Curtis Bennett

Hello, my name's Curtis Bennett and I'm a programmer specializing in C++ and .Net development for games and computer graphics. I can be reached at curtis@xnagamemaking.com.

Experience - Education - Skills - Major Projects - Teaching -Writing - Associations

Experience

Abalone Studios (the internal development branch of Game Production Services)

Programmer, July 2006 - Present

Abalone Studios creates large scale distributed training and promotional games for military use. These projects involve several applications (which are a combination of C++ and .Net apps) interacting. I've been involved in all aspects of coding.

Education

Master's of Science, Computer Science

University of New Mexico - Graduate Dec. 2008

My graduate coursework focused roughly on two areas. One half on computer graphics and game related technologies (with such courses as Ed Angel's Advanced Computer Graphics, Computer Games Development , and Computational Geometry.) The other half  was standard computer science coursework that dealt with theoretical and applied mathematics and software engineering.

Bachelor of Science, Computer Science

Oklahoma State University - Graduate 2004

Graduated Magna Cum Laude (GPA: 3.9 on a 4.0)

Courses taken included: Graduate level Object-Oriented Development with Visual C++, Graduate level Computer Graphics, Numerical Methods, Artificial Intelligence, multiple mathematics and computer architecture courses.

A.A., Fine Arts

Independence Community College - Graduate 2001

Completed a degree in Fine Arts, a secondary interest.

Skills

The main computer languages I use are from the C family: C/C++ (2+ years professional + 4 academic) and C# (2 years professional + 2 academic, using .Net 1.1, 2.0, 3.5).

Programming Areas

Graphics Engines/ Other APIs

OpenGL, DirectX 9.0, XNA, Gamebryo

Major Projects

Future Combat Systems Mobile Defense Trailer (FCSMDT) - 2007 and 2008 versions, Abalone Studios

Game Production Services Description

Army Press Release - "How stuff works" article on virtual reality military applications featuring the FCSMDT - You Tube Video with footage of the trailer

Winner of New Mexico Information Technology and Software Association (NMITSA) 2007 IT Excellence Solution Award for Integrated System 

FCSMDT is a large scale multiplayer tank simulator made at Abalone studios. We created a basic and upgraded version of the sim and I played a major role in the development of both.

Cognitive Air Defense Training System (CAD-TS), Abalone Studios

Game Production Services Description

USC Description (Contains pictures of the system and radar.)

CAD-TS is a Patriot system trainer that combines a virtual Manstation radar application combined with 3D "real world" visualizer.

Skye Shader Editor - Graduate Project at UNM

Skye Homepage - Download source

Skye Shader Editor

The Skye Shader Editor is an open source, easy to use shader editor for creating effects for XNA 3.0. The XNA Shader Editor was build with two "easy" goals in mind:  1) To provide an easy to use shader development environment.   2) To allow easy integration of shaders into an XNA game.

Swarm - AI Ant Game, UNM

SwarmSwarm

Swarm is a first person shooter written for the University of New Mexico's advanced AI class.

Vector Image Shaders, Advanced Graphics Lab UNM

 

The two images on the right are not bitmaps, but the output of two HLSL pixel shaders. They are from is a research project I worked on attempting to take SVG images and convert them to pixel shaders. 

Teaching

Game Programming Instructor - Class Website.

Central New Mexico Community College, Aug. 2007 - May 2008

Taught an introductory course on programming video games using XNA. Samples and more info is at xnagamemaking.com.

Mathematics Instructor

Central New Mexico Community College, Aug. 2004 - Dec. 2006

Taught many algebra and pre algebra courses. Utilized a high degree of communication skills.

Writing

Creating 2D Games with XNA: A Simple Introduction to Game Programming with C# and XNA - A book of material from my CNM game development course.

Associations

International Game Development Association - Albuquerque branch