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Gillian Laidlaw
contactme@gillianlaidlaw.com
www.GillianLaidlaw.com

Profile

Experienced professional programmer (5 years), with a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science (University of Toronto). My passion for games and game development has inspired me to program Nintendo DS homebrew games and I feel I could accomplish more and be a great resource within any professional team. My goal is to be a key player of an innovative team, making forward looking and artistically creative games.


Citizen of Canada and the United States of America


Education

University of Toronto, September 1998 – May 2001

    • Bachelor of Science, Major Computer Science

Game Development

DS Homebrew: Toronto, Spring 2007 – Present
Programming games for the Nintendo DS in C
Available @ http://www.GillianLaidlaw.com


Flock

  • Flock is a casual two dimensional game, with a top down perspective, using collision detection, sprite rotation; multiple backgrounds coded entirely using C, using the DS homebrew libraries of PA_lib & ndslib.

  • The players use the stylus to direct birds to player’s goal, a red star.  The stylus can be used to place four arrows, which redirect the birds.  A.I. opponents also use arrows to redirect birds to their star.  It's a quick game with a only three rounds, per game, running at a hectic pace.  The puzzle mode gives the player a set of arrows with the objective of directing all the birds and avoiding all the hazards.

YargGh!

  • A game of fast action, involving hitting the falling air pirates with the stylus to score bounty points and protect your ship. The player’s allies, space cats, fly up through the pirate hordes and steal more bounty from the pirate’s airship. It was made at the Toronto Indie Game Developers Jam over the course of a weekend. It was my first DS game, done with comic artist Eric Kim.  While simple in concept Yarrgh perfect for a game jam as this simplicity made it easy to pick up and play.

Professional Knowledge

Programming

  • C/C++ (WinXP, Nintendo DS, Unix)

  • HomeBrew DS (ndslib, PA_lib)

  • Unix Scripting (Csh, Ksh)

  • Object Oriented Design (C++, Java)

  • Java (Unix, Win)

  • Database Scripting (SQL, PL/SQL, 7i & 8i)

Theory

  • Computer Graphics (Java)

  • Network Theory

  • Operating Systems Design (Java)

  • Formal Mathematics (Calculus, Linear Algebra, Computation, Logic)

  • Logical & Functional Based Programming (Prolog & Lisp)

  • Compiler Theory & Low Level Circuit Design & Assembly (Unix)

  • Device Drivers & Microprocessors (Unix)

  • Database & File Systems Design (C++)

Operating Systems & Support 

Work Experience

Intermediate Applications Programmer: CIBC Cards, Toronto 2001 – 2006

  • Designed, programmed, tested and made improvements to the performance & functionality of a third party black box application

    • Primarily by scripting in ksh & csh, but also coding database extracts using SQL & PL/SQL

  • Part of an on call team responsible for dealing with application issues, as well as planning & implementing upgrades & enhancements

  • Mentoring – Personal resource for a colleague transitioning from mainframe to Unix development

  • Promoted from Junior to Intermediate in 2002


Desktop Support: CIBC Verisign, Toronto July - August 2000

  • Technical Setup & Integration of a new separate office, and subsequent support.

  • Conducted set-up design and installation of desktops at new office

    • Provided troubleshooting between difference versions of windows as well as networking and hardware support (Win9x, NT, 2k)


Volunteering

Peer Facilitator:  Church St Community Centre     2004 – Present

Committee Member:  University of Toronto Pride Committee     2000, 2001
For more Information:        contactme@gillianlaidlaw.com