Tsung-Han “Chuck” Lee
Chuck is a game / experience designer. His undergrad major was in Computer Science in Taiwan. However, pure computer engineering couldn’t satisfy his ambition. Most people in Taiwan after graduating from computer science work for IT engineering. Chuck thought this shouldn’t be his future, so he worked very hard and now studies in Carnegie Mellon University’s Entertainment Technology Center. With his outgoing and creative personality, bringing people joy and laugh and happiness is what Chuck really wants to do. He is now working becoming a more well-rounded designer, learning from every aspect of entertainment with the largest passion in the world.
Joel Ogden
Joel Ogden is a Digital Artist from Buffalo, NY. His work can be seen in the web-series “The New Kind” and the television series “Killing all the Flies”. Graduating with highest honors from the 3D Digital Graphics program at Rochester Institute of Technology, he is now in the Master of Entertainment Technology program at Carnegie Mellon University. Prior to college, he served in the 82nd Airborne Division of the United States Army.
Junwen “Eric” Chen
Eric is a software engineer and a game programmer. He loves games and enjoys developing great games with passionate people by leveraging his programming skills. Before coming to CMU, Eric studied at Northeastern University, China and got B.E. degree in Software Engineering. While in undergraduate, he worked as a Research Assistant at AI & Robotics Innovation Lab and research on Computer Vision algorithms like images matching
Jaehee Cho
Jaehee is an experienced producer & filmmaker. He double majored in Film and Media Art at Seoul Institute of the Arts. He is interested in combining video work with different genres of arts. He worked at La MaMa Experimental Theatre in New York from 2011-12 and made promotion videos for the performances. He also worked at METAOLOZ, a music video company as a line producer. With his unique background, Jaehee had opportunities to work in various fields, such as photography, art videos, and motion graphics. He is now studying at Carnegie Mellon University’s Entertainment Technology Center where he continues his research for Virtual Reality especially with Oculus.
Amy Stewart
Amy is a a game designer, writer, and composer from Asheville North Carolina. Her focus is exploring interactive narrative and creating story through design. Previously she worked as a Flash and UI Developer for Unique Logic and Technology. Her primary work during this time included developing ADHDNanny, an online life management system for children, and Play Attention, a biofeedback training system for improving attention and cognitive skills.
Tsung-Yu “Jack” Tsai
Jack Tsai, is an enthusiastic CG programmer with innovative ideas and passion for Game Design, Computer Animation and Interactive Media. Before pursuing his second master degree of Entertainment Technology at CMU, he got a MS degree in Computer Science from National Taiwan University in 2008 (Graphics research group, Communication and Multimedia Lab) and BS degree in Computer Science from National Chung Hsing University in 2006. From 2009 to 2014, Jack worked as Research & Development Engineer of MediaLab at Next Media Animation Ltd., based in Taipei, Taiwan. His primary works include developing mobile application, in-house animation tools and game rendering research for improving the efficiency of production pipeline. The academic and industrial projects he has participated in include not only the production of animated and feature film, but also projects in Game Design, VFX, Rendering, and Virtual Reality.
Instructors
Ralph Vituccio
Ralph Vituccio is an Assistant Teaching Professor at CMU in the Entertainment Technology Center. He’s also an Independent Filmmaker and Creative Director in Interactive Media. Ralph is also an adjunct faculty member at Pittsburgh Filmmakers where he teaches traditional film and video production. He has developed, written, and produced numerous films, videos, interactive web sites and training programs. His interactive work on racism and teaching conflict management skills received several awards including a National Educational Media Awards and International Television and Video Awards. His documentary, “PERFORMANCE: The Living Art “, won an Artist Distinction Award at the 1990 Berlin International Film Festival and has aired nationally on several PBS stations and internationally in numerous countries. His documentary, “In Service” (2011), tells the story of 15 local men and women who served and returned for the battlefields in and around Baghdad. It chronicles their hopes, fears and emotional stories from facing death everyday to assimilating back into society. In Service was screened in film festivals and aired on PBS stations. It was also nominated for an East Coast National Academy of Television EMMY award. “Shipbreakers”, his most recent documentary, made with Paul Goodman and Tom Clancey, explores an industrial port in India, where laborers of different regions, dialects and religions come together to work and dwell amongst chaotic conditions – all in the name of making a living. Surrounded by toxic waste, loud noise, poor sanitation and the constant threat of falling metal, grossly underpaid laborers still maintain a unique air of optimism. This beautiful and eye-opening film asks critical questions about globalization and labor. The film has been shown in numerous festivals around the word and won a The Best Feature Documentary Award at the Global International Film Festival in San Francisco. It was also was nominated for Best Documentary Feature at the Madrid and Lucerne International Film Festivals. He is currently working on an interactive video installation that will be premiered in the 2015 Havana Cuba International Art Biennial.
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.