevate Ventures
Landon Young, Ph.D, is a trans-disciplinary founder and investor. Landon co-founded LeadSigma, World Help Solutions, and DonateEquity.com and is an owner or investor in a number of high-growth startups, including Purdue-affiliated startup Presso. Landon oversees Pre-Seed investments at Elevate Ventures which has invested in hundreds of companies, including many with connection to Purdue. Landon was named one of thirteen Kauffman Foundation Global Scholars, awarded the National Science Foundation Fellowship, and is the Founding Curator of the World Economic Forum Global Shaper Hub in Kansas City.
Zheng Zhou, Technical Staff Software Engineering
Secureworks, Inc
My name is Zheng Zhou, and I am a software engineer who thrives on building software products, collaborating across functions, and designing technical systems. I specialize in frontend development and architecture, with additional experience in backend systems and API design. I am driven by impact, value feedback, and have a passion for continuous learning.
Based in Austin, TX, I currently work as a staff engineer at Secureworks. In this role, I lead a cross-functional software development team dedicated to building the reporting system for the Taegis XDR platform. My primary focus is to empower enterprise customers with comprehensive data visualization and visual analytics capabilities, enabling them to derive actionable insights tailored to their specific business objectives.
My professional journey in the industry began as a frontend engineer, where I honed my skills in developing intricate UI components and interactive data visualizations. Prior to that, I earned my Ph.D degree in Computer Graphics from Purdue University.
