2015 Jurors and Awards

Jon McElroy is the lead engineer at Funomena, an independent game studio located in downtown San Francisco. Their team releases artistic and commercial video games that speak to what games *can* be, always looking towards to the future of this emerging medium. A recent incorporation, members of Funomena have worked on "Journey," "Flower," and "Katamari Damacy," among many others. Gaming, as a means of cultural and creative expression is only now coming into its own, letting us experience, through present simulation, a future (as perfect or imperfect as it might be designed). Engineers like Jon are leading the charge, offering indie alternatives for the next generation of gamers. 

John Hodgson is a Technical Designer at Blizzard Entertainment, a position he has held since 2012. Following a B.S. degree in Computer Science, he received an M.S. degree in Computer Science and Engineering at the University of South Carolina, with a thesis, “Desperate Fishwives: A Study in Applied Game Design”, supervised by Dr. Heidi Rae Cooley and Dr. Duncan Buell and partially funded by an NEH Office of Digital Humanities IATDH. At Blizzard, Mr. Hodgson designs and implements game elements and systems, interfacing between design and engineering disciplines on the upcoming game Heroes of the Storm.

Evan Meaney is an artist and researcher, teaching new media practices at the university of south carolina. His work explores liminalities and glitches of all kinds; equating failing data to ghosts, seances, and archival hauntology. He has been an artist in residence at the wexner center for the arts, a founding member of GLI.TC/H, and a contributor to the atlantic. More recently, Evan has worked with the super computing team at oak ridge national laboratory on projects made possible through the national science foundation. His time-based artwork is available through the video data bank in chicago.