Student teaches game creation to local community

“John Null is a star!” At least that’s how Susan Sherwood, the executive director of TechWorks!, describes the computer science student.

Null has been serving as a volunteer at TechWorks! since early summer 2017, a gig he landed through lecturer and undergraduate program director Eileen Head who has been connecting students to various volunteer positions at TechWorks! for years.

TechWorks! is a nonprofit initiative from the Center for Technology & Innovation and is committed to documenting and featuring the rich tech history of the Southern Tier. Located in the old Binghamton Ice Cream Company factory, TechWorks! hosts technology exhibitions, offers classes and keeps a large inventory of vintage technology.

“Students who come to TechWorks! can work on a wide range of projects,” Sherwood said. “A Binghamton student created our website. Another created a ringtone app. John helped teach a video game coding class.”

When Null first started volunteering for TechWorks!, he was tasked with creating a software that could connect to a vintage printer the nonprofit had acquired. “It was a really specific skill and I wanted to expand into other areas,” said Null.

He took over the TechWorks! Facebook page and started helping with events before another opportunity arose.

“Josiah Bahl [from L3 Link Training & Simulation] came to us about an event called Global Game Jam,” said Sherwood. “He said it was really a meaningful experience for him when he was in college and he wanted to start it up in Binghamton.”

Global Game Jam is like a hackathon, but for game development. It’s non-competitive and people of all ages can join the event to become inspired, share ideas and create their own games.

Global Game Jam requires knowledge of a specific program though, called Unity, and not many people in the area are familiar with it.

“I learned Unity during one of my final projects for class,” said Null. “We had to use three different platforms and my group decided that Unity would be one of them. I even spent some of my summer learning it in more detail.”

Because of Null’s experience, he assisted Bahl in teaching a course on the Unity software at TechWorks!

The class was open to anyone in the community and a variety of people attended.

“There were about two dozen students who came to the classes,” said Sherwood. “About half of them were exchange students attending SUNY Broome from Mexico. They plan to compete in Global Game Jam in Guadalajara. There was even a father, son and daughter-in-law group that came together.”

“Josiah and I created a lesson plan together that we could cover over two weekends,” said Null. “We got through it pretty fast though, so most of the second weekend was spent answering questions one-on-one.”

Null went above and beyond when Bahl couldn’t make it to the second weekend of classes, taking over completely to guide the students.

The classes gave the foundation for those who are looking to compete in Global Game Jam, which TechWorks! will co-host with SUNY Broome on Jan. 26, 2018.

As for Null, he is still volunteering with TechWorks! although he hasn’t had as much time to help out during the school year.

When he has more free time, his next project is to create a virtual reality bobsled app, a plan inspired by the Australian bobsled from the 2014 Sochi Olympics which is on display at TechWorks! for visitors interested in the mechanics behind an Olympic bobsled.