About Me

I am a network programmer currently working at Codemasters in the Racing Studio responsible for the Colin McRae & Race Driver series of games. I studied for four years at the University of Teesside and was awarded with a 2:1 BSc (Hons) in Computer Games Programming. Shortly after graduating, I took up a position at Codemasters as a programmer for the Racing Studio.

I am currently working on Colin McRae: Dirt 2 as a member of the Network group leading development of currently unannounced features. In addition to my programming roles, I am also involved in mentoring new starters during their six month probation and directing the work of junior members of the network team. I am currently aiming to achieve official recognition as an experienced programmer before the end of the project.

For the first year I was at Codemasters, I worked as a member of the Front End team developing the award winning 3D Front End for Race Driver: GRID. As well as working closely with the Art and Design teams to ensure a high quality finished project, I was heavily involved in the flow of the game including the minimising of apparent load times. GRID has achieved both critical and commercial success since launching in May 2008, and amongst many awards was recently awarded the BAFTA for Best Sports Title of 2008.

Since starting at university, I have had over five years experience creating games in C++ across a wide range of platforms including the X360, PS3, PC and GP2X. I am also experienced in creating tools in C# and Python. Most recently, I have been working on high performance database systems. During my time at Codemasters I have also picked up a good level of assembly based debugging.

I'm regarded as a hard working, dependable and trustworthy person both by my work colleagues and friends. I have a passion for learning, which is why I love working in an industry that is always pushing technology forwards. I can be independent when needed although I prefer to work as a member of a team with like minded people.

I enjoy playing computer games as well as making them and although I occasionally play World of Warcraft, I spent a lot of my time playing the latest PC games. I also own an X360 and a Wii (some games just work better with a pad). When I'm not playing computer games, I like to read a range of books from technical science and programming books to fiction and novels. I go walking on a regular basis with my Wife in the surrounding countryside, and enjoy the fresh air and relaxing atmosphere away from the hustle and bustle of everyday life.