Zelle Marcovicci - hi@zelle.zone
I'm happiest when I'm given some bizarre coding problems to solve, or a highly experimental project to puzzle out. Technology is my passion, but it's not my only trick - I make friends wherever I go, and I can articulate that dense technical knowledge so that non-geeks can understand and enjoy it.
Work Experience
Tutor - Massey University2022 - Present: Bachelor of Screen Arts
(Introduction to Web Development, Introduction to Programming for Interactive Projects, Web and Interactive Production)
- Ran group workshops and one-on-one sessions teaching the fundamentals of Python, HTML and CSS as well as general coding concepts
- In Introduction to Web Development, students are brought from no knowledge of HTML to creating responsive websites with use of basic Javascript over twelve weeks
- In Introduction to Programming for Interactive Projects, students with no coding background learn to use Python in Processing to creative interactive and procedurally generated artwork
- In Web and Interactive Production, 200-level students learn to work with Python back-end technologies, databases and Javascript (front and back-end) to create web apps
- Recorded instructional materials and continually adapted teaching strategies as these courses shifted between in-person and online delivery
- Independently coached and assessed students through a variety of weekly tasks, with a high level of ownership and control over the material and ways of learning
- Performed and became confident in reviewing code in order to provide technical feedback and help high-achieving students further increase their skills
2017 - Present: Central Energy Trust Wildbase Recovery Games (with Open Lab NZ)
(Best Awards finalist, Toitanga category, 2019)
- Programmed, tested, and published two educational iPad games for permanent exhibition at the Wildbase Recovery Centre in Palmerston North
- Worked closely with illustrators, conservationists, and vets to design interactive play that accurately represents New Zealand's treasured wildlife
- Researched and iterated through different methods of development, distribution and ongoing maintenance as the needs of the project changed
- Returning yearly for maintenance & upgrades due to internal requirements around code-signing
- Prototyping project with Massey's College of Health and Te Pūtahi-a-Toi - School of Māori Knowledge to create an interactive, immersive 3D experience that represents the Te Whare Tapa Whā understanding of Māori well-being
- Collaborated with a team of spatial designers and illustrators, as well as health practitioners, to develop an educational cross-media experience that reflects tikanga best practices
- Used WebGL and 3D Javascript within the A-Frame web framework to facilitate rapid testing, access from home PCs and future VR headset compatibility
- Open-source prototyping and documentation project using stereoscoping cameras as an add-on to provide colour pass-through experiences to the Oculus Quest 2
- Though anticipated to be a longer term project, Foxus was dissolved after only 2.5 months of contract work, so spending that time wisely to sunset the project and fully open-source it was essential
- Worked in the Godot engine, with GDScript, to build mixed reality experiences for the Oculus Quest headset
- Collaborated with overseas developers on the Windows & Linux builds for our customized fork of Godot
- Online support, marketing and community engagement with a dedicated Discord server for Foxus camera purchasers
- Researched and implemented industry best practices for mixed reality applications, storefronts, UI and more
- Planned and produced documentation and tutorials in reStructuredText, building to Read the Docs hosting solution
Education & Other Experience
Google Summer of Code Contributor2022, with the Processing Foundation
(Writing py5 tutorials and how-to documentation to support creative coders new to Python and/or new to the Processing ecosystem)
- Worked closely with developer/educator Tristan Bunn and py5 creator Jim Schmitz as my mentors
- While teaching Introduction to Programming for Interactive Projects (above) at Massey University, rewrote and adapted curriculum for new py5 standards
- Produced many different tutorials, as well as general documentation, for the py5coding.org site
- Learned to use the Jupyter Notebooks environment to run live code blocks inside of MyST Markdown documentation
2019 - 2022: Game and Creative Technologies Pathways
- Highest achieving student across all offerings of the compulsory Media Studies course in first year, receiving a prize and letter of acknowledgement from Head of School Jenny Lawn
- Contributed to the physiotherapy game Midnight Snack (Best Awards Silver, Student Digital category, 2021) in second year, developing an excellent working relationship with the main team and client
- Before completion of the degree, was invited and subsequently hired to teach several classes within the Creative Technology pathway, doing so concurrently with a final major project
- Appeared in promotional materials for the Immersive Media pathway and represented the degree to school leavers for Massey's virtual open day as a deliberate, enthusiastic advocate for the Creative Media Production department and Massey University in general
2019 - 2020: Discord Moderator, Volunteer Community Management
- Represented an established mobile gaming brand to its English-speaking fanbase, ensuring communication between fans and developers remained pleasant and open
- Moderated a Discord (live chat) server with over 13,000 users, engaging with and assisting community members aged 13 and over within a miniscule team of 5 volunteers
- Coded custom Bot tools within the Discord API to execute new commands, streamline tasks for the rest of the moderation team, and collect data
- Trained new additions to the moderation team on conflict resolution, resolving technological outages, and community engagement
- Front-end coding (HTML, CSS and Javascript)
- Back-end coding (Node.js, Python, PHP)
- Hard-to-define coding (Java, Lua, C#, Jython, Processing, Arduino)
- SQL databases (Postgres, MySQL and SQLite)
- Version control software (Perforce, Mercurial, Git CLI, Github)
- Markdown-style languages and build solutions (Markedly Structured Text, reStructuredText, Jupyter Books, Sphinx)
- Game development (Unity 3D, Unreal Engine, Godot)
- Cross-platform proficiency (Arch Linux, Ubuntu, Windows and Apple environments)
- Graphic editing suites (Adobe Photoshop/Illustrator/After Effects/InDesign, GIMP, Inkscape)
