“In game development, you get to make whatever you want, whatever world you want. And because there are so many different genres of games, the possibilities are literally endless.”
For Christalin Dorsey, a senior computer science and engineering major, being able to bring people together through games is one of her greatest passions in pursuing her degree. Dorsey dove into computer science during high school, when she took AP computer science principles, and decided to major in computer science in college.
Now, in her final semester at the ÍƼöÐÓ°ÉÔ´´, Dorsey is developing games and other projects all with the end goal of providing social value to players. “Being able to help contribute to social opportunities through gaming is really cool. You get to bring people together,” Dorsey shares.
Dorsey credits the University for providing the education needed to succeed in the game development field. She was first taught the theories, then given the opportunity to apply those theories in project-based courses at the School of Engineering. The University also provided Dorsey opportunities outside the classroom, specifically one to participate in TechWise.
“As college students, we just don't have enough time to do it all. With also having to maintain a certain GPA, the stipend helps support us while balancing all of these tasks.”
TechWise is a high-impact program designed by TalentSprint and supported by Google for participants to gain new skills within the technology sphere. The program is an 18-month lecture and project series that focuses on a variety of topics, from programming to algorithms, technical interview training and more. Dorsey heard about TechWise when she was a freshman at the University and applied. She was one of 120 students selected from across the country for the first-ever cohort.
Due to the program's demanding projects and long hours, TechWise participants receive a stipend throughout the intensive bootcamp. This funding plays a large role in allowing participants, like Dorsey, to be part of the program without having to worry about also working a part time job to cover living expenses.
“As college students, we just don't have enough time to do it all. We also have to maintain certain GPA, so the stipend helps support us while we balance all of these tasks,” Dorsey shared.
Three projects, three games
The curriculum for the first cohort was presented in three sections, all beginning with lectures led by TalentSprint educators and culminating with a large group project.
The first TechWise project Dorsey created with her cohort was called “Jetris” (which Dorsey later rebuilt and published as “Jetris: Rehydrated”). Jetris replaces the traditional shapes of the beloved Tetris game with softbody versions that make dynamic and fluid movements. Dorsey created this project alongside fellow TechWise participants and ÍƼöÐÓ°ÉÔ´´ students Jann Arellano, Jonathan Chi, Jessica Nam and Keizou Wang.
The next project Dorsey worked on was an application that helped to identify license plate numbers. Even though she said she found the TechWise program well paced, during her second project she and her team found a bug when they ran the code. They jumped into problem solving mode quickly, rushing to figure out the issue to meet the project’s deadline.
The last project of the program was called “Just Sign,” described as an interactive game immersing players into the world of American Sign Language (ASL). Inspired by the game series Just Dance, “Just Sign” teaches players sign language to popular songs. The project was created alongside Dorsey’s peer and fellow participant, Jessica Nam.
Building portfolio, technical interview skills
The projects Dorsey created during the TechWise program have become stand-out talking topics in job interviews. Dorsey recalls being asked to “elaborate more on [“Just Sign”] because employers thought it was really cool.” Another aspect of the Techwise curriculum is coaching students on how to excel in a technical interview.
Since Dorsey’s participation in TechWise, she’s worked as a software engineer intern at Coffee N’ Comics and at Bently Nevada. At Coffee N’ Comics, Dorsey developed administrative tools and maintained a project roadmap to increase efficiency for the company. During her internship with Bently Nevada, an asset protection company for industrial plants, Dorsey developed and implemented a feature to automate device configuration settings along with improving end-user experience. Currently she works as a software engineer on campus at the University, in addition to her studies and senior project.
The final show
Finishing up her senior year, Dorsey is currently working on her senior project. All computer science majors have to enroll in the year-long senior capstone course where they form groups to work on a project of their choosing. For Dorsey and her group, they’re currently working on a game titled “The Final Show.” The premise of the game combines two others – Lethal Company and Dress to Impress – into a multiplayer survival game. Players will spawn into the game into the preparation room, where they don different outfits to improve their stats and survive the battles. Once teleported into a dungeon, players kill enemies until they fight against the boss. The team has completed base implementation and are now working on gameplay elements. She is focused on completing The Final Show for Innovation Day in May.
Above all, Dorsey recommends students who are just starting out in the computer science major to be apply to be a participant in TechWise.
