Keynote

Josh Fairhurst - 2022 ECGC speaker

Josh Fairhurst

Co-founder and CEO, Limited Run Games and Mighty Rabbit Studios

Josh started his gaming career in 2008 as a tester on Gears of War 2 while in his third year at NC State University. Upon graduating, Josh founded Mighty Rabbit Studios to develop his own games. In late 2015 …

Read More

Steve Reid - 2022 ECGC speaker

Steve Reid

Managing Director, Red Storm Entertainment - an Ubisoft studio

Steve Reid is the managing director (20+ years) and co-founder of Red Storm Entertainment. With an MFA from East Carolina University, Steve has taught a variety of college art disciplines and has a history …

Read More

Speakers

Richard Dansky - TGI Narrative Lead; 2022 ECGC speaker

Richard Dansky

TGI Narrative Lead; Narrative Director, Red Storm/Ubisoft

Richard Dansky is a 22 year veteran of the video game industry. He has written for franchises including Rainbow Six, Splinter Cell, Ghost Recon …

Read More

Justin Johnson

Justin Johnson

TGI Education Lead; Assistant Professor and Undergraduate Coordinator of Art + Design, NCSU

Justin is an Assistant Professor of Art + Design and Doctor of Design practitioner at North Carolina State University. With over 13 years of experience in the game industry in a variety of roles including: level designer, environment artist, lead environment artist, character artist, and UI designer …

Read More

Brad Swearingen - Game Art Committee

Brad Swearingen

Professor, Simulation and Game Development - WTCC

Brad Swearingen has been instructing students in 3d and game related topics for over 20 years. He is currently a Professor in Wake Tech Community College’s Simulation and Game Development …

Read More

Jonathan White - 2022 ECGC speaker

Jonathan White

Game Designer, Four Eyes Productions

Jonathan is a game designer who loves combat and monsters. He enjoys making games with varied styles of play and randomized gameplay, such as his recently launched The Last Sunshine: Rekindled from Four Eyes Productions.

Read More

Sarah Glova - 2022 ECGC speaker

Sarah Glova

CEO, Reify Media

Dr. Sarah Glova is the CEO of the award-winning digital media firm Reify Media, and she is an international public speaker who has spoken from California to Qatar on topics ranging …

Read More

Troy Maynard - 2022 ECGC speaker

Troy Maynard

Founder / Creative Director / Lead Developer, Nuldrums

Troy (Trikeri) is the founder, creative director, and primary developer at Nuldrums. The company started with development of the indie game, Native, that was worked on from 2014 – 2016 …

Read More

Amber Johnson - 2022 ECGC speaker

Amber Johnson

Associate Professor, Wake Technical Community College

Amber Johnson is an Associate Professor in Simulation and Game Development at Wake Tech Community College. She has worked in the game industry as an artist and level designer …

Read More

Maripat Metcalf - 2022 ECGC speaker

Maripat Metcalf

President, Health Impact Studio

I’ve been interested in using unconventional teaching methods since I first worked at the Insect Zoo at the Smithsonian. Since then, I’ve forayed into math, programming, science education …

Read More

Eddy Webb - 2022 ECGC speaker

Eddy Webb

Owner/Narrative Designer, Pugsteady

Eddy Webb (with a “y,” thank you) is a writer, design consultant, and game and narrative designer for video games and RPGs. He’s worked on over 150 books and games during his career and created …

Read More

Phaedra Boinodiris - 2022 ECGC speaker

Phaedra Boinodiris

Trust in AI Business Transformation Leader, IBM

A fellow with the London-based Royal Society of Arts, Boinodiris has focused on inclusion in technology since 1999. She is currently the business transformation leader for IBM’s Responsible AI …

Read More

Saritdikhun Somasa - 2022 ECGC speaker

Saritdikhun Somasa

Assistant Professor, East Tennessee State University

Saritdikhun Somasa (Sarit) has three degrees in Art Education, a BFA In Visual Design, and an MFA in Multimedia Design. He taught digital arts focusing on 3D digital form and animation …

Read More

Paxton Galvanek - 2022 ECGC speaker

Paxton Galvanek

General Manager, Funcom

Paxton Galvanek is the Studio HR/Operations Director at Funcom (makers of Conan Exiles, Conan Chop Chop, Anarchy Online, Secret World, and currently DUNE games). Paxton oversees Funcom’s Operations …

Read More

Jesse Henning - 2022 ECGC speaker

Jesse Henning

VFX Artist II, Funcom

Being an avid gamer his whole life, Jesse originally picked up his first 3D program, Blender, in 2010 to make video games, but found another passion as well – filmmaking.

Read More

Garrett Swanson - 2022 ECGC speaker

Garrett Swanson

Co-Founder & CEO, World to Build

Garrett Swanson leads the World to Build team as an engineer and as the CEO. With only a few years in the professional game industry, he is writing this bio to try and fit in with the other amazing speakers at ECGC.

Read More

Tony O'Driscoll- 2022 ECGC speaker

Tony O’Driscoll

Adjunct Professor, Duke University - The Fuqua School of Business

Tony O’Driscoll is a professor, speaker, author, and advisor whose engaging message emphasizes that the key digital-age differentiator is not technology, but people. Dr. O’Driscoll’s current …

Read More

Todd Emma - 2022 ECGC speaker

Todd Emma

Professor, East Tennessee State University

Todd spent several years in Fort Lauderdale, FL where he operated his design studio “Voodoo Designs” and taught at the Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale. He later became the Director of Marketing and Web Design at Steeda Auto Sports …

Read More

Travis Brown - 2022 ECGC speaker

Travis Brown

Student, William Peace University

Travis Brown is a graduating senior at William Peace University, pursuing a BA in Simulation and Game Design. His game design focus area …

Read More

Aris Bricker - 2022 ECGC speaker

Aris Bricker

Associate Game Designer, Ubisoft Red Storm

Aris Bricker (they/them) is a game designer, instructor, and student mentor who specializes in neurodiverse and queer issues. Aris lives in North Carolina with their partners, pets, and plants.

Read More

Augustus Wendell - 2022 ECGC speaker

Augustus Wendell

Assistant Professor of the Practice of Art, Art History & Visual Studies, Duke University

Augustus Wendell is an educator, technologist and designer. Augustus has an MFA in Computer Art from The School of Visual Arts and an undergraduate degree from Northeastern University. He researches the …

Read More

Eric Patterson - 2022 ECGC speaker

Eric Patterson

Director of Digital Production Arts, Clemson University

Eric Patterson, Ph.D. is currently Director of the Digital Production Arts program and Associate Professor in the Visual Computing Division of Clemson University’s School of Computing. He was formerly …

Read More

Max Litvinov - 2022 ECGC speaker

Max Litvinov

Senior Gameplay Engineer, Red Storm Entertainment | Ubisoft

Max Litvinov is a gameplay engineer. He has previously worked on a wide range of gameplay systems and mechanics for the following games: Cookie Jam Blast, Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora, Assassin’s Creed VR, and Tom Clancy’s The Division Heartland.

Read More

Matt Merino - 2022 ECGC speaker

Matt Merino

Student, William Peace University

Matt Merino is a graduating senior at William Peace University, pursuing a BA in Simulation and Game Design. His focus areas in game development are Sound Design and Level Design …

Read More

Ted Prawat - 2022 ECGC speaker

Ted Prawat

Assistant Professor of Computer Game Design, George Mason University

Professor (Ted) Prawat has been involved in the serious games field for the last decade. Professor Prawat was drawn into the field of serious game design after completing an artist in residence and teaching position …

Read More

Jay Powell - 2022 ECGC speaker

Jay Powell

Founder & CEO, The Powell Group

Jay has successfully negotiated and closed countless deals for licensing, development and distribution over the past 25 years. His consulting firm, The Powell Group, focuses on building …

Read More

Jessica Baron - 2022 ECGC speaker

Jessica Baron

Ph.D. Candidate; Visual Computing, Clemson University

Jessica Baron is a Ph.D. candidate in Visual Computing at Clemson University based in Charleston. She has extensive experience through internships and travel. Her professional internships …

Read More

David Klingler - 2021, 2022 ECGC speaker

David Klingler

Founder & President, Solanimus Games

Hi I’m David, and as you can see, I don’t write about myself in third-person. I founded Solanimus in 2011, NonZeroSoul in 2019, co-founded Integrity Metric Systems in 2020, and co-founded …

Read More

Franci Dimitrovska - 2022 ECGC speaker

Franci Dimitrovska

Game Writer & Assc. Content Manager, EA

Franci Dimitrovska is a Toronto-based narrative designer, currently an Assoc. Content Manager and Game Writer at Electronic Arts. Currently helming the narrative effort at …

Read More

Raymond Arifianto - 2022 ECGC speaker

Raymond Arifianto

VP of Tech, AccelByte

Raymond Arifianto has been making online games and platforms for over 15 years, working at Xbox, Lionhead, EA and Ubisoft. He is now working as VP of tech at AccelByte, a one-stop shop for live game services.

Read More

Billy Le Voir - 2022 ECGC speaker

Billy Le Voir-Barry

President & Chief Esports, GENERATION Esports and Video Game Consulting

Billy Le Voir-Barry served as CTO for IBM Esports and Video Games and has 15+ years of tech consulting, architecture planning, and agile/scrum project management experiences in gaming/esports. He is widely considered to be …

Read More

Xiang Li - 2022 ECGC speaker

Xiang Li

Ph.D. Candidate, Clemson University

Xiang Li is a Ph.D. candidate in the Visual Computing Division of Clemson University’s School of Computing. His research mainly focuses on computer graphics, primarily concentrating on facial reconstruction and rendering.

Read More

Brandon Crews - 2021 ECGC speaker

Brandon Crews

Assistant Professor of Simulation and Game Design, William Peace University

Brandon is from Tarboro, NC and lives in Garner, NC. He is an assistant professor of Simulation and Game Design at William Peace University and a technical animator who focuses on 3D character rigging, animation …

Read More

Stefan Hall- 2022 - ECGC speaker

Stefan Hall

Chair and Associate Professor - Game Design, High Point University

Stefan Hall is an Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of Game Design at High Point University. Recognized in 2017 and again in 2022 as a Top 50 Game Design Program …

Read More

Andrew Shaver - 2022 ECGC speaker

Andrew Shaver

Realization Director, Ubisoft Redstorm

Shaver is an award-winning Canadian performer, producer and director. He is the Realization Director for Ubisoft Redstorm, helming the cinematics on a AAA game in Virtual Reality. He also directed the cinematics for Ubisoft’s Far Cry New Dawn.

Read More

Megan Smith - 2022 ECGC speaker

Megan Smith

Graduate Student and Lead Animator, East Tennessee State University

Megan Smith holds a Bachelor of Science degree from East Tennessee State University, obtained in 2019, and is currently pursuing a Master of Fine Arts. She majors in Digital Media with a concentration in Animation …

Read More

Ken Hubbell - 2022 ECGC speaker

Kenneth Hubbell

Owner, Wish and a Prayer Studio

Ken cut his teeth creating games for learning back when playing with rocks was fun. He had the fortune of working with Tom Clancy, Michael Crichton, NASA …

Read More

Michael Schmitt - 2022 ECGC speaker

Michael Schmitt 

Independent Game Developer & Organizer, Too Much Tomato / Triangle Interactive Arts Collective

Michael (he/him) is an independent game developer and organizer for the Triangle Interactive Arts Collective. He’s currently working on the weird sci-fi puzzle game, TENDY: Robot Gardener, for the upcoming CosmOS9 bundle.

Read More

Jacy Richardson - 2022 ECGC speaker

Jacy Richardson

Assistant Professor and 3D/VFX Artist, East Tennessee State University

Jacy is currently an Assistant Professor for the Digital Media program at East Tennessee State University. She also still works in the industry as a 3D/VFX artist and has focused much of her work on interactive experiences in museums.

Read More

Stephen Overton - 2022 ECGC speaker

Stephen Overton

Producer, East Tennessee State University

Stephen is a detail-oriented individual who graduated from ETSU with a B.S in Digital Game Design in May 2021. Following graduation, his passion for expanding his ever-growing knowledge of 3D art led him to pursue …

Read More

Ethan Levy - 2021 ECGC speaker

Ethan Levy

Executive Producer - N3TWORK Studios

Ethan Levy is a 20 year veteran game designer and producer who has contributed to over 70 shipped games across every genre and platform. He has worked at companies including EA, BioWare …

Read More

Justin Achilli - 2022 ECGC speaker

Justin Achilli

Creative Director, Paradox Interactive

Justin Achilli is a games-industry veteran, with more than 25 years making commercial games. His resume includes stints at a number of studios and developers, including …

Read More

Zachariah Inks - 2022 ECGC speaker

Zachariah Inks

Instructor, Western Piedmont Community College

Zachariah Inks is an artist from birth, designer and programmer by training, and an educator in heart. He has worked as a 2D / 3D artist and designer / programmer in the application of gaming …

Read More

Grayson Wiles - 2022 ECGC speaker

Grayson Wiles

Graduate Student and Producer, East Tennessee State University

Grayson graduated from ETSU in May of 2021 with a Bachelor’s degree in Digital Media Art Design. After graduating, his passion for character art led him back to ETSU’s Digital Media graduate program.

Read More

Mauricio Hollando - 2022 ECGC speaker

Mauricio Hollando

Senior Engineering Manager, Pocket Gems

Mauricio is a Senior Engineering Manager at Pocket Gems were he recently participated in the release of their latest game, Adventure Chef. Before that, Mauricio was directing …

Read More

Alex Loughran - 2022 ECGC speaker

Alex Loughran

Senior Game Designer, PUBG Madison

Alex Loughran (He/Him) is a Game Designer who’s worked all over the globe on myriad of different projects, including some in mobile, VR, and AAA. Now living in Madison …

Read More

Gregory Grimsby - 2022 ECGC speaker

Gregory Grimsby

Assistant Professor, Game Design; Owner of Ogre Crossing Games

Gregory Grimsby, Assistant Professor in Computer Game Design, earned his MFA in painting from George Mason University. He has been teaching 3D modeling and animation …

Read More

Alex Epstein - 2022 ECGC speaker

Alex Epstein

Principal Writer, Compulsion Games

Alex Epstein was the Narrative Director of WE HAPPY FEW for Compulsion Games, as well as Story Director of CONTRAST, and Narrative Lead of STORIES: THE PATH OF DESTINIES for Spearhead Games.

Read More

Joseph Mora - 2022 ECGC speaker

Joseph Mora

Game Designer and Environment Artist, Blackberry Studio

I am an Environment Artist and Game Designer that is graduating from East Tennessee State University with a B.S. in Digital Media. In addition, I’m the sole director, artist, developer, and animator …

Read More

Suzanne Peterson-Warr - 2022 ECGC speaker

Suzanne Peterson-Warr

Author and Game Designer

Suzanne Warr grew up in an alternate universe from the one we all live in every day. When she stepped into a classroom for the very first time as a sophomore in high school, she found …

Read More

Iris Cole - 2022 ECGC speaker

Iris Cole

Executive Administrator, Do Good Artist

Iris Cole is the founder and CEO of Do Good Artist. She is also a social entrepreneur and Founding Partner of She Raises the Bar, a Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and sustainability consulting firm.

Read More

Rachel Presser - 2023 ECGC speaker

Rachel Presser

Owner, Sonic Toad Media LLC

Rachel Presser is a game developer, writer, consultant, business educator, and speaker from The Bronx, now headquartered in Los Angeles. Former CFO and Executive Producer of Himalaya Studios, Rachel …

Read More