Benjamin McMahan
80 Descanso Dr, #3103• San Jose, CA 95134
E-mail Ben.j.mcmahan@gmail.com

Profile
Fun and passionate gamer with a strong educational background in mathematics and computer science.  Currently seeking a creative outlet for my knowledge of artificial intelligence, algorithms, mathematics, and video games.  Skilled programmer, quickly adaptable to any language, and very aware of optimizations and computation complexity subtleties.  Possesses strong communication skills developed through teaching and tutoring.

Education
2001 - 2005	Rice University	Houston, TX
ABD (Ph.D. Track), Computer Science
M.S. in Computer Science, 2004, GPA: 3.87 / 4.00
Visiting Student, Vienna Technical Institute, Summer of 2002 and 2004

1998-2001	Wabash College	Crawfordsville, IN
B.A. in Mathematics, minor in Computer Science and Philosophy
Graduated Summa Cum Laude, GPA: 3.84 / 4.00

Game/Project experience
2006 - current	Javaground USA, Inc.	Irvine, CA
Mobile (J2ME) Game Developer/Programmer
Casino Royale: Developed the cell phone game from scratch and ported to over 600 phones, including international builds (US, Europe, Russia, and South America), against a firm deadline of six months.
Caterpillar: ported to Cingular, Sprint, T-Mobile, and Nextel.
Spider-Man 3: ported to Sprint.
Meet The Robinsons: ported to to Cingular, Sprint, T-Mobile, Verizon and Nextel.
Townsmen 3: ported to Cingular, T-Mobile, and Boost
Currently working on an original development.

2005 - 2006	Archimage, Inc.	Houston, TX
Game Programmer
Worked on two titles using the Torque Engine, including script and engine modification
Gained experience with many aspects of game programming including Camera, GUI, AI, graphics, user input, model manipulation, and more
Designed many of the mini/puzzle games found in the titles

2001 - 2005	Rice University	Houston, TX
Graduate Student
Developed a query rewriting system that implements various structural optimizations and evaluates the running times of the rewritten queries
Programmed a ray-tracer, fractal generator, Lagrange and Bezier curve manipulator, and polygon viewer (including hidden surface removal and shading)
Developed an automated (self-taught) player for the game of Diplomacy
Programmed a SAT solver that computes whether a given propositional formula is satisfiable

Teaching and Communication
2001-2005	Rice University	Houston, TX
Taught classes in Intermediate Artificial Intelligence, Advanced Database Systems, and Advanced Logic in Computer Science
Developed and graded projects for Intermediate Computer Graphics, Intermediate Artificial Intelligence, Advanced Database Systems, and Advanced Logic in Computer Science
Reviewed a paper for ACM Journal of Experimental Algorithmics (JEA).

Publications
Benjamin McMahan, Patrick Porter, Guoqiang Pan, Moshe Y. Vardi, Projection Pushing Revisited, EDBT, pages 441-458, 2004
Benjamin McMahan, Structural Heuristics For Query Optimization, Master's Thesis, Rice University, 2004

Awards received
Department of Computer Science Corporate Affiliates Meeting Poster Competition, 3rd place, Rice University, 2004
Loewenstern Fellowship, Rice University, 2001-2002
Member of the Phi Beta Kappa Academic Honor Society
George Lewes Mackintosh Fellow, Wabash College, 2001
George E. Carscallen Prize in Mathematics, Wabash College, 2001
The Paul Mielke Award, Wabash College, 2001
The Jeanne C. and W. Dale Compton Scholarship, Wabash College, 2001
President's Scholarship, Wabash College, 1998-2001
Wabash Alumni Scholarship, Wabash College, 1998-2001
Wabash Leadership Award, Wabash College, 1998-2001
AP Scholar with Distinction, 2001

Computer Related Skills
Proficient at Programming in J2ME, C/C++, Latex, SQL.
Experienced with the Torque Engine, Pascal, HTML (Javascript and CSS), Lisp, Perl, Java, and source control programs such as Perforce and CVS
Experienced game player, including the mastery of several fighting, first-person shooting, strategy, adventure, side-scrolling, puzzle and role playing games.  Also have considerable MMO experience and a deep knowledge of the intricacies of these genres