Derek Chan
Producer
Derek (Roderick Luke) Chan is a Game Designer and Producer hoping to work in entertainment games. Drawing from his formal background in Research Psychology and Musical Theater, Derek infuses his work with an analytical eye and unique showmanship. In his spare time he can be found sleeping or listening to James Taylor.
Shiva Kannan
Sound Designer
Programmer
Shiva Kannan is a software developer and musician interested in the intersection of interactive storytelling, music technology, and computer graphics.
Katherine Wheeler
Transformational Game Designer
Katherine is a Pittsburgh-based designer of narrative, interactive, and immersive experiences in the physical and digital world. She hopes to apply her experience in narrative and sound design for games to a career in themed entertainment and experience design.
YuZhu “Clare” Zhou
2D/3D Artist
Yuzhu Zhou is a 2D and 3D artist and she loves telling stories through her works. The reason for her to come to the ETC is that, through her undergrad years, she realized the importance of working with people from different backgrounds when making a good game.
Chunan “Oscar” Huang
Programmer
Chunan Huang graduated from the University of California, San Diego with a bachelor’s degree in Computer Engineering and is now pursuing his Master’s degree at Carnegie Mellon University. He is proficient in Java, C++, and Python. Moreover, he has multiple experiences in software development, machine learning, and computer graphics. Outside school, he has a startup project that develops a mobile app using React Native and AWS. This startup project also makes him familiar with backend services like RESTful API and AWS Lambda. In his senior year at college, under the supervision of Dr. Jurgen Schulze, he conducted individual research on accelerating ray tracing with AI techniques. His research went very well and granted him Department Honors in highest distinction. Now he is focusing on game development and game engine at Carnegie Mellon University, Entertainment Technology Center.
Instructors
Dave Culyba
Dave received a B.S. in Computer Science and a Master’s in Entertainment Technology from Carnegie Mellon University. He has since worked at Electronic Arts as part of the team that created the computer game Spore, was a co-founder of the startup Interbots which worked on combining robotics and apps to create both entertainment and therapeutic experiences for kids, and is also one of the core members of the Alice research team working to create software to help teach students how to program. He is an active participant in game jams and was the co-organizer of the “Now I Get It!” jam.
Brenda Harger
Brenda Bakker Harger is a theatre director (MFA Carnegie Mellon University), improviser, and professor of Entertainment technology at Carnegie Mellon University’s Entertainment Technology Center where she teaches improvisational acting and leads diverse interdisciplinary projects. As an improviser, Brenda has performed with Pittsburgh Theatresports and SAK Theatre, and has led improv workshops nationally and internationally from theatre improvisers to executive leadership training (Carnegie Bosch Insititute) to video game companies. Bakker Harger is also director of a unique award winning theatre company at Carnegie Mellon, which uses live interactive theatre to address controversial issues in the workplace and classroom. She has produced an exploratory DVD-ROM for interactive theatre, and is currently pursuing her interest in further exploring her theory and skills in directing and improvisation with technology, both in gaming and theatre. Recent projects include: making a demo/prototype of a game based on the film Night of the Living Dead (with George Romero); creating a toy/exhibit featuring virtual representations of The Pittsburgh Children’s Museum’s Puppet collection; and Interactive robots – creating a robot which had distinct character and was able to convey emotion and intention. In theatre, Harger has directed and developed plays as technologically based Interactive experiences, one which premiered at the Humana New play Festival at the Actor’s Theatre in Louisville, Virtual Meditation #1, and another, Full Spectrum, which premiered at the Ensemble Studio Theatre in New York City. In addition, Harger engages in ongoing research on using improvisational methods to create more believable virtual characters.