Thomas M. O'Connor
7627 139th PL NE
Redmond, WA 98052
Phone (206) 219-3791
Email: toconnor@digipen.edu

Objective

An intern programming or producer position where strong organization, communication and problem solving skills would be a valuable asset to a team's success.

Education

DigiPen Institute of Technology

[Sept. 2004 - Present] Currently pursuing a BS in Real Time Interactive Simulation (Equivalent to a BS in Computer Science). Worked on several teams to design, develop, produce and test games throughout the course of an entire year, specifically focusing on industry product cycles, project management, and high end programming and math skills. (Expected Graduation May 2009)

Southern Illinois University

[Sept. 2002 - Dec. 2003] Worked towards a BS in Computer Science. Transferred to DigiPen

Technical Experience

Computer Languages

C/C++ (8 years), C# (1 year), Action Script (1 year), Lua (2 years), PHP (1 year), MySQL (1 year), HTML (3 years), QBasic (4 years), TI-Basic (6 years), PIC Assembly / Game Boy Assembly (1 year), XML (2 years), HLSL (1/2 year)

APIs

DirectX (2 years), XNA (1/2 year), Valve Source Engine (1/2 year), ASP.NET (1/2 year), Winsock (3 years), SDL (1 year), GDI/GDI+ (1 year)

Software

Visual Studio (5 years), Subversion Source Control (4 years), Microsoft Office (8 years), Macromedia Flash (1 year), Hammer/WorldCraft (1/2 year), Bugzilla/FogBugz/Trac (2 years)

Employment History / Professional Experience

Game Tester for Microsoft Studios (July. 2006 - Oct. 2006)

Contract position for quality assurance on Xbox 360 title Viva Pinata through ad-hoc testing and using various remote debugging applications to stress test title.

Game Tester for Game Instinct / Testing Testing 123 (Aug. 2005 - Oct. 2005)

Did testing for Call of Duty: Big Red One for PS2, focusing on localization, multiplayer, general bugs and certification.

Guest Service Representative for Hollywood Video (Jan. 2005 - June 2005)

Part time customer service job. Lots of movie alphabetizing.

Store Manager for Duckets Gamestation (March 2002 - August 2004)

Mostly worked as customer service for pro-rated in-store computer and console game rentals. Organized several game tournaments, as well as wrote software applications to track client usage and simplify PC management duties. Worked on employee schedules, bank deposits, arcade consignment, and licensing agreements.

Current Student Project

Froggle (2007 - Present) DigiPen Institute of Technology

Serving as Technical Director for a 3D cartoon-styled arcade/platform game. Major technical focuses are on project architecture, physics engine, binding with the Lua Scripting language, player control, and networking. Additionally, lead the team with Agile Development to quickly build complete iterations of the game. Also managing the development wiki used for cross team communication and design documentation, backlog tracking, and documenting technical progress.

Completed Student Projects

GrappleMod (2007) DigiPen Institute of Technology

Added a grapple beam to the Valve Source Engine as a Half-Life 2 modification. Used the Hammer Editor to build a tutorial and boss fight level and collaborated with a team to organize our levels together. Incidentally served as a prototype for Froggle. Deployed on the DigiPen Student Gallery.

Redevilopment (2005-2006) DigiPen Institute of Technology

Worked as Product Manager and Programmer for the 2D sandbox platform game. Created marketing materials including high quality game manual and DVD box art. Technical focuses were on binding the Lua scripting language and integrating networking. Deployed on the DigiPen Student Gallery.

Project Jawesome (2004-2005) DigiPen Institute of Technology

Worked as Designer for a text-based 4X-strategy game. Wrote the Game Design Document and coded game menu logic.