About

At the age of 14 I started programming in PowerPoint’s VBScript environment, quickly after that I switched to Visual Basic 6 learning basic programming skills. A few years later I applied these skill to write my first ‘database’ application for the Salida youth crisis relief center. The application used VB6 and flat files on an FTP server to mimic a real database. Around the same time I wrote my first game, a two player top-down shooter. A year later I rewrote the database application in C#, now using a real database (MySQL) which allowed users to really work together. This application is still used daily by approximately 20 people at Stichting Cardan.

Since 2008 I started focusing on games. In 2008 I discovered Microsoft’s XNA framework (a managed DirectX wrapper for PC, Xbox and Windows Phone). Since then I’ve been an active member of the XNA community. While I was learning the framework and general game development techniques I started keeping a blog. At this blog I periodically post tutorials and code snippets. I also wrote a few tutorials for popular XNA sites like www.ziggyware.com (now defunct) and www.sgtconker.com (renamed to MadGameDev). With these tutorials I won a couple of prizes.

In 2010 I met a few game designers and artists working on the game Hollandia (www.hollandiagame.com). They had just won a Dutch Game Award but their programmer was unable to continue working on the game engine, which caused the project to stall. I rewrote most of their engine and coupled it to an existing physics framework. Around the same time I worked with a 15 man strong team on an extensive web shop project for Q-Free. We developed a process that automatically pulled new releases from source control,  and made them available in their web shop.

In 2011 I interned at Nixxes Software, a studio developing technology for high profile games like Deus Ex : Human Revolution. During my internship I wrote tools for Crystal Dynamics’ then upcoming Tomb Raider reboot.

While finishing up my Bsc. in Computing Science I worked at Science LinX (2009-2012) where I grew from a system administrator to serious game developer with a diverse set of responsibilities, from building and maintaining technical museum exhibits to managing small projects.

In 2014 I received my master’s degree when I graduated Cum Laude from Utrecht University. (Computer Science with a specialization in Game & Media Technology). At the same time I was doing an internship at Abbey Games where I worked on the content pipeline and tooling for R.E.I.S.

From 2015 to 2018 I worked at SilverFit. At SilverFit I worked with a diverse set of sensors (such as the Kinect 2 camera by Microsoft) for measuring movement, breathing, and even swallowing. This information is used in applied games in the field of geriatrics.

In the beginning of 2018 I made the switch to bol.com. Where I’m currently fulfilling the role of Tech Lead within the infrastructure department.

You can always contact me via e-mail, Mastodon, LinkedIn, Youtube or Twitter.