Bruce Chia Bruce Chia is a fourth year undergraduate of Computer Science at the National University of Singapore. He has a strong interest in developing games in all aspects. He specializes in programming but also has a keen eye for colors, a keen ear for music and a keen mind for game design. Working on games allows him to express his creativity in all areas and never fails to be less than an extremely fulfilling experience for him. During his spare time at his university, he ran a Game Developer Interest Group and influenced the student game developing scene by organizing workshops and competitions, including Singapore's very first Contrast Game Design competition. He also achieved the Best Technical game in the 2006 Code-a-thon competition and became the lead programmer for the GAMBIT games AudiOdyssey and CarneyVale: Showtime. He aspires to one day develop games which would inspire the world, just as other great games have inspired his world.

Hansel Koh is a graduate from Nanyang Polytechnic with a diploma in Digital Entertainment Technology. He is passionate about the programming, design and management aspects of game development and aims to create games that will make people happy while playing them. His current experience includes making J2ME, Flash, XNA and OpenGL games. Besides game development his other interests include listening to music, playing video games, sharing of his knowledge and playing the clarinet with various local bands.

Nickole Li is a senior year undergrad in the National University of Singapore, majoring in Communications And New Media with an Honors focus on gender and game design. She is currently trying her paw at game design with GAMBIT, hoping to better understand the industry while honing her skills at this arcane craft. An avid gamer, she draws inspiration from the numerous titles she plays. When not marching armies across battlefields, reading, writing, terrorizing terrain and animals with her camera or being otherwise ebil, she's often seen meditating on whether she is a wolf or a cat.

Lee Fang Liang is a passionate games developer based in the city state of Singapore who likes to tinker with codes in his spare time. He graduated from Nanyang Polytechnic with a diploma in Digital Entertainment Technology. His first experience with game development started when he was making maps for the game Counter-Strike at the age of 14. Since then, he has moved on to bigger and better things. His current experiences include making Flash, XNA, DirectX and OpenGL games. When not writing code, he would be listening to his wide collection of music or playing games along with his friends.

Adrian Lim is a passionate game developer. He is a graduate from Nanyang Polytechnic with a diploma in Digital Entertainment Technology. His experience spans from many indie projects, a game for the Republic of Singapore Navy and working at EA. His passion lies in creating creative, fun and technologically advanced games. He's not a total game geek game though, he's also interested in music and cinematography as well. When really free, he would either be blasting people or getting blasted to bits and pieces in online FPSes. For now, he will be eating some cake and coding his latest game. However that's going to stop for 2 sad years.

Sofian A Manan graduated from SAE Melbourne with a Diploma in Music Industry (Technical Production) and is currently completing his BA in Recording Arts in SAE Singapore. He is annoyingly shy but irritatingly inquisitive, indubitably unattractive but vexatiously thinks he is and he daydreams all the time. Like any other audio engineer will say, Sofian found great satisfaction dealing with audio and music as he had (and still is!) recorded and mixed for aspiring musicians in Melbourne and Singapore, did sound design and music for videos and also live sound engineering for events and gigs locally. He desperately wants to embrace audio for games as he knows how magnificent a game can be when good audio complements awesome visuals. Sofian seeks to be inducted into the Audio alma mater as a young padawan, trained and guided by the Great Masters, and hopefully be one himself, one day. He daydreams again. :)

Chen Renhao is a graduate from Nanyang Polytechnic in Singapore holding a diploma in Digital Entertainment Technology. He has a great passion for games and thus he took this diploma that equips him with the technical skillset for creating a game. His favorite game genre is Japanese role playing games. Beside games, he also enjoys playing badminton. He hopes that one day he can develop a fun game that everyone can enjoy.

Zulfiki Salleh is a designer, filmmaker, photographer and a visual addict. He is the founder of zero3studio, a media collective in Singapore where he aims to create collaboration opportunities with rising media talents to explore and create. His work experience ranges from producing corporate videos for various corporations, directing short films to handling various media projects. He is a graduate from Temasek Design School Singapore with a Diploma in Moving Images. Apart from "work", he enjoys doodling on anything he can get his hands on, from canvases to sneakers. His doodles have made its way to exhibitions by brands like Converse and Onitsuka Tiger. His portfolio is located at http://www.zero3studio.com.

Jason Wang is a graduate from Nanyang Polytechnic in Singapore with the Diploma in Digital Media Design. His main hobbies include drawing and playing video games. Jason dreams of one day producing art for a triple-A game title. Visit his online portfolio at www.jaswang.com.

Desmond Wong is a graduate of Nanyang Polytechnic, majoring in Digital Media Design and specializing in game design and game art and animation. Coming out top in his entire cohort, Desmond is a mentor in leadership position in the Singapore Games Creation Community and has worked on a number of commercial projects, such as an arcade shooter for the Singapore Navy. He is also the lead artist in Wiip and Showtime, games that have been developed by GAMBIT, and showcased at numerous events. He has also won Best Game Concept in a Battle of the Concepts competition held by Nanyang Polytechnic, and numerous other competions as well. Some of which being the Best Overall game in the 2007 Contrast Game making competition, and Best Technical game in the 2007 Code' a thon competition as well. Other than being a game artist, Desmond also has experience in compositing in After Effects and Shake, and High Poly animations in 3D Max as well. His interests are playing video games, digital painting and playing badminton.

Joshua Wong graduated with a Bachelor of Social Sciences (Hons.) in Communications and New Media. He's been involved in a variety of game development projects since his early teens, from simple board game design to volunteering as the Head of Storylines for an indie MMORPG. He was also the Vice-President (Projects) of the Game Development student group in university, and part of the first generation of GAMBIT summer interns, serving as the Scrummaster for Wiip. In his spare time, he delves heavily into science-fiction and fantasy novels, Japanese anime and manga, and ministry in church.

This is Guo Yuan, a graduate from Republic Polytechnic's Diploma in New Media. She enjoys dabbling with not only music composition, synthesis and production, but also doodling and animation. She wishes Singapore sells Dr Pepper off the shelves. Her other main interests are cats, video games and electronic dance music. And she loves her fat cat, friends, and family. Visit her site at http://www.gynation.net.

Yeuhi Abe is a computer science graduate student at MIT, where he has been doing research in computer animation with his advisor Jovan Popovic since September 2004. The focus of his work is on the use of physical simulation and control to drive the motion of virtual creatures in interactive applications such as video games. When not subjecting virtual creatures to brutal physical stress tests, he can usually be found subjecting himself to similar conditions on the mountain tops of New England. His website can be found at http://people.csail.mit.edu/yeuhi.

Ang Yi Xin writes: "I am an undergraduate at the School of Art, Design and Media in Nanyang Technological University majoring in Digital Animation. I love to play games on PSP and Xbox but I do not own any of them and I am very bad at gaming too. I know a little bit here and there about art history, 3d animation and myself. GAMBIT will be my first experience with game development and I aspire to design interesting looks for games. I am still exploring different career options but I utimately want to do something related to art and design. During my free time, I like watching movies, swimming, drawing and hanging out with my family and friends. My website is www.pencilandpixel.net."

Michelle Giayatri Ang See Yan writes: "I'm a 2nd year student in Temasek Poly studying Computer Engineering. I game, jam and shoot. I'm the lead vocalist in my band and I can't live without games and archery. I do a little fashion and a lot of music. I'm on my laptop all the time either gaming like mad or playing around with graphic designing. I hope to join the gaming industry in the future."

Ilya Baran is a Ph.D. student in the MIT Graphics Group working with Jovan Popovic on making 3D modeling and animation more accessible to non-professionals. He used to be in the algorithms group, working with Erik Demaine, and was also one of the people responsible for Cosmic Blobs, a really cool 3D modeling program for kids. One day, he might even graduate!

Steven Bartel writes: "I'm a Junior at MIT, majoring in computer science. I'm interested in game development, programming, and of course playing video games. I'm excited to be working with GAMBIT and making games."

Jason Begy graduated from Canisius College in Buffalo where he earned a BA in English (2004) and spent much of his time working for Canisius' Department of Information Technology Services. Begy's undergraduate thesis argued that the rules and mechanics of chess and go were a reflection of the religious traditions of Catholicism and Buddhism, respectively. In 2008, Begy completed an MS in Technical Communication at Northeastern University in Boston, where his coursework focused on information design for the Web and information architecture for internal corporate and university networks. He looks forward to continuing his work in games by focusing on abstraction and emergent game play.

Sharat Bhat is a recent graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology majoring in Computer Science. He enjoys playing videogames and is glad to finally get a chance to make them as well.

Laura "Laura47" Boylan is an undergraduate student in Comparative Media Studies at MIT. She loves everything she studies in CMS, especially fan culture, transmedia storytelling, and all the things that people call "Web 2.0". She spends much of her free time creating and playing in live-action roleplaying games with the MIT Assassins' Guild and at the Intercon Conventions. Working at GAMBIT was her first hands-on experience creating a videogame, and she had a fabulous time. Laura is very excited to see what happens next with GAMBIT. Thanks to Philip for this opportunity! Laura's website can be found at www.laura47.com.

Brendan Callahan is a junior at MIT, majoring in brain and cognitive sciences and minoring in management. He is interested in the design and management side of video game development, and worked with GAMBIT this summer as test lead in the development of Backflow. He enjoys learning new things and exploring the potential of technology to contribute to our understanding of ourselves and our world.

Joshua Campoverde is an undergraduate in the joint study of Computer Science and Comparative Media Studies at MIT.  His personal interests lie in how software design affects how people interact with technology, specifically internet enabled technologies.  Memorable acheivements in his gaming life include beating Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Arcade Game for NES without a Game Genie, beating Mario Tennis for N64 with every character in both singles and doubles, and beating Bark at the Moon on expert in the original Guitar Hero.  He can currently be found playing the most recent installment of the FIFA Soccer franchise or harassing people to play Rock Band with him.  Chronicles of his adventures are maintained at www.joshcampoverde.com.

Matthias Chan Yong Shun (a.k.a Ma-Da-Xia or Matasia) received 1st enlightenment in Interactive Media from the land of Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts. This part man, half nerd, mostly insane lunatic is currently adopted by the Jedi Masters of Interactive Media in NTU located far far away in Ulu-Sami Land. Chinese, but ZER0 kungfu knowledge, not equipped with flying nor gliding abilities. Attempts to blend in with anyone it grabs holds of, ability to adapt and communicate in their native languages and lingos. Rejects subjects who are full of themselves, hypocrites, liars, and those who rattle off without a brain. Low maintenance, few moral vices, loves challenges, and looking to absorb more knowledge and abilities of Masters in Interactive Media far and wide. Will travel and slog for games, installations and new media! :D Looking forward to hosting first solo sermon and producing weapons of mass interaction for educating future generations with greater knowledge and enjoyment.

Chen Wei Ren writes, "I am a third year student in Nanyang Polytechnic. I enjoy making 3D game graphics and playing games. While not making games, I will be playing guitar or asleep."

Jenny Cheng writes: "I'm a sophomore at MIT, and am very excited about everything. ^______^ "

Alexander Luke Chong Tze Yang is a student from Singapore Management University, where he is currently doing a Degree in Information Systems Management. He hopes to one day become a game designer, making games that people will get hopelessly attached to. He loves to read, watch movies and play his guitar during his spare time. (He is also a closet junkie for sci-fi and fantasy.) =)

Chu Yew Yee Sharon Lynn is currently studying at NUS in the department of Communications and New Media. She is the Vice-President (Projects) of the NUS Games Development Group, and has worked on several game projects. She is fascinated by the world of game design and the brilliance displayed by all the designers out there. Her research interest lies in the field of storytelling in games. Sharon's passions involve dance and wushu. Apart from that, she likes a whole lot of other things: Jackie Chan and Jet Li movies, reading fantasy, detective and science-fiction books, anime, manga, and ice cream. Her website can be found at http://sharilynx.wordpress.com.

Marco da Silva is a Ph.D. student in MIT's Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory studying control algorithms for simulated creatures. Before coming to MIT, Marco worked at Pixar Animation Studios for four years as a graphics engineer and a technical director. Before that, he graduated with a degree in math and computer science from Brown University. Before that, things start to get a little fuzzy. His website can be found at http://people.csail.mit.edu/dasilva.

Joshua Diaz went from a BA in Liberal Arts from St. John's College (2004) to working within the computer games industry. His game industry experiences include working in QA at Electronic Arts' Los Angeles Studio, serving as systems designer for the PlayStation 2 title The Sopranos: Road to Respect and working as a game designer for DS platform games at Seven Studios. Diaz reports that "the rigorous and interdisciplinary approach [he was taught in the St. John's 'Great Books' program] would later be of great benefit, as I found game design almost always involves negotiating between aesthetic and technological requirements and in translating principles from one field into others." His academic interests focus on exploring the relationship between video games and cognition, in studying the relations between amateur and professional practitioners, and in developing new ways to talk, think and teach learning.

Kevin Driscoll earned his BA in Visual Art from Assumption College in 2002. He joined CMS after three years teaching Computer Science at Prospect Hill Academy Charter School in Cambridge, MA. There he explored issues of identity management, media production, literacy, hacking, and hip-hop with the consistently brilliant students in grades 6-12. Inspired by a challenging first year in the classroom, Kevin co-founded a non-profit organization called TeachForward (later re-named Developing Curriculum, Inc.) to encourage the sharing and development of high-quality, free learning materials on the web. In addition to his work in education. Kevin is a frequent collaborator with internet-based artist Claire Chanel and a hip-hop dj responsible for Gold Chain and Todo Mundo events. His website can be found at http://kevindriscoll.info.

Jessie Evelin is currently pursuing her BA (Hons) in Media Arts, majoring in Animation Art at LASALLE College of the Arts. Her interests include composing music, crafting, fine arts drawing and most art practices. Besides studying, she also does some teaching. She is interested in producing games,though she doesn't play much. She wants to be a sound designer, artist or animator (or Lecturer!).

Jeremy Flores is currently a Computer Science major and director of OpenLabWare at MIT. He is interested in education, particularly bringing science and engineering concepts to the public. In his spare time, he composes music and experiments with audio engineering for video games.

Jennifer Fu is a current MIT freshman majoring in Management and Comparative Media Studies. Her interests lie a bit more heavily in anime and manga than in video games, but it's all good; she loves being active of this kind of intense and energetic creative experience. In her spare time, she enjoys reading/writing/drawing manga, karaoke, and daydreaming – about everything.

Jon Georgievski is a dedicated musician, audio engineer and sound designer.  He's been a serious gamer since his father brought home a NES some 15 years ago.  Jon's favorite games are known for their excellent music (Final Fantasy, Metal Gear, Zelda, etc.).  His other hobbies include fixing electronics, understanding concepts of theoretical astrophysics, and ice hockey.  Jon is planning on pursuing a career in interactive sound design and hopes to own his own home studio.

Eitan Glinert writes: "I'm a graduate student at the Singapore-MIT GAMBIT game lab. I've been making video games for two years now. Currently working on a new audio based video game that is designed for the mainstream market, yet accessible to the visually impaired." His website can be found at www.eitanglinert.com and his startup game company, Fire Hose Games, can be found at www.firehosegames.com.

Nina Guo is a student at MIT (class of 2010) studying Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. If she's not in the student center doing work, she is probably sleeping or eating. She also enjoys anime and video games and is a big fan of the Super Smash Bros series.

Munir Hussin is a computing student from National University of Singapore, majoring in Communications and Media. Little is known about him, except that he likes to play classic games, daidee, and do close-up magic. He enjoys making games on various platforms, programming, designing, and do digital art. He dreams of starting a games studio and until then, you shall fall into his hypnotic suggestions and support his dreams 1000%. You shall also get him a Wacom Cintiq. His website can be found at http://www.moonaire.com.

William Hutama writes, "Playing games has been my ultimate hobby ever since I was a kid. However, as I grow up, I am hoping to not only enjoy playing the games themselves but to realize my own thoughts into games that others will enjoy. Being a fourth year undergraduate at NTU, majoring in computer science has brought me one step further into my dream. As learning is a never ending journey, I would love to join GAMBIT to further experience the real game development process, to share thoughts with passionate people and last but not least to share the same excitement I have about games with you all."

Jamie Jones is a junior at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, pursuing a major in Comparitive Media Studies. She is currently trying to decide between video game design and video game art as a career path. In her free time she likes reading, throwing things, running, drawing, and pwning n00bs.

Jeremy Kang's 20-year passion for gaming led him to pursue a career in the games industry. Hailing from a technical background with a Bachelor of Computing in Media and Communications from the National University of Singapore, Jeremy was involved in a number of indie projects in school before joining a Singapore-based game company, Emerging Entertainment, after graduation. As Game Designer on the company's flagship title, Troll & Armor, Jeremy worked mainly on the design and gameplay implementation of the project. The voices in Jeremy's head often pass words such as 'hardcore gamer', 'game-addict' and 'Zelda-fan' through the recesses of his subconsciousness. But deep in his soul, Jeremy knows that all he really wants to do is to game for another 20 years. Oh, and maybe become the next Jaffe or Miyamoto along the way as well.

Dustin R. Katzin is a first-year student at MIT, studying physics and math with a concentration in computer science. He is also involved in the music program at MIT, playing multiple instruments in the orchestra and taking piano lessons with the Emerson scholarship program.

Wilson Kok Ziliang writes: "I am a hardcore gamer that enjoys playing all kinds of games from any genre from role playing to strategy whether it is popular or not. I've been involved in a few projects that developed game mods for games like Half-Life and Quake 3 during my polytechnic studies. I have a keen interest in art and design and am currently on track to complete my studies in interactive media from NAFA. When I'm not playing games or working on anything I dream of being part of a big gaming development company like *cough cough Blizzard cough* and hope to put all the time I spent gaming to some good use."

Law Kok Chung writes: "I like gaming, as well as game programming. It would be nice if I lived in the fantasy world of games, becoming the hero that brings back peace to the world. d(^o^ )b "

Leroy Koo wants to be a concept artist and illustrator in the future. He is currently studying in Nanyang Polytechnic's School of Interactive Digital Media, pursuing a diploma in Digital Media Design, majoring in Games Design & Development. He enjoys drawing, gaming (especially RPGs and action games) and watching movies and animation. He also enjoys looking at art and playing football.

Igor Kopylov is a senior at MIT, majoring in Computer Science. He loves to program and finds that people like his programs a whole lot better when they're games. In fact, he's quite fond of gaming himself. He's always excited to see the newest titles and spends a good time wondering how they do all those cool effects. He hopes his time at GAMBIT will give him insight into what makes those effects so cool. When he's not in front of a computer, Igor is a member of MIT's varsity fencing team.

Lan Xuan Le, who has BAs in both Biology and Asian Studies from Swarthmore College (2004) and a Masters in Public Health from Boston University (2007), has been part of the "games for health movement," conducting a qualitative study and co-authoring a white paper for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation on the use of games to combat childhood obesity. She also has a strong interest in the globalization of media and the construction of alternative understandings of what it means to be Asian and Asian-American through popular culture, an interest which led her to design, research and execute a library exhibition of anime and manga for Swarthmore's McCabe Library. She wrote an undergraduate thesis on problematic gender and sexual representations in Japanese popular culture with a particular focus on Card Captor Sakura, a paper which won the Swarthmore College Asian Studies Program's top writing prize.

Jun Cheng is a final year student at Temasek Polytechnic studying Business Information Technology. His interests are mainly in sports and personal computing. He built his own PC and loves to overclock it whenever he has the time to do so. He frequents computer hardware forums from Vr-Zone to Hardwarezone. During his free time, he plays soccer with his friends and his own soccer team. He also has a fetish for fast cars, from exotic to tuner cars. His current favourite is a Lamborghini Gallardo. He likes to play games apart from school, including Pro Evolution Soccer, Football Manager and Command & Conquer. Although he has quite a skinny frame, JC loves to eat. He loves all kinds of delicious food, however he is unable to take spicy food as he has a weak stomach! His website is available at www.kimijc.com.

Jolly Lee Yu See is an energetic designer. She is attracted to the fantasy genre, which is what initially interested her with games such as WOW (World of Warcraft) and DOTA (Defense of the Ancients). Jolly is currently studying in Temasek Design School, undertaking the Moving Images course. She has great interest in character design and concept art, and is currently trying to improvise a more simplified and 'cartoony' look into her work.

Alvin Leong Kwok Hung writes: "I am a second year student in Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts, where I am pursuing a diploma in multimedia and looking forward to moving onto my third year after this internship attachment. I am always into games, be it board games, card games, video games and now massive online RPGs (I like the last one a lot). I used to be very addicted to gaming. I hope to be able to grab onto new experiences in gaming after this project and of course will come back having to know more about the 'behind the scenes' of game production. I can't wait to get started."

Scott Lim Chen Wei writes: "I'm a final-year student taking Diploma in Information Technology, Game Development, at the Singapore Polytechnic. What do I like? I love playing computer games, but creating and finishing a good game is my personal satisfaction. Other than playing and programming games, practicing the guitar is another thing I do in my free time, not to mention spending time with friends and family. What do I not like? Loneliness. The Future? Having fun creating games for people to enjoy with their friends and family. I will most probably join a company to expand my knowledge as I create games and best of all make more friends who share my passion."

Shawn Dominic Loh Han Yi writes: "I am currently studying in Temasek Polytechnic in the course IMI (Interactive Media Informatics). I love producing and watching 3D animation and I model 3D characters at a very quick speed. All because I would love to go down to animating or watch my character(s) come to life! My very first experience for creating a game is using Flash CS3. Even though it was complicated, my passion made me find out how I should tackle even the most difficult problems. My future goals are to create games or entertain people with my animation. It has always been my passion to put a smile on peoples' faces or simply make them say, 'wow!' I dislike myself being lazy! In my free time, I like to day-dream, sleep, enjoy life as it is, eat and play games for the longest periods of time!"

Fairuz Lokman is a final-year computing student just about to graduate from National University of Singapore. He first got hooked on the Commander Keen series and Civilization over ten years ago, and now he's actively learning how to design, prototype and program his own games. When he's not busy getting thrashed in Mario Kart DS, Fairuz enjoys just about any ball game, as well as taking long walks while listening to his favourite music.

Geoffrey Long is the Communications Director for the Singapore-MIT GAMBIT Game Lab and the Comparative Media Studies program at MIT. He is also a writer, designer, musician, artist, filmmaker, and shameless media addict. His professional career includes a decade-long run as the editor-in-chief of the literature, culture and technology magazine Inkblots and co-founding the software collective Untyped, the film troupe Tohubohu Productions, and the creative consulting company Dreamsbay.

Geoffrey earned his BA in English and Philosophy with concentrations in Creative Writing and IPHS from Kenyon College in 2000 and his Masters in Comparative Media Studies from MIT in 2007. He is a frequent lecturer on narratives in different media, including transmedia storytelling, and his own storytelling has appeared in Polaris, Gothik, Hika, {fray} and the iTunes store. His personal website/portfolio can be found at www.geoffreylong.com.

Joanne Loo Ling writes: "I am from the school of Art, Design and Media (NTU), majoring in Interactive Media. I am a casual gamer with a huge passion for conceptualizing and coming up with artwork for games. My influence and inspiration comes from daydreaming and artists such as Rolitoland and Takashi Murakami. I love drawing, digital illustration, spatial design and of course, ice cream."

Curtis Liu is an undergraduate at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, studying Computer Science and Mathematics. He enjoys playing games of all sorts, and has an uncanny ability to make things harder than they actually are.

Anna Loparev is a junior studying mathematics and philosophy at Wellesley College. She began her video game career in the spring of 2008 as a test lead, but plans to try out her programming skills once she fully develops them. A gamer since the age of nine, she enjoys all genres but has a small place in her heart for puzzle games.

Lu Hai Loc writes: "I am interested in new ways of interacting with computers. I would like to create games that are played by our whole bodies, moving away from mice and keyboards and into collaborative gameplay. I would love to work in the challenging gaming and interactive media industry. I like to listen to different kinds of music, especially progressive rock. Oh yeah, I plan to receive an Oscar award."

Justin Lye is an undergraduate at the National University of Singapore, majoring in Communications and New Media (CNM). He is the 3rd President of the CNM Society and was part of the organizing committee for Contrast '07, a 24-hour game design competition. He is currently a guild leader in World of Warcraft and devotes his free time to exploring the social elements within this virtual community. He believes that there is great potential for social interaction in games and has made it his dream to create a game world that supports social relationships online more strongly than the games today. His other interests include creative writing and watching drama serials.

Katie Marshall is an animation student at the Massachusetts Collage of Art and Design. She studies mostly classical forms of animation and is interested in art for video games. Katie is highly influenced by graphic novels and artists like Frank Miller and Jhonen Vasquez. She has drawn and scribbled her way through life and it now seems to be paying off. She hopes to either work in the gaming field or teach art to small children and corrupt their minds with video games. She loves all forms of animation and watches way too many kids' cartoons.

Rizky Medzseva is a Final Year student from Nanyang Technological University, majoring in Computer Science. He is interested in photography, gaming, music, Japanese culture and language. His favorite games are Japanese style RPGs, especially those with real time battles such as the Tales series, Valkyrie Profile and Star Ocean. He also enjoys playing casual games and MMO games during his free time. He's dreaming of building his own game studio and producing games that excel aesthetically, contain creative and innovative game play, and benefit people by their education and entertainment value. His writing can be seen at http://madz273.blogspot.com.

Justin Moe is a senior at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, majoring in Comparative Media Studies.

Muhammad Mohsin is a 4th year Information Systems undergrad from the Singapore Management University (SMU). Having been a lifelong gamer he's always dreamt of being on the other end of the pipeline for once, and now thanks to GAMBIT, he finally has that chance. In his spare time he enjoys reading, swimming and watching movies with friends.

Shota Nakama has been actively composing, arranging, and sequencing for many films and video games after earning a Bachelor's degree in Film Scoring from Berklee College of Music.  Shota is also known as a versatile classical/electric guitarist and has performed internationally for over 10 years, and recently he was chosen to perform the world premiere of Vuk Kulenovic's Electric Symphony at the Berklee Performance Center.  Shota has recently founded an orchestra called V.G.O. (Video Game Orchestra) which exclusively performs orchestral arrangements of video game music. His website is www.shotanakama.com.

Anindita Ningtyas writes: "I'm pretty much enjoying my life. I love cats and big feasts. I like simple things yet I always put the best efforts behind my critical imagination. And sometimes I have a laggy brain. I enjoy animating, drawing comics and playing games."

Marleigh Norton is the prototyping manager for the Singapore-MIT GAMBIT Game Lab and a research manager for the Teacher Education Program's Outdoor Augmented Reality project at the Columbus Zoo. A recent addition to TEP, Marleigh brings years of design experience from both the commercial and academic sectors. Her recent work as an interaction designer for the Waterford Research Institute aimed to teach reading, math, and science to young children through the use of educational games. She holds a master's degree in human-computer interaction from Georgia Tech, where she created an augmented reality 3-D puzzle game. New interaction paradigms are a major interest of hers, and past projects have included collaborative touch-screens for the NASA Ames Research Center and voice user interfaces for major telephone companies.

(Jesse) Ong Yit Sin is an undergraduate at the National University of Singapore, majoring in Communications and New Media and minoring in English. She is currently married to World of Warcraft and is on a quest to accumulate as many pets as possible. In reality, she survives on Pepsi, over-uses Photoshop, watches anime and enjoys torturing her rabid rabbit. Occasionally, she would actually get back to work on www.i-petz.com.

Scot Osterweil leads several Education Arcade projects promoting learning in math, literacy, history, science and foreign language. Formerly the Senior Designer at TERC, a research & development center devoted to math and science education, he designed Zoombinis Island Odyssey, winner of the 2003 Bologna New Media Prize, and the most recent game in the Zoombinis line of products (Riverdeep/TLC). He is the creator of the Zoombinis, and with Chris Hancock he co-designed the multi-award winning Logical Journey of the Zoombinis, and its first sequel, Zoombinis Mountain Rescue. He is the also the designer of the games Switchback and Yoiks!. Scot's other software designs included work on InspireData (Inspiration Software). He has participated in research on the role of computer games in learning, and on the use of video in data collection and representation. He previously worked in television, on the production of Public Television's Frontline, Evening at Pops, and American Playhouse, and as an animator on a wide range of programs. He is a graduate of Yale College with a degree in Theater Studies.

Yuanyuan Pao is currently a sophomore at MIT and a programmer at GAMBIT. She is excited to be working here, but then again, she is excited about everything.

Kenny Peng is a senior in 6-3 and 15 studying Artificial Intelligence. He's been an avid videogamer since 8. He enjoys programming, especially when it produces something graphically awesome. He actually preferred the mysterious question mark in place of this picture, but being a ninja isn't so bad.

Pham Chau Khoa (Ben) is pursuing a Bachelor in Computer Engineering at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. He's an enthusiastic computer programmer who's interested in a wide set of fields ranging from high-level software and web-based projects to as low-level as microcontroller and FPGA programming. He plays computer games sometimes, but prefers to create ones. He's very excited to be working with other specialized people in the GAMBIT programme. During his spare time, he either enjoys playing the classical guitar, practicing the piano or developing his "pet" software projects.

Pham Ngoc Hoang Viet (Vincent) writes: "I am currently a last year student in Ngee Ann Polytechnic, School of Info Com Technology, where I major in Information Technology, Software Engineering. I am interested in playing all kinds of computer and video games. I often spend my free time reading novels and watching movies. I hope to achieve some experience in developing an actual game in the GAMBIT Summer Program."

Elliot Maximillian Pinkus earned a BA in Information Science from Cornell University where he focused on game design and development. He was a member of Cornell's first Experimental Game Play Project. During two summers as an undergraduate, he worked as a game designer at MIT's Education Arcade contributing puzzles to Lure of the Labyrinth. As a research assistant with GAMBIT, he has worked on a variety of projects including Moki Combat v2.0 and a live-action pervasive game for the Penny Arcade Expo. His thesis is taking shape, examining how video games create physical/sensual immersion through both diegetic and non-diegetic feedback. Ask him about his design work at Silicon Knights this past summer because he enjoys being able to say that he is sworn to secrecy.

Kester Poh is an undergraduate at the National University of Singapore, majoring in Computing (Communications and Media). His focus is on interactive media and game development. He has worked on casual games and won the innovative game award in Contrast 2007. Currently, he is also in the steering team of NUS Second Life. He is a passionate gamer, electronic music lover and one who likes to travel. He wants to build more games as he enjoys entertaining people with his creations.

Malcolm Qwah is currently studying in Nanyang Technological University in the School of Art, Design and Media. He is majoring in Digital Animation, and is also pursuing a secondary interest in Film. His interests lie in concept art (games, film, animation), illustration, 3D modeling and animation. He has worked on two school animation projects, for a MTV HIV public service announcement as a storyboard and conceptual artist, and a Cognitive Cinema Rock Band project as both a character artist and 3D modeler. It is his dream to travel the world. During his free time, Malcolm likes to read, draw, paint, write, play games, play the guitar and experiment with sound.

As Technology Support Specialist, Michael Rapa is the first point of contact for CMS and GAMBIT technical support. A graduate of The Art Institute of Boston, Rapa received his Bachelor of Fine Arts in 2007 with focus on Graphic Design and Digital Illustration. He is an avid member of the global video gaming community, regularly sacrificing several hours of his day to owning n00bs. His previous professional experience was as a Desktop, Lab Systems, and A/V Technician for Lesley University in Cambridge, MA.

Trey Reyher is an undergraduate at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, majoring in Brain and Cognitive Science. Although a lifelong gaming enthusiast, this is the first video game project in which he has participated as a developer. His love of Japanese games, art, and culture stem from his childhood days on the island of Okinawa. Since then, he has traveled to Europe, Australia, and Africa, but still considers Japanese to be his second language. Trey's other interests include writing short stories, playing the banjo, and hiking in the great outdoors.

Clara Rhee is a junior at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, pursuing a major in Comparitive Media Studies. She is too uncoordinated to play videogames, but, on off days, still admits to being a casual gamer. In her "spare time", she enjoys films, comic books, photography, animation, and getting lost on her bike.

Nick Ristuccia writes: "I'm a sophomore CMS student at MIT. Now you're probably going to laugh about it, but I could play classic style Mega Man, I could throw a frisbee, and I can make an avatar's head pop. I also enjoy posting disgusting videos on YouTube about professional wrestling. I'm grateful for the opportunity to work in the GAMBIT lab."

Doris C. Rusch holds a postdoctoral position with the Singapore-MIT GAMBIT Game Lab in the Programme at Comparative Media Studies at MIT. Before that she did postdoctoral work at the Institute for Design and Assessment of Technology at Vienna University of Technology. In her habilitation project titled "Once More with Meaning", Rusch investigates the medium specific characteristics of digital games and their potential to produce a wide range of emotionally satisfying and deeply meaningful experiences. Although her work is theory-driven, she aims at applicability of her research to actual game design with the goal of pushing the boundaries of games as media. Rusch has an eclectic background having completed studies in German Literature, Philosophy, English and Comparative Literature at the University of Vienna, where she also received her Ph.D. in Applied Linguistics. Her work in computer game studies is part of a larger interest in "narrative worlds" that expands over books, comics, and films.

Erik Sahlström writes: "I am originally from Sweden but am currently studying at SAE Singapore, so as to expand my knowledge of my biggest passion – audio & music. I formerly worked as a Technical Support Representative back home, but soon after, I was given the opportunity to pursue one of my biggest passions, to work as a DJ, spinning 'house' music (mainly) in Indonesia. I'm very excited to put my two biggest hobbies together – music & computing – to a new, gaming level. Website: http://www.eriksahl.se.

Elvin Siew is currently an Animation Arts student from LASALLE College of the Arts in Singapore. Being exposed to 2D and stop-motion as well as 3D computer animation, he hopes to major in 3D CG. Bringing his designs on paper to life in a digital environment has always been his dream. Currently pushing himself to be a better 3D modeler and texture artist, he draws his inspiration mainly from books and video games. His enjoys all sorts of games, from board games to tabletop miniatures to computer games of all genres. His passion is to create visually stunning scenes and characters for audiences of all ages. You can view some of his work at http://elvin86.deviantart.com.

Erek Speed writes: "I'm a computer science student at MIT and enjoy programming immensely. In fact, it could be said that I enjoy all things relating to computers. Being around them just makes me happy inside. The only thing I like more than computers are games, and well, here I am, savoring their happy union."

Sarah Sperry is a senior with a joint major in Computer Science and Comparative Media Studies.  She's pretty boring overall, but looooooooves video games and wants to eventually have a huge collection (she welcomes suggestions!). Unfortunately, due to the amount of work over the past three years, her gaming skillz are pretty much nil.  She hopes to rectify this with her new addiction to Halo.

She hopes to eventually be a producer who-knows-where, but also likes design. She worked as a design intern for Helixe (division of THQ) during the summer of 2007 and as a scripter/design intern for Shabba Games (division of Activision) during the summer of 2008.

She also loves smilie faces. :)

Pradashini Subramaniam writes: "I am currently undergoing my final year of the diploma in sonic arts program at Republic Polytechnic. I seek to continually explore the role & function of sound in new media. I believe in making use of technology to push further into the sonic experience. Sound design for games is an avenue for exploring and expressing my artistic mind. My other interests include psychology and extreme sports."

Randy "Yuku" Sugianto writes: "I graduated from Nanyang Technological University in Computer Engineering and continued to take the Masters of Science (Information Systems) on the same university. Modding and developing games have been my dreams since I had a PlayStation. I may not play a particular game as long as a avid gamer, but I like to explore various kind of games and find particularities in those games. I like innovative gameplay and cute characters ^^. I am interested in Japanese language and culture, eating various things, taking photos and meeting new people." His personal website can be found at http://www.kejut.com and his software can be found at http://www.ikitek.com.

Mark Sullivan III is an undergraduate at MIT, class of 2010.  An obsession with videogames drove him to learn programming, so now he's returning the favor.  When not gaming, he can often be found sleeping or eating.  He's probably gaming, though.  He's been a bit of a Nintendo fanboy his whole life, drawn to games such as Zelda and Metroid, but he'll play anything.

Jennifer Swann is an MIT undergraduate in Computer Science, slated to graduate in 2011. She is currently enrolled in a rigorous course of programming classes, a gauntlet formed of two parts Python and one part Java. In her free time, which is shrinking daily, she enjoys Salsa, and Casino Rueda. Jennifer has tried out for the MIT Bhangra team twice now, and will probably never be asked to join. She practiced Shotokan Karate for 8 years and hopes to pick it up again once out of school. Her ultimate career goal is game programmer; however, she doesn't mind the odd detour into other fields on the road to her life's calling. Having aspired to be a programmer since middle school, she is somewhat disappointed that programmers are disappearing, replaced by the more nebulous "Software Engineers."

Gareth Tan Zi-Gui is a final year student at Republic Polytechnic, majoring in New Media and specializing in Media and Entertainment. He has been passionate about media and the arts since an early age. From comics and design to film and games, he enjoys immersing himself in creative and imaginative works, especially those that contribute to the art of visual storytelling. Gareth believes that through games, the art of visual storytelling can be brought to the next level, where everything is interactive and the audience can become part of the stories themselves. With his background in film and theatre, Gareth hopes to be part of the community that will bring stories alive through games, creating experiences that go beyond the written word. When he's not at work, Gareth can easily be found with his eyes glued to the pages of a wicked graphic novel or with his hands at a game controller, blowing things up and doing what he loves best.

Sue-Anne Tze En holds a diploma in Information Technology from Singapore Polytechnic. She is interested in new experiences, loves a good challenge and gives her all in everything she does.In her spare time, she likes drawing, cooking, photography, bicycling and exploring the roads and off-road trails with her trusty dirt bike.

Louis Teo Yi Wei is a student of Republic Polytechnic, where he studies New Media. A writer and an avid gamer at heart, Louis finds the tedium of traditional storytelling rather grating after some time and seeks a new medium to explore in terms of storytelling and creating experiences. Thus, he falls back to his other passion - games. Whenever free, he partakes in large free-for-all shootfests, beta tests, guild wars, grinding, questing, sightseeing, Guitar Hero-ing, role-playing and the occasional raid here and there.

Teo Say Kiam Raymond writes: "I am an Art, Design Media student in Nanyang Technological University that majors in Digital Animation. I love what I do, like animation, design, illustration, storytelling and so on. I'm an individual who thrives on exploring and experiencing new things. I'm always a positive and cheerful person even when a deadline falls near. Even though I m still a student I have already been involved at the professional level for many years, mainly in motion graphics."

Alec Thomson is a freshman planning to major in Computer Science and Mathematics. He first learned to program long ago by making video games with  the good old LOGO writer in Microsoft DOS. For the past two summers, he's been teaching (crazy) kids how to make games at the TIC Computer Camp in Virginia. Alec probably plays too many video games and has a big collection of all shapes and sizes.

Sara Verrilli has spent her professional career in the videogame industry, starting with the day she walked out of MIT's Course V graduate studies and into a position as QA Lead at Looking Glass Technologies for System Shock. However, her game organizing endeavors started much earlier; she helped found a role-playing club at her high school by disguising it as a bridge group.

Since then, she's been a game designer, a product manager, a producer, and a QA manager, in no particular order. A veteran of both Looking Glass Technologies and Irrational Games, she's worked on eight major published games, and several more that never made it out the door. As Lead Producer at GAMBIT, she looks forward to corralling, encouraging, and exploring the creative chaos that goes into making great games, and figuring out just the right amount of order to inject into the process. And, while she still doesn't understand bridge, she does enjoy whist.

Daniel Vlasic is a PhD student in computer graphics at MIT advised by Jovan Popovic.  His research focuses on model-based performance capture, including facial animation, motion capture, and surface reconstruction, none of which is described on his website (http://people.csail.mit.edu/drdaniel).

Matthew Weise is split right down the middle into equal parts gamer and cinephile, having attended film school before seguing into game studies and then game development. Matt is the lead game designer for the Singapore-MIT GAMBIT Game Lab and a full-time gamer, which means he not only plays games on a variety of systems but he also completes (most of) them. When he's not playing games or getting obscure DVDs off eBay he's babbling on at length about games and movies to anyone who will listen. With a scholarly (aka nerdy) background in both film and games, his primary research interest lies in their transmedia relationship: in how they each can represent meaningful fictional universes differently. Matthew did his undergrad at the University of Wisconsin in Milwaukee, where he studied film production before going rogue to design his own degree. He graduated in 2001 with a degree in Digital Arts, which included videogames (this was before Game Studies was a field). He continued his videogame research at MIT's Comparative Media Studies program where he examined how videogame theory and criticism differs between communities. As a CMS grad student he also worked at The Education Arcade, most notably collaborating on Revolution, a small-scale simulation of colonial America. After leaving MIT in 2004 Matt worked in mobile game development for a few years, occassionally doing some consultancy work, before returning to CMS and MIT in 2007 to work at the newly created Singapore-MIT GAMBIT Game Lab.

Jim Wilberger writes: "I'm a fourth year undergraduate at MIT majoring jointly in Computer Science and Music. I've been interested in programming games for years and am thrilled to have that opportunity with Gambit. Working with a team to develop a game has been one of the most fun and rewarding experiences of my educational career. I love seeing all the different aspects that go into making a game and working alongside other students to produce something great. I could definitely see myself doing this for many years to come".

Rachel-Marie Wong recently graduated from LASALLE College of the Arts with a bachelor's degree in Interactive Art. Hailing from little Singapore, she is a petite Asian with a strong affinity for cans full of corn on salad and her coffee topped with vanilla ice cream. She makes small cash as a freelance creative consultant producing truckloads of TIFFs, PSDs, and AIs but what she likes is really new media art. Her passion for technology and media arts somehow often makes her say and create things extremely weird or random. She digs all sorts of games especially games about mermaids and forest fairies and tiny people that live in tea bags. Post GAMBIT she'll be all ready for new signs and new thrills directed by the Big Guy above.

Stephie Wu is an undergraduate at MIT, majoring in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. While not playing MapleStory, only the cutest MMORPG of all time, she enjoys reading, sleeping, rhythm games, and 16-bit RPGs.

Paul Yang Zhiwen writes: "I'm a fourth year undergrad at NUS, majoring in Communications and New Media. I have a keen interest in interactive storytelling techniques and draw my inspirations from film. A background in filmmaking with particular passion towards cinematography as well as photography predisposes me to seek out graphically stunning games with an intriguing storyline."

Yee Kar Kin is an avid designer who thrives in flexible, entrepreneurial environments. He revels in the exploration of a broad spectrum of media, though he is most enthusiastic about animation, photography and video production. Kar Kin is currently pursuing his Diploma in Moving Images at Temasek Design School, Singapore. He also enjoys having long walks and talks as it tends to stimulate the inquisitive mind.

Bryan Yeo is on the path of becoming dominator of the universe. He is (currently) a student at Nanyang Polytechnic, and is studying to be a Game Programmer (from which he will influence the masses into obeying his will). His strengths include engine architecture and visual effects programming, although he kin to explore other forms of programming/science. He spends his free time plotting world domination, learning martial arts or picking up extreme sports. He is open to freelance work, and will spend time on an idea that is worthy. His website can be found at http://www.simiansoftwerks.com and his email address is ze_bransay@hotmail.com.

Jonathan Zhan is a final year student at Singapore Management University, majoring in some really long and important-sounding collection of words. He enjoys programming and writing, misses the days when humorous adventure games were plentiful, hopes to both design and write for games in the future, and ignores word processor warnings about run-on sentences.

Esther Zheng Huilin writes: "I am from Singapore Polytechnic, studying Diploma in Digital Media. Drawing is joy in my life! Nothing else can replace the joy I feel when I draw. I love to daydream, but it helps in my imagination. I love animals and nature, so i hope there are more of them in the world then people! hehe XD. I also love to play games of all kinds in my spare time. I do not like the heat but i love cakes and potatoes. I hope this experience with GAMBIT will open up a new world of opportunities and knowledge, and probably, a new world of weird people too (0. 0)

I prefer to be the audience then the actor, if you know what I mean =D

____________________________________________
I love happy-go-lucky! Happiness ftw! Banzai!

---> (0.0)\/ ---- \('w')/ ---- ~(^.^)~ <---Siggy"

(Webmaster's note: Yes, that's exactly what Esther wrote. How do you edit something like that?)

Zou Xinru is an artist from the School of Art, Design and Media at Nanyang Technological University. She leads a double life of being a Digital Animation student by day and an ardent gamer by night. Having dreamt of creating wondrous worlds to be immersed in, she is delighted at this chance to create her first game with GAMBIT. She hopes to be able to live out her life designing beautiful imagery, environments and lovable characters that everyone will grow to love and be inspired by. Xinru likes modeling, lighting and animation in 3D and also likes puppet making and set designing in stop-motion animation. She is inspired by stories and imageries that have deep cultural influences and emotional content. Games she has enjoyed are mainly RPGs like the Final Fantasy and Metal Gear Solid series. While waiting anxiously for Spore to be released, she plays some casual games like Magic Pen and orisinal.com.