sam mckay
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www.zeroalphastudios.co.uk Sam McKay www.sammckay.co.uk
Petice, St Peters Street, Caxton Cambridgeshire, CB23 3PJ
07812779423
Summary A third year Games Technology student at Coventry University and developer of Command Room, now available on the google play store. Created a fast and efficient 3D ray-tracer in C++ and recently led a small team tasked with creating a Goal Orientated Action Planning Artificial Intelligence. His main interests include programming, gaming and building computers. As a Gold Duke of Edinburgh award holder, Sam has proved he has the determination, work ethic and motivation to excel at any challenge. Demonstrates commitment having had a leadership role in the Air Cadets and spent the summer working full time whilst developing soft skills such as team working. “Sam bought a wealth of expertise with him and it was soon realised just what an asset he was to have within Operations for the summer.” (Jules Sturges, Cambridge Assessment). Skills
Programming Languages
C++ C# Python Java Processing
SDKs/Engines Unity UDK OpenGL SDL SFML Programs
Visual Studio
3DS Max Photoshop GitHub Microsoft Office
General Skills Computer Hardware/Software
Android Development
Team Worker
Good Communication Skills
Leadership skills
Education Coventry University, 2013 – Present Games Technology BSc (Hons) BCS Accredited – Estimated First Class
Dissertation: Can you use experience driven procedural content generation to create adaptive game difficulty? For my dissertation I will be researching the above question and attempting to implement it in the form of a jump and run game using Unity.
3rd Year Modules include: Advanced Graphics programming (provisional grade 74%); Advanced Games Programming; Games and AI; 3D Modelling and Animation. Assignments Include: Implementing a ray-tracer; Procedural generation of game environments; Modelling and animating a car and character models; Creating a multiplayer game.
Comberton Sixth form, 2006 – 2013, West Street, Comberton, Cambridge 3 A-Levels C – E Including: Computing (C), Maths (E) and Business (C) 12 GCSEs A* - C Including: English, Maths, Science, ICT and BTEC Business
Command Room – Available on Google Play Store I have released a mobile strategy game on the Google Play Store. Initially created as a demo for a 2nd year module. Command Room is a twist on the classic real time strategy (RTS) game and is aimed at mobile platforms. Unlike most RTS games, Command Room does not give you an all seeing view instead you have to rely on the communications from your troops to find out the positions and numbers of enemy units. The game was released at the end of September 2015, go to www.zeroalphastudios.co.uk for more details. Global Game Jam 2015 I competed in the 48 hour long Global Game Jam 2015. This really helped us to develop our skills in Unity as none of us had used it until two weeks before the jam. Using a couple of models from the asset store and several ones we made using 3DS Max during the weekend, we constructed our scene and began scripting for the game. Overall it was a successful weekend, though it wasn’t the best game ever but my unity skills had developed massively. I also learnt a lot about working in a small team with tight deadlines and very little sleep!
2nd Year Modules Include: Grades 1st Year Modules Include: Grades
Android Development Skills 60% Professional Skills 67%
3D Graphic Programming 72% Content Design Tools and Techniques 60%
Physics for Computer Graphics 69% Designing for Usability 1 66%
Real World Project 72.9% Introduction to Programming (C++) 85.5%
Concept Development 70% Computer Architecture and Networks 62.5%
Programming, Algorithms & Data Structures
84.4%
References available on request.
Real World Project - Goal Orientated Action Planning Artificial Intelligence As part of my second year of University I took on a project management role in a team that was tasked with the aim of creating Goal Orientated Action Planning for Games Artificial Intelligence. In order to manage this project I implemented an agile project management methodology called Scrum. We presented this to various employers at the New Wizards showcase organised by the Engineering and Computing faculty.
Unreal Development Kit Game I have gained experience in project work in both working in teams and individually, project management. For one of our first year projects we were tasked with creating a game using the unreal development kit including writing custom scripts. We achieved high marks in the relevant modules covered by this project and a video of the game itself can be seen on my website, and can be downloaded from the portfolio section. This project helped me to improve on my team working and communication skills.
Employment History
Cambridge University - Cambridge Assessment May - September 2015 & May - September 2014 Temporary Employee – Admin Assistant
Returning for a second summer, I held an admin role at Cambridge Assessment during one of their busiest periods, where I worked in a team responsible for the return and standardisation of exam papers for GCSE and A Level. I also rewrote the standard operating procedure document for one of the processes that I was responsible for as the document was unclear and the process inefficient.
Morrisons – Cambourne Store 11th November 2012 - 21st September 2013 Grocery Assistant
I used to work in the grocery department stacking shelves at Morrisons. I gained a huge amount of team working skills and experience here as it was imperative we worked well together in order to maintain a well-stocked shop. I also relied on my initiative when setting up the promotional shelves as there was often no plan available.
Hobbies and Interests Gold Duke of Edinburgh’s Award
I have successfully completed the Gold Duke of Edinburgh’s award, this involved a four day expedition covering around 100 miles and culminating in climbing Mt Snowdon, 12 months volunteering, 12 months physical activity, 6 months training in a skill and a weeklong residential trip. This was rewarded with a trip to St James’ Palace to receive my award and meet Prince Philip. I was also invited back the following February to assist with another presentation where my job was to host the various VIP guests. Air Cadets
I used to be a Sergeant at my local air cadet squadron 2484 (Cambourne). My role here included helping the cadets to progress and develop themselves as well as teaching them various things such as drill and deportment. My leadership and confidence grew significantly in the four and a half years I attended. Through cadets I have completed all of three of the Duke of Edinburgh awards. I also learned many valuable life skills such as First Aid, presentation skills and even survival skills. Gaming As an avid PC gamer I have a vast library of games on my steam account. I spend a huge amount of time playing games, I mostly play strategy games or first person shooters but also enjoy large open world games. Although I enjoy AAA games I like to check out the indie games as well and have been to EGX twice. Fencing I spent a few years helping out with coaching and presiding matches at my local fencing club. As one of the older and more experienced people it was often my job to coach the very new students teaching them the basics and ensuring they knew everything they needed to know about the sport. However I also taught the older students some of the more complex moves. Other Projects
I have also taken on a more personal project which was to add a custom water cooling loop to my computer, having had no experience with this before it required a huge amount of research and planning in order to be able to carry it out without leaking water all over my system.