Gamemaker: Arnab Basu
Having earned a Bachelors degree in Computer Science, Arnab's journey has taken him to graduate school at Carnegie Mellon University's Entertainment Technology Center. He will draw on his interests and background to gain experience in the realm of entertainment production.
In the long run, he envisions a well positioned, successful career in the Entertainment Industry that involves multi-faceted roles in game design, sports management, Film and Computer Graphics/Animation.
When TJ was a small kid, he was once looking up at the sky when he saw a cloud shaped like a video game controller. On that day, TJ realized what his goal in life was: to become a meteorologist. Well, as luck would have it, due to his short attention span he developed as the result of playing too many video games as a kid, he totally forgot about that and decided to go into game design!
Demetrius decided to leave the cold winters of Cleveland, OH to go to the cold winters of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to study Entertainment Technology. At an early age, he was always interested in drawing. Later on, he gained an interest in computers and decided to study computer science. During his undergraduate career, Demetrius studied computer science and kept drawing as one of his hobbies throughout school. During his junior year, he decided to add a minor of Visual Communication Design. He was active in both Computer Science and Art for the rest of his undergraduate career. He participated in a couple computer research projects involving Genetic Algorithms and Grammatical Evolution and he entered logo design contest. When considering what he wanted to do for the future, Demetrius decided that it would have to be something creative and entertaining. He thought one way of achieving creativity was by combining two separate disciplines. He had been studying Computer Science and Visual Communication Design and wanted to find a way in which he could unite them. He stumbled on the rare graduate program at Carnegie Mellon, which offers a Masters of Entertainment Technology. With the help of the Entertainment Technology Center, Demetrius hopes to achieve his goals of finding a career in which he can unite the two disciplines of art and computers. He eagerly awaits new challenges. One of his first challenges will be to stay a Cleveland Browns fan in the city of Pittsburgh. When people asked how he could overcome this challenge Demetrius replied, "That's easy, it's like making a choice between Prime Rib from a fancy restaurant and mystery meat from a school cafeteria. Yeah I said it!"
Just a simple Midwestern boy forcibly raised in the deep South, Shane discovered games at an early age as a way of avoiding the harassment of three older brothers. Around the same time, he declared his intention to design games for a vocation. This youthful enthusiasm was lost in the face of biology, theatre, English, psychology, teaching, computer science, and (ever so briefly) military service, all of which were considered as "real careers" before his discovery of the ETC in 2002.
A decade ago, Phillip Saltzman was convinced by his mother that it would be a good idea to take a picture embracing a computer. And as embarrassing as that photo was, it remains consistent with though not defining of his interests. Phillip graduated from Northwestern University Cum Laude, Tau Beta Pi, and with departmental honors in 2004 with a BS in Computer Science and a minor in Political Science. In work and school, Phillip has shown an impressive ability to learn and master every programming environment and technique presented to him. He has also played video games since he could hold a controller, and has decided to pursue their creation since working on games affords chances to work creatively that often don't exist in other programming jobs.
In the beginning, trained as a theatrical lighting designer, Chris Klug worked on Broadway, in regional theater and opera, and toured with various 70's rock n' roll bands. Before joining the ETC faculty, his last game industry job was as Creative Director for EA's MMORPG Earth & Beyond. Between then and now, Chris kept the wolves at bay by designing games. Starting his career with Simulations Publications, Inc., in 1981, he assisted with the design of Universe (a sci-fi role playing game), then moved on and designed the 2nd edition of DragonQuest (a fantasy RPG and winner of a Game of the Year Award), Horror Hotel (something's lurking in the shadows of an old Victorian guest house) and Damocles Mission (a sci-fi strategy game). While at SPI he edited the role playing section of Ares magazine. When TSR bought SPI in 1982, Chris and the rest of the SPI staff moved on to form Victory Games. There Chris headed up the role playing games division, and designed the James Bond 007 role playing game (a winner of a Game of the Year award as well) and oversaw the entire Bond product line. At Victory Games, Chris designed a half-dozen more titles and was, for a time, Design Director.