Hello and welcome to Shawn Xun Gong's project portfolio! To view my professional experience, please visit LinkedIn; for more comprehensive overview, please visit about.me/shawn.gong.
I have been creating software and games for 8 years since high school, and am going to graduate from University of Waterloo in January 2012, with an Honours Bachelor of Computer Science degree.
In my childhood, I dreamed of creating another world of tales. When I got my first video game, I was shocked by the imaginary world it brought, and wondered how I could do it with my own hands.
During high school, I started teaching myself how to program. In 2003, I found a chance to work with an online group (called Fantasy Studio) to make a RPG game. Through that game project I learned programming skills from other team members, and enjoyed working with a group on the same goal. Soon after, I decided that Computer Science should the my major, and got admitted into the Beijing Union University in China.
Moved to Canada in 2008, I found things were quite different. With panic, nervousness, hope and belief, I struggled to demonstrate myself to this new world. Efforts were put on school’s application, finding a part-time job, and making new friends. Luckily I got my first job at a coffee shop, where I met different kinds of people and learned the new culture from various perspectives; I met good friends in the new city, which was a big gift; meanwhile the offer from University of Waterloo brought me confidence, and infinite possibilities.
Arrived at UW’s beautiful campus in Fall 2008, while adapting to a new study system, I actively got involved with many extracurricular activities: I created a music band with new friends who have the same pursuit; I joined the Computer Science Club and Game Development Club where I was able to communicate with peers and experienced alumnus; also I participated in a variety of sport leagues, such as the Soccer Intramural and Basketball Intramural, and helped my teams achieve good standings. These activities brought me an enjoyable and meaningful life in Waterloo.
Along with steps into this new society, academically I have been able to make progress, too - I maintained Good Standing in academic status, and passed the English Proficiency Exam. With the appreciation of UW Computer Science program's guideline: "To develop students with a broad view", I selected courses from various disciplines to satisfy my interests. In my second school term, I got my first internship as a Software Developer with Research In Motion, which opened a brand new chapter in my life.
In Summer 2009, with an excellent manager at RIM, I learned how the software industry work, as well as how to collaborate with team members. Discovered that many people are working on Unit Tests with poor supporting tools, I designed tools that significantly reduced the repetitive work from developers, thus greatly improved the overall efficiency for dozens of developers.
From January 2010 till August, I was interning with Electronic Arts making FIFA 11. It was like a dream to actually work on the game that I have been played since I was a kid. In the 8-month internship, I actively learned from almost everybody in the FIFA team, and completed all my tasks in time with great feedback. Beyond that, I constantly helped others to solve problems, and gained experience working with producers, artists, engineers, QAs, and 3rd party partners. I improved my communicating and technical skills, and learned how to solve conflicts in adverse situations.
In Winter 2011 I part-timed at RIM to help my manager build a new building system, which involved much fun and creativity; in Summer 2011, I interned at Mozilla in California, enjoyed the summer and contributed to the 400-million-user Firefox - you can see I being the actual firefox in the picture above!
Where would my journey toward next? (:
