Ramy Fawaz
PRODUCT OWNER / GAME DESIGNER
WORK HISTORY
Snagit Product Owner - TechSmith
Okemos, Michigan
2020 - Present
• Defined and maintained project documentation, including user stories, acceptance criteria, research goals, cross-disciplinary dependencies, and testing blueprints for the largest feature update in the Snagit 2021 Release.
• Curated a beta test plan, which included user surveys, workflow analytics, and guided exercises to evaluate our current designs’ effectiveness.
• Fostered a new user-focused research standard for Snagit by organizing and hosting multiple Design Sprints, which helped define the strategic road map for the Templates and Simplified User Interface features.
Software Engineer 2 - TechSmith
Okemos, Michigan
2015 - 2020
• Programmed the JSON parsing system for Snagit Windows, allowing template file sharing across the Mac and Windows platforms.
• Implemented the Smart Move feature on Snagit Mac, including integration and unit tests.
• Contributed to multiple shipped Snagit releases with over 1,400 total programming commits in C++, C#, Objective-C, and Swift.
• Defined and documented the user stories for the Simplified User Interfaces feature, which was approved by product owners and regularly referenced throughout the release.
• Maintained documentation for programming, design, and quality goals as a Technical Lead for the Snagit Windows team.
• Founded multiple team norms to better adapt the agile workflow including sprintly pod demos, sprintly pod retros, and cross-platform communication.
• Founded and led Snagit Events Committee throughout 2019 by organizing events and surveying coworkers to foster team relationships.
GAME PROJECTS
Rift Shot - In Progress FPS Prototype (Unity Engine)
• Programmed, designed, and animated first-person weapon classes, including an Assault Rifle, Shotgun, and Shield.
• Created three unique enemy types designed to encourage fast-paced player combat and movement.
• 3D Modeled three weapons, one enemy, and a level Blockout with Autodesk Maya LT.
The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past - Dungeon Expansion Mod (Unity Engine)
• Designed a new Zelda inspired dungeon that introduced a “lava” gameplay mechanic, additional enemies, items, and puzzles to the A Link to the Past experience.
• Scripted modular gameplay systems in C#, including player movement, controller input, level transitions, character animation, combat, collision detection, and AI pathfinding.
• Garnered feedback through user playthroughs, resulting in design changes to fine-tune the dungeon's approachability, pacing, and overall "fun."
• Authored a published research article, project goals, level layout in Adobe Photoshop, and a retrospective video to document the development process.
Natural Perfection (Unity Engine)
• Devised and programmed power-ups in a split screen multiplayer shooter for a Game Jam where the theme was "evolution."
Friends 'til the End (Unity Engine)
• Designed and scripted the combat, controls, UI, camera, and RuneScape inspired mechanics for a four-person local multiplayer Battle Royale RPG.
• Maintained project documentation from the initial gameplay pitch to the final showcase presentation.
Unlit (Unreal Engine)
• Evaluated the effectiveness of Unreal's Blueprint scripting language in an "Advanced Directed Study" dedicated to researching the use of Unreal at the University of Michigan for educational purposes.
Simon Says Kinect (Unity Engine)
• Developed a Microsoft Kinect based physical therapy game targeted at overcoming the strict user requirements of physically disabled patients at the local hospital.
Game Criticism and Analysis
• Created dozens of articles, videos, and podcast episodes analyzing/discussing video games, which attracted over 500,000 YouTube channel views.
EDUCATION & SKILLS
Bachelors in Computer Science
2015
University of Michigan
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Senior focus on Video Game Development and Research
American Management Association (AMA) Training
2019
SAFe 4.0 Practitioner
2018
Programming (C++/C#)
Adobe Creative Suite
Unity Engine
Autodesk Maya LT
Unreal Engine
GitHub