Shaun Stephenson

What brought you to Teesside University?

Teesside University is one of the best universities for computer science and computing related courses. I knew this when I was considering university so I attended an open day to find out more. I loved the facilities right away so coming to Teesside was an easy choice.

What was your social life like when you were at Teesside?

Crazy! Absolutely crazy! We attended some great music nights, and even ran a quiz at one of the local pubs. We went to so many different venues and spent many nights in the Students’ Union too.

We went out for drinks, played pinball, played video games and just generally had a brilliant time. I made loads of friends from University and the nearby colleges, as well as dozens of friends from the local music scene – many of whom I am still in regular contact with.

Were you part of any clubs or societies?

The Rock Society was a lot of fun in the first few years. We regularly organised trips to Bradford, Leeds and Nottingham to see gigs. I also spent a lot of time in some of the coastal towns near the University, and a great deal of time in the countryside towards Guisborough and Great Ayton where I had several friends.

What was your course like?

It was fantastic in every way – the course, the other students and the amazing results that we all achieved!

The course was large enough to have gained massive recognition on a national level but it was still small enough to remain intimate. I always felt that everyone was fully invested in each other’s success – the staff and the students were all in it together.

What amazed me was the sheer diversity of our academic backgrounds. My MSc consisted of students from fine art, high-end programming/engineering, animation, traditional storyboarding and illustration. This variety made the course, and our work, very special.

What did you enjoy most about the course?

During my BSc I fell in love with the more technical aspects of computing, particularly the microprocessor system design module.

We had some fantastic tutors – nowhere else in education could I have spent two hours discussing addressing modes and cycle-specific operations of the 68000 microprocessor whilst also analysing Twin Peaks episodes and chatting about instrument-only aircraft flight training. Amazing memories!

Did you receive any financial support from the University?

Yes. For the majority of my studies I received a grant (it was such a long time ago and I know the financial support is different now). I more or less managed to make my grant last, with a little help from my family.

What have you done since graduating?

Too many things to mention! I worked in video games for about ten years then moved into film and contributed work to Transformers, Rango and Star Wars amongst others. Since then I have worked back in the games industry several times. I currently work as a 3D Generalist developing interactive experiences for the upcoming mixed reality hardware from Magic Leap.

We moved to North America in the early 2000s and lived in Canada, and then the east and west coasts of the United States. We now live in hot and stormy Florida.

Did you complete any work experience or placements?

During my first degree I’d worked for a year as a Computer Programmer at Durham City Council. The formal programming training I received during this highlighted to me what kind of industry I wanted to work in and what I enjoyed most about computing. This led me to choose the MSc that I did at Teesside.

During my MSc I worked on a project for a small video games company creating ideas for the introductory sequence to a game they had proposed. Right after I graduated I moved straight into a career in games development.

What was your experience of student accommodation like?

I stayed on campus in my first year and made some amazing friends. The following year a bunch of us moved into some private accommodation close to campus. We formed a band and are still great friends and musicians to this day.

Did your time at Teesside University help you to achieve your goals?

Without a doubt. I would never have even considered attempting to work in any of the computing industries without my experience at Teesside University. As a kid it was my dream to develop video games but I thought it was impossible to achieve. As soon as I completed my MSc and had some actual experience with industry-standard tools the jobs came easily.