Faisal Abutarab

Edmonton, Alberta, Canada 🇨🇦

LinkedIn

I’m a researcher and engineer. Previously, I completed my MSc at the University of Alberta where I worked on procedural content generation for video games.

Broadly, I’m interested in conceptual frameworks, tools and interfaces for work and play. By work, I mean science, engineering, programming, mathematics, graphics, game development and more. And by play, I mean anything that is done for its own sake.

CV

Education

MSc in Computing Science

2024

University of Alberta

Supervisor: Nathan R. Sturtevant
GPA: 4.0/4.0

BSc Honors in Computing Science

2021

University of Alberta

GPA: 3.6/4.0

Research Experience

Graduate Research Assistant

Moving AI Lab, University of Alberta

  • Worked with Prof. Nathan R. Sturtevant on understanding how game mechanics interact in video games to create rich experiences, and how to generate game mechanics that are different from each other in terms of gameplay.

Undergraduate Summer Research Assistant

Games Research, AI, and Learning Lab, University of Alberta

  • Worked with Prof. Matthew Guzdial on a Procedural Content Generation via Machine Learning project, exploring how to suggest game rules to video game creators using a model trained on a knowledge base of completed video games. Funded by a prestigious NSERC Undergraduate Student Research Award.

Publications

Honors and Awards

Dean’s Honor Roll University of Alberta 2017–2021
Faculty of Science Academic Excellence Scholarship University of Alberta ($2,000) 2017

Teaching

Lead Student Instructor Introduction to the Foundations of Computation I Fall 2022
Teaching Assistant Introduction to the Foundations of Computation I Winter 2021
Teaching Assistant Introduction to the Foundations of Computation I Fall 2021