with Michael Lewis, Dyala Kattan-Wright, Theyab Al Tamimi, Ethan Rupp, Maokai Xaio, Stephen Dewhurst, Whitney Babcock-McConnell and Bulut Karakaya
My second ETC project and the work that I am most known for. The original pitch for the project was table top gaming using the Microsoft Surface. Due to time constraints this was eventually refashioned into a proof of concept of Dungeons and Dragons on the Microsoft Surface. This is the second ETC project that I have been lead programmer. I actually started building the code base for it before the project began in my spare time when I was an intern at Electronic Arts. The project has been presented at both Game Developer's Conference 2010 and PAX East. I designed the majority of the code base as well programmed a mojority of the core gameplay and tools.More...
- Built messaging infrastructure for Arduino based hardware technology and Abode Flash clients for pilot TV show.
- Prototyped a mapping application for a NDA project using Windows Presentation Foundation.
- Extended and refined application for animating Xbox LIVE Avatars.
- Contributed to XNA UI framework and used it to prototype a multiplayer checkers game.
- Fixed several critical ship-stopping bugs in Windows Phone 7 games delivered by vendors.
- Proposed redesigned game notifications system. Worked with leadership to get cross division acceptance.
- Migrated existing Web services to Windows Azure.
- Created a stand-alone tool to enforce company coding style and standards using C# and XML. Later integrated this tool in Visual Studio and Perforce.
- Enhanced build process by creating a stand-alone tool for determining code size changes between builds using C#. Later integrated into the formal check-in process and the automated build system.
- Built a prototype of Dungeons and Dragons on the Microsoft Surface to help aid storytelling and automate tedium of Dungeons and Dragons using C# and XNA.
- Presented prototype at Game Developer’s Conference and Penny Arcade Expo East.
- Helped design and produce a total of seven different applications for Lockheed Martin focusing on data visualizations and business applications using the Microsoft Surface on an eleven member team.
- Prototyped a gesture library, custom voice and touch input, a Google Earth-inspired application and a mouse emulation tool.
- Prototyped a new user interface using C# for an electronic field guide created by Columbia University and University of Maryland to assist botanists in identifying and collecting plant specimens.
- Integrated augmented reality into the electronic field guide to allow for situated visualization using C# and GoblinXNA.
- Programming Languages: C#, C/C++, Java, Action Script 3, SQL, PHP, JavaScript, Python, HTML and Perl
- Software: Visual Studio, Eclipse, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator and Abode Flash
- Engines and Libraries: XNA, OpenGL and OpenCV
- Cross-disciplinary master’s degree jointly conferred by the School of Computer Science and the College of Fine Arts
- Specialization in Programming/Game Design
- Specialization in Artificial Intelligence/Vision and Graphics
- Relevant Coursework: Artificial Intelligence, Operating Systems, Computational Aspects of Robotics, Computer Vision, 3D Photography, User Interface Design, Programming Languages and Translators, 3D User Interface Design, Computer Graphics, Machine Learning
- National Urban League Campaign for African-American Achievement Scholar (2004 – 2008)
- Dean’s List (2006 – 2008)
I was born in Georgia, but spent most of my childhood in Maryland. I started playing video games when I was six years old. At the age of thirteen I started teaching myself how to program in order to make games. In high school I took every class on computer science that I could. So of course when I graduated I decided to attend Columbia University and get a Bachelors of Arts in political science. Somehow that made perfect sense at the time.
After a year at Columbia I realized that I hated political science, which honestly I should have seen coming. I decided to pursue computer science my sophomore year. Officially my area of expertise was computer vision and graphics, but I took courses on computational theory, robotics, artificial intelligence and so on. I worked on some cool stuff while I was there, which you can check out on the projects section.
After graduating from Columbia and working a few internships at IBM, I decided that IT was not for me. It also did not help that my manager at IBM kept hassling me about not cutting my hair. So I applied to the Entertainment Technology Center at Carnegie Mellon University with the hopes of becoming a game programmer. I worked on some cool stuff while I was there as well including the project I am most well know for, the Microsoft Surface Dungeons and Dragons game SurfaceScapes. You can also check out my work at the ETC on the projects section.
My work on the Surface ended up getting me a job at Xbox LIVE. I worked there for a little while, but after a reorganization I decided to move on to my current job working for legendary game designer Will Wright at his entertainment think tank Stupid Fun Club. Now I reside in Oakland, CA and I’m still making games in my spare time.
Michael Thomas Cole
Email: mike.t.cole@gmail.com