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Cafecitos:
This event, created and hosted by the PRGDA, provides students with the opportunity of participating in 1-to-1 mentorship session with industry professionals, providing a safe space to explore and network with these talented individuals. It was the first industry event I participated as a freshman in university, it was truly remarkable, learning so much about the role that each profession plays in developing great games. I've participated as a mentee in 3-separate editions of the event, each one giving me insight into different areas, from Environment art, to QA. I even attended even a "speed networking" session in 2025, where I connected with student and industry professional alike, all looking to share and explore. In this experience, I would like to highlight Elaine Gomez, co-founder of Latinx In Gaming, and my first ever mentor in cafecitos, who inspired me to continue my path as level designer. I would also like to highlight Samuel Villanueva, a senior game designer who gave me advice for expanding into other areas of game development.
PRGDA Post-GDC Hangout 2025:
This networking event, hosted by the PRGDA in Downtown Cupey, gathered together the greater game developing community in Puerto Rico for a truly unique bonding experience. As my first ever networking experience in this environment, I truly felt part of the community, sharing and connecting with not only fellow developers but Puerto Ricans who have the same passion that I do for food, music, and videogames.
From Idea to Launch: How Videogames are Developed:
This panel, hosted by the PRGDA at the 2023 Comic-Con, featured SRG Studios and Pichon Games discussing their development experience for their respective projects Champion Shift and The Bunny Graveyard. The insight into their development process showcased the potential of an Indie developer, inspiring me to continue on this path.
Videogame Industry Involvement
The INTER Developer Experience:
The "Inter Tiger" game was a collaborative departmental project created by students of the Bayamón campus to promote the Batchelor's degree of the University. My involvement came during its second iteration where I helped gather and organize interested students to work on improving the game. Later on I was assigned to the design department, working on redesigning the second level. This project became my first ever hands-on experience working on Level Design Documentation (LDD), as well as communicating within a designated department with leads and fellow peers, taking constructive feedback on my designs during the process and using it to improve them.
Tiger Jams 2024 & 2025:
In 2024, the INTERxPRGDA organization held their first ever game jam in the Bayamón campus. I entered to this experience with my fellow colleagues at EMP Studios, were we developed Locke Mansion as an asymetric mulitplayer game, and, although we didn't meet the deadline for this, we still showcased it at the event as the only multiplayer project created. With new resolve, we then entered the 2025 Tiger Jam and created Overtuned, successfully publishing it in the game jam site. All these jams fortified our skills in communication, design, art, and programing, helping us grow as developer through the quick and intense game development experiences.
UX In Video Games Talk:
In this talk, Coraly Rosario, Principal UX Designer at Zynga,
gave us an insight in to the world of UI and UX development. She informed us about the principal differences between the two, and taught us about the 4 different types of UI, and the use of Nicole Lazzaro's 4 Keys 2 Fun in UX development. This talked marked my first ever experience with a professional in the gaming industry that wasn't my professor.
Unity & Networking:
This networking event, led by Esteban Maldonado, served as the inauguration for the 7-day 2024 Tiger Jam. Through this experience, we learned about Unity's multiplayer capabilities, with Esteban taking it a step further and created an entire multiplayer demo in under an hour. This utterly impressive display inspired our team to attempt to integrate peer-to-peer multiplayer features in to our game for the jam.
Intraperneurship: Telling your Development Story:
As part of InterEmprende's initiative to bring industry knowledge to students, we invited Esteban Maldonado, Senior Developer Advocate for Multiplayer Solutions at Unity, to discuss the role of innovation and entrepreneurship within companies. During this talk he shared his personal experience in driving transformation from within and how all developers can create opportunities for growth within their organizations.
Business and Legal Considerations to Launch your Videogame Company:
Hosted by my fellow colleagues at InterEmprende. This talk featured guest speakers Prof. Jonathan Martínez (CEO of 8-Bit Bosses, PRGDA President) and Attorney Maritere Ysern, providing crucial legal and business insights for launching a studio. Through this experience I learned about the different corporate structure like LLC’s and how and the incentives given by the government to promote local businesses on the island.
PRGDA GDC Showcase Giveaway:
In 2023, I participated in a raffle made by the PRGDA for tickets to access the GDC Showcase. Thanks to them I was able to access this unique online experience, where I attended numerous talks and panels, a highlight of this being a lecture about how Cult of the Lamb implemented visuals and short-form content to their marketing strategy to boost the popularity of their game. This virtual event became my first ever experience with the instructional resources given at GDC.
GODOT Game Engine Workshop:
This workshop, led by Emmanuel Acosta, game developer, programmer, and founder of Emanvidmaker, taught us about the GODOT game engine, walking us through its history and how this open-source alternative can be paired up against the more popular Unreal Engine and Unity. We discussed its features, customizability, and its benefit for indie developers looking for a more accessible game engine. I have to admit, that entered with a skeptical mindset to this workshop, but I have to admit, that I left quite impressed by the engine at the end.
Sound Design & Production Talk:
In this talk, Kevin Regamey, Creative Director at Power Up Studio, known for his envolmeant with Darkest Dungeon and Into the Breach, gave us an interesting overview of audio in game development. He walked us through the audio design pipeline from project acquisition to shipping and launch. He divulged the importance of having written contracts and sharing his experiences with dubious wording in the past. The talks also featured a section on how sound influences player engagement utilizing audio elements such as panorama, frequency range, and dynamics. It was a great opportunity learn about a new area of game development that I wasn't entirely familiar with.
PR in the Epicenter of the Videogame Industry:
This panel, hosted by the PRGDA in the 2025 Comic-Con featured members of the PRGDA and GDC 2025 Scholars discussing the growing videogame development industry in Puerto Rico.
GDC Talk!:
This panel, hosted by the AU Game Developers Organization in their campus featured the 2025 PRGDA GDC scholars talking about their experience in the convetion, a well as give advice to prepare for the event. I used the experience to learn more about this opportunity to potentially become a scholar, as well as explore and network with the students of the Atlantic University, an unknown environment with familiar elements.
InterEmprende:
InterEmprende is a student-led organization dedicated to promoting entrepreneurship among young students within the greater academic community. Starting from my second year in University Up to my third, I joined the organization to improve upon my teamworking skills, assisting my peers in whatever way I'm able, and also getting a taste for instructional university-level talks.
Student Council:
The Student Council is a student-led body formed to advocate, defend and bring attention to the needs of students of the Inter American University of Puerto Rico, Bayamón Campus. I've joined this organization in a more serious environment, dealing jointly with the campus's staff, and managing official funds to directly benefit and help the student-body of the university, which not only includes the main groups in Bayamón, but Inter SAERO in San Juan, and across the sea to Inter Panamá. As secretary, I've ensured that the funds approved were correctly and appropriately redacted before dispatching them to the higher-ups of the university. I've also used my position as member, to engage with the videogame design community in the university, encouraging them to make their needs and activities known to the greater academic community during events, and providing assistance whenever possible.
5k: En Route to Manatee Liberation 2024 and 2025:
In 2024, as part of InterEmprende, we helped organize a 5k event at the Inter American University of Bayamón campus. As part of the event, we coordinated an artisan market featuring both student and external vendors, raising funds for The Caribbean Manatee Conservatory, a non-profit organization dedicated to the rescue and rehabilitation of manatees and other marine animals, supported by our community outreach and research programs. These efforts were reignited again in 2025, but now as the Student Council, on top of helping organize the event we sponsored it by purchasing 10 inscriptions for the race which were then raffled off to interested students.
Beach Cleanups:
Finally, I've participate in a couple of beach cleanups, mostly centered around the beaches in Dorado like the Balneario and the area around El Caracol. Although I'm not a big fan of the beach, crazy, I know, I do find the inherent value of keeping our areas clean, it does not only make our areas more appealing to be around in, but it benefit our entire ecosystem by reducing contamination and creating more healthy areas both human and animal alike.
Academic Involvement
The Dean's List:
Being included for 3 consecutive years. This special recognition is given annually to students who have excelled in their studies, taking this a positive reinforcement to continue their commitment to their future.
ACBSP School of Thought Pitch Competition:
For this event I made in-depth market research for EMP Studio's C.A.I.N. to be included in my team's presentation. Due to the success of the presentation, my team ended up being the runner-up in Region 1 (which included Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, Vermont and USVI). During the Dean's list ceremony of 2024 we all received the following certificate for our efforts. In addition to this this competition contributed to our university receiving accreditation from the ACBSP.
Junte of the Sudent Organizations 2025:
"El Junte" is a series of workshops done by the Student Council and the Faculty of the University to instruct the up-and-coming student originations on matters in relation to proper procedure, documentation and any additional useful information they might need to operate during their term. This year we had over 30 student organization being accredited, an impressive new record on campus. On top of coordinating the schedule for the day, I used this event as my first opportunity to let myself be known, actively engaging with fellow leaders and learning about their needs, and how the Student Council can facilitate with meeting them.
Food Drives for InterCARE:
As part of the Student Council, myself alongside my fellow peers coordinated a section of our budget to be used for the purchase and delivery of food items to the campus's Center for Student Attention and Retention (Inter CARE) initiative, which provides free meals to students in need. These efforts are crucial to the academic ecosystem of the university, helping those who are currently falling on hard times, sacrificing a basic need to make ends meet and further their futures.
Food Drives and Excursions to Inter SAERO:
As an extension to our efforts with Inter CARE, we've also ventured to the School of Aeronautics (SAERO) in San Juan to attend to the needs of its student-body. Who's distance from the main facilities at Bayamón leaves them in a position where they can't access the benefits being offered there.
Inter Student Council Summit 2025:
This annual summit gathered the attendance of all chapters of the Student Council of the Inter American University of Puerto Rico, being hosted this year the Fajardo campus, who was also at the time celebrating 65 years since the opening of their campus. This networking event gave me the opportunity to meet other chapters of the student council, exposing me to other sectors of the greater Inter American University. It also gave a chance to explore the beautiful grounds of the Fajardo campus in person, taking an appreciation over the mix of flora and pretty buildings. A final note on this event was the multiple teambuilding exercises and talks about leadership psychology, giving me an insight into how different personality types factor in leadership roles.
Food Drives to El Comedor de la Kennedy:
As part of an initiative made by InterEmprende, each semester the organization organizes food drives to support El Comedor de la Kennedy, a non profit entity that dedicates itself to fight food insecurity in Puerto Rico. The initiative collected donations from students and the greater community, helping the organization provide warm meals to those in need. In my most recent trip, I went with members of the Student Council to deliver the gathered donations, this forming part of greater initiative begun in 2025, to not only have individual students make their donations, but make a coordinated effort by all 30 student organizations from the Bayamón campus to chip-in and support this great cause.
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