Ayaka Morito
Producer, Game Designer, Artist
Ayaka is a multi-background concept artist born in China and raised in Japan. She graduated with an illustration degree from the School of Visual Arts (SVA) in New York and is currently pursuing a master’s degree at Carnegie Mellon’s Entertainment Technology Center. In this project, she will focus on the producer and artist roles, aiming to create an engaging and educational game with a meaningful purpose.
Xun Zhang
Producer, Tech Artist
Xun Zhang is an architectural designer in transition, now pursuing a path as a technical artist and programmer in the gaming and entertainment technology industry. With a bachelor’s degree in Architecture from Pratt Institute and currently enrolled in the Master’s in Entertainment Technology program at Carnegie Mellon University, he is blending his design expertise with programming to contribute to interactive virtual experiences.
Chu (Annie) Li
Programmer
Chu is a programmer with a strong interest in developing using game engines. With a foundation in computer science, she is passionate about using her skills to build creative and robust programs.
Yuxuan(Vector) Liu
Game Designer
A Technical Designer with curiosity for every aspect of game development. Holds a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science and has one year of experience as Game Designer and Product Manager.
Zihan(Aurora) Liu
Artist, Game Designer
Aurora is a 3D artist who specializes in creating immersive environments and expressive digital characters for interactive experiences. With a strong background in VR development, modeling, and texturing, she has crafted visually compelling scenes that enhance storytelling and player engagement. Combining her artistic skills with technical expertise, Aurora strives to push the boundaries of game art and immersive media.
Yuxuan(Sally) Jin
Artist, Game Designer
Aurora is a 3D artist who specializes in creating immersive environments and expressive digital characters for interactive experiences. With a strong background in VR development, modeling, and texturing, she has crafted visually compelling scenes that enhance storytelling and player engagement. Combining her artistic skills with technical expertise, Aurora strives to push the boundaries of game art and immersive media.
Jessica Hammer
Jessica Hammer is the Director of the Center for Transformational Play at Carnegie Mellon University. She is jointly appointed as an Associate Professor in the HCI Institute and the Entertainment Technology Center at Carnegie Mellon University. Her research focuses on transformational games, which are games that change how players think, feel, or behave. She is also an award-winning educator and game designer.
Michael Christel
Mike specializes in transformational games for education and healthcare. He joined the ETC Faculty in 2008 after working in Carnegie Mellon’s Computer Science Department on speech recognition, image processing, and multimedia interfaces. He was part of the Informedia Digital Video Library research team and received the Allen Newell Award for Research Excellence. Previously, he worked at CMU’s Software Engineering Institute (1987-1997). He earned his Ph.D. from Georgia Tech in 1991, focusing on dynamically generated digital video interfaces.