Maher Turk introduces himself as a game designer, but he is more than that. Curious and engaged, Maher has an insatiable desire to learn, explore new technologies and solve development problems through a team-oriented approach. Maher holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Game Development & Interactive Design from Champlain College in Vermont, USA. His role as a designer bridges the gap between programming and art allowing him to bring fast, iterative results to the team and project. Maher’s interdisciplinary skills mean he can seamlessly work across an array of digital tools while effectively communicating and overcoming communication barriers across disciplines.
Maher has experience working as a game development generalist and quality assurance tester at Semanoor in Saudi Arabia and Vicarious Visions in New York respectively. At Semanoor, Maher and the team have launched several games and apps fit for the Middle Eastern market on multiple platforms such as iOS, Android, Oculus Quest VR, and PlayStation. The products released range anywhere from Games to interactive digital experiences. Maher wore multiple hats while working at Semanoor, the roles he had to fill included gameplay programming, level design, lighting artist, 3d modeling, texturing, and testing. Maher thoroughly understands the processes, pipelines, and workflows of games and interactive development and is quick to make accommodations when changes occur.
At the Centre for Digital Media Maher wants to tie all his skills together to instill more confidence in his design choices to better prepare himself for leadership roles. Maher’s motivation for selecting this program is because he enjoys exploring design concepts, giving and receiving constructive criticism, and being a part of an influential group of minds and forward thinkers. His passion for this field is one of his biggest motivators and why he chose to turn love for playing video games into one for creating them.