2015 CPI
2015 Capstone Project Invitational
Neumont University announces Emerson Schaffer and Scott Fries as the winners of the university’s second bi-annual Capstone Project Invitational, held Thursday, December 3, at the Salt Lake City Public Library.
Scott Fries and Emerson Shaffer were name the Industry and Alumni Choice winners respectively for the Capstone Projects.
Emerson Schaffer (Spokane, WA) took home the Alumni Choice Award for his project “Fracture.” Frustrated with the “canned” destructions in today’s games, Schaffer wanted to bring a more realistic approach to objects being destroyed. He created Fracture – an algorithm that allows for any convex shape to be broken apart without modification to the shapes’ underlying data—meaning each shape has a unique destruction each time in the game.
The Industry Award went to Scott Fries (Clarksville, TN) who created “The Balance Engine – Android.” Pulling inspiration from the untapped game-use capability on the Android, Fries’ game engine allows developers to more easily create games on the Android.
Aaron Reed, chief operating and academic officer, explained Neumont University’s Capstone experience “is a senior project on steroids.” The two winners were chosen from the final five finalists, out of more than 40 projects.
The presenters take to the stage awaiting the announcement of the winners.
Prior to beginning their Enterprise Projects -- the pinnacle of Neumont’s project-based experience where teams of students work on large-scale, enterprise-level projects chosen by an Enterprise Partner with input from Neumont University -- Neumont students must independently complete a Capstone Project. Students start with an idea and software development know-how then build the project in only 10 weeks.
Additional finalists from the event included:
FuzzBuzz by Wayne Maree (Smallwood, NY): This 3D maze/puzzle game created with JavaScript using two objects (light and a character) to work in harmony to complete levels.
Project Livewire by Mark Journigan (Toole, UT): Project Livewire is a tool for small business, school districts or any number of organizations to install multiple operating systems to several computers at once instead of loading an OS one computer at a time.
Controlled Assault by Ryan Garcia (Modesto, CA): Controlled Assault is a real-time strategy game where two teams battle to see who can eliminate the other team first.
“It’s a busy time of year for everyone – which makes the caliber of these projects even more impressive,” said Reed. “Our students still have an additional week before finals and to get their projects ready for grading, so to have something showcase-worthy already is that much more impressive.”
Reed adds that while the majority of Neumont’s students have a passion for computer science and gaming, “Most have little-to-no coding experience when they join our ranks. It’s pretty incredible what they’re able to accomplish with our unique project-based learning model.”
You can watch the complete event on our YouTube channel.