Interview with MacGDA co-founder AbdulRahman Khodr
Check out the interview below with McMaster Game Development Association (@MacGDA1) co-founder AbdulRahman Khodr (@akhodr21 about the first year of the organization and their recently launched crowdfunding campaign!
What is MacGDA?
McMaster Game Development Association (MacGDA) is a student-run organization which is interested in student designated game research and design. Our official launch date was September 2013.
We are essentially a hub for game development in Hamilton. We specialize in hosting various networking events, workshops and game development talks. In addition to all this we are also developing our own game entirely from homebrew to act as a learning environment for students to receive hands on experience in various areas of game development.
How has the first year of MacGDA turned out so far?
Despite of only being operational for a little less than a year, there are numerous milestones that can be attributed to our success. Under the banner of MacGDA, the first year saw numerous workshops, networking events, fundraisers that had a peak attendance of more than 40 students and professionals. The momentum we gained during our first year was so significant, that we were one of the factors that led to McMaster University being recognised as one of the Universities invited to Ubisoft’s Academia Competition. Members from our club went on to form a team of 7 members in order to compete in the competition and represent McMaster University. While the team itself was unable to win, two of our members (Alex Zaranek and Adam Bysice) did extremely well. They earned an opportunity to participate in full-time internships at Ubisoft Studios in Montreal.
What is the crowdfunding campaign being run by MacGDA and GHGT all about?
The Crowd funding campaign that is currently run by us in collaboration with GHGT is based on a new movement we are pushing forward which involves a platform that allows for free access education for East Hamilton youth in video game development. However we require workstations to provide to these individuals for us to be able to run the workshops so the campaign aims at collecting the funds necessary to facilitate the workshop.
What will the money raised go towards?
ALL money raised will go directly towards purchasing workstations to be used by low-income individuals during workshops while ensuring a reasonable open-access policy which will be available at the GHGT office in Robert Centre.
Workstations will consist of purchasing laptops and mice. Our current goal is 5 laptops priced at $550/each.
We need all the help we can get, so please donate any amount to our campaign: https://www.fundhamont.com/index.php/campaigns/game-development-workstations-workshops-accessible-low-income-families/
What sort of programming will this crowdfunding campaign allow you to offer? What will the biweekly workshops look like?
The main goal of our crowdfunding campaign is towards running bi-weekly workshops in the East Hamilton region while providing low-income individuals with access to suitable hardware and software for game development.
The workshops themselves will focus on Unity 3D and run for 2 hours, after which participants have the option to sign up for various time slots after each workshop to expand on what they have learned with the supervision of a trained member.
Why is MacGDA motivated to run these workshops?
We are motivated to run these workshops as we have seen a lack of free education provided to low-income families in the East-Hamilton region and wish to teach game development skills, as this allows for either self-employment in developing apps and games or marketable skills for a career in the ever-expanding software industry.
In addition to all this we have also encountered a great deal of interest in picking up software and game development skills across Hamilton. We wish to ensure that proper workshops can be provided to all members of the community that are interested in game development.
How did you first get interested in video game development yourself?
To be honest I never really knew much about Game Development before Grade 9. I came across a ‘Game Programming Club’ at my high school in St. Thomas More. I was intrigued to join and learn what game development really meant. Upon joining and learning the basics, I was vastly interested in developing my skills, and found it really enjoyable.
As can be seen, this has also motivated me in starting up a Game Development Association on campus as I truly believe in the impact a club or association can have on an individual’s future.
How has your program at McMaster helped you to advance your carer so far?
My program at McMaster has helped me greatly throughout the years. The biggest impact is being able to recognize my true career goals, which slowly shifted to an interest in a creative management field. My program allowed this to be possible as I was able to combine both Multimedia & Economics at an undergraduate level.
My program still poses many problems such as a lack of cross-collaboration with other faculties, lack of hands on experience along with various problems. However these problems I would say in turn helped me grow in getting involved within the community to solve these problems. I would say MacGDA has helped in solving these problems, from our game project that aimed at involving students across faculties or our workshops which tries to provide students with technical skills. I am sure more will be learned as I embark on my final year in September 2014.
Do you think Hamilton has potential for a stronger video game sector?
I definitely believe there is. We have witnessed great turnouts at game development related events. We have been able to undertake numerous initiatives that are currently in the works, while also enjoying a great deal of community success. Not only did a local game development association launch to help strengthen this community; I have also seen other new ones start up or expand to Hamilton. This includes HammerTown, CoderDojo, which is aimed at providing game development skills to young youth. In addition to the current undergoing expansion of Every1Games to Hamilton aimed at providing children with autism game development skills to the positive restructuring of a game development course in the Multimedia program.
I believe all these initiatives can foster and develop great local talent for game development, continuing to expand the video game sector in Hamilton.
What does the future of MacGDA look like in the year ahead and beyond?
Our vision for the future of MacGDA consist of multiple ambitious goals:
– Building our own infrastructure for Game Development in Hamilton (accessible space as well as hardware and software).
– Promoting Game Development to everyone, currently our goal is to get more women into game development as we have seen a huge gap in this area.
– Promoting & teaching Game Development skills to low-income and marginalized individuals.
– Creating a tight vibrant community of game developers or researchers in the field from students, professors, industry professionals and others across Hamilton.
