Matt Walak
Matt Walak

I'm a software engineer with a passion for game development, design, and creative tools. Check out some of my work below!

Releases

Virus Destroyer! (2021)

Virus Destroyer! (2021)

Virus Destroyer! (2021)

Arcade-style casual game. Self published on the App Store and Google Play Store.

Available on iOS and Android

Magnets In Space (2020)

Virus Destroyer! (2021)

Virus Destroyer! (2021)

Physics-based puzzle game. Self-published on the App Store and Google Play Store.

Available on iOS and Android

Game Jams

Blowfish Baybies - Ludum Dare 54 (2023)

Collaborative 72 hour game jam submission made with three other teammates with skills spanning illustration, concept art, design, UX, programming, technical art, and accessibility.


Out of 1597 submissions we placed:

#286 in Graphics

#336 in Innovation

#792 Overall


Play on itch.io

Artificial Irrelevance - GMTK Game Jam 2023

48 hour game jam submission made with one other collaborator.


Out of 6,803 submissions we placed:

#238 in Creativity

#608 Overall

Play on itch.io

Beat the Odds - GMTK Game Jame 2022

48 hour game jam submission made with one other collaborator.


Out of 6,077 submissions we placed:

#1286 in Creativity

#2086 Overall

Play on itch.io

Experiments and Crazy Stuff - Links coming soon!

Harmonic Circles

Harmonic Circles

Harmonic Circles

Continuation of my senior project in Computing and the Arts. A two-player audio-visual puzzle game in which participants discover new sounds to progress through the game. Uses a similar technical setup as Fireworks

Fireworks (2022)

Harmonic Circles

Harmonic Circles

Senior project in Computing and the Arts. Interactive audio-visual installation piece in which many participants design and launch fireworks into a shared sky. Users join from any internet-connected device. Network communication is supported by an HTML website and a Node.js server hosted on AWS

Musical Ball Box (2022)

Musical Ball Box (2022)

Musical Ball Box (2022)

Experimental music creation tool. Players launch balls in a 2D box. Each ball represents an audio source. As balls bounce and collide, effects such as pitch shift, filtering, and gain attenuation are applied to audio sources.

Summer 2022 Prototypes

Musical Ball Box (2022)

Musical Ball Box (2022)

A series of 5 prototypes exploring areas of 2D game development including platforming, live music generation, dialogue systems, 2D level design, and other miscellaneous topics.

Work Experience

Software Engineer, Mental Canvas, New York, NY

2023-Present

  • Currently designing and developing new features for our iOS app and web-based content viewing platform.
  • Collaborating with a small team of individuals with diverse experiences in engineering, design, and product development. Working directly with a founder of the company to create and implement new features that realize the company's mission
  • Working on an iPad app using Objective C, Swift, and cross platform C++
  • Developing UI prototypes in Figma and Photoshop to quickly iterate on new feature designs.


Software Engineering Intern, MongoDB, New York, NY

Summer 2020 & Summer 2021

  • Implemented data collection procedures to record performance metrics, fixed critical build failures, and supported the construction of data pipelines between MongoDB services. All work contributed to the release of the new resharding feature in MongoDB 5.0.
  • Backend development and unit testing in C++. Integration testing using JavaScript.
  • Worked in a continuous integration environment. Collaborated using agile practices within the scrum framework of software development.
  • Received MongoDB Professional Certification. Completed courses in database design and management.
  • Developed a data visualization tool using Unity to win 3rd place in a MongoDB intern's hackathon.


Technical Intern, Next Generation 911, Westwood, MA

General Dynamics Information Technology - Summer 2018

Comtech Telecommunications (Project changed companies after a sale) - Summer 2019

  • Supported construction of the Ohio Next Generation 9-1-1 system by building internal software tools.
  • Developed a database query simulator using C# to automate vital steps in a testing procedure.
  • Developed a JSON formatting utility using C# to decrease overhead when preparing for system tests.
  • Improved security for the Massachusetts Next Generation 9-1-1 system by testing new and existing endpoint protection solutions for efficiency and effectiveness. Communicated findings in a presentation and a written report.

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