Alumni leading and working at Vicarious Visions, an internationally successful video game development company based in the Rensselaer Technology Park, will take part in the Rensselaer Alumni Association Back-to-Campus Speaker Series on Monday, April 4, at 2 p.m. in the Heffner Alumni House.

Chief Creative Officer and CEO Karthik Bala '97, along with vice president for product development Emilie Saulnier '84, associate designer Marc Janas '04, associate designer Jonathan Mintz '04, and programmer Brian Osman '99, will discuss and answer questions about game design and development.

"Vicarious Visions is often described as a company that pushes technical boundaries, and they have pioneered new tools and technology in the process of developing commercially successful games," said Alumni Relations director Jeff Schanz. "The game development industry is growing exponentially, and these talented alumni are leading Vicarious Visions to the cutting edge of the industry. We are looking forward to a dynamic discussion of how they do it and what's next."

Vicarious Visions, formed in 1994 by Bala and his brother Guha Bala, has developed five games that have sold more than one million units each. The company employs more than 100 people at its Troy headquarters.

Published April 4, 2005