CV

Anthony Avancena-Brigante

EDUCATION

Bachelor of Science in Computer Science

July 2021 DigiPen Institute of Technology

TECHNICAL SKILLS

Programming Languages: Modern C++, C, C#, Python
Libraries: Wwise SDK, ImGui, Qt
Game Engines: Entity-Component-System (ECS) Architecture, Unreal Engine, Unity

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

ZeniMax Online Studios

Senior Audio Engineer - Unannounced MMORPG Nov 2021 - July 2025

  • Led a three-person audio engineering team in building a State of the Art audio tech stack.
  • Mentored associate audio engineers in best practices for our custom engine’s ECS architecture and tool development in Qt.
  • Oversaw comprehensive task planning and prioritization for the audio team in collaboration with audio and production leadership.
  • Nurtured a culture of technical ownership, serving as the sole technical product owner for audio and championing our sonic vision.
  • Implemented an ECS-centric Wwise integration creating a ergonomic event-based API for interacting with the Sound Engine
  • Developed a full suite of in-house audio tools and pipelines from the ground up, with a focus on rapid Sound Designer iteration.
  • Engineered a background service application that automatically synchronized Wwise Assets with our Engine Asset database
  • Invented a robust data assignment pattern for Audio that was promoted to be a core engine feature adopted by multiple teams
  • Enabled our Composer to create dynamic musical soundscapes by designing and implementing a highly flexible Music System.
  • Rearchitected our Acoustics integration resulting in a more maintainable codebase alongside performance gains of over 100ms.
  • Authored a projectile whizzby system with user facing design parameters to allow Sound Designers to express their artistic vision
  • Prototyped a dynamic game mix system driven by various pieces of game context such as combatant threat and player significance.
  • Built a robust suite of ImGui-based debugging tools for easily visualizing all relevant audio data for any given entity
  • Spearheaded dynamic resource loading initiatives and enhanced resource dependency tracking methodologies.

DPS Games

Audio Programmer - Tomorrow Falls Jan 2021 - July 2021

  • Collaborated with the Audio Design team to develop and implement foundational C++ Audio Systems in the Unreal Engine that allowed for a more responsive soundscape
  • Architected networked game utilties that consolidated widespread code into a single location for use by all development disciplines.
  • Documented both technical design documents and user guides for all implemented audio systems.
  • Implemented audio debugging tools to help quickly locate bugs and iterate on features.
  • Developed a dynamic whoosh system that triggered sound effects as players passed geometry at high speeds, accurately simulating the Doppler Effect.

Qualcomm

Audio R&D Intern, Multimedia R&D Team June 2020 - Sept 2020

  • Researched methods of minimizing audio motion latency in interactive experiences to provide a more enjoyable and responsive experience for the listener.
  • Prototyped new spatial audio streaming technologies to bring high-quality immersive audio experiences to a wider consumer audience.
  • Developed a custom end-to-end audio experience in C++ and JavaScript to demonstrate the viability of the prototyped technologies.

Tsugi Studio

Audio Programming Intern May 2019 - Aug 2019

  • Built an application in C# to dynamically generate and compile C++ software for 3 different platforms.
  • Optimized C++ DSP Code to achieve a performance increase of ~4900% via Data Oriented Design and SIMD assembly intrinsics.
  • Ported C# DSP objects into C++.
  • Wrote a C/C++ Fast Fourier Transform capable of using a 4096-byte window in real-time.

AUDIO PROGRAMMING PROJECTS

Granular Synthesizer

March 2019 - May 2019

  • Learned the fundementals of the JUCE Audio C++ API
  • Implemented an effecient system capable of running 10 large grain clouds simultaniously in real-time.
  • Architected a randomization system for a grain’s start/stop positions to create unique sound textures.

HRTF Wwise Plugin

September 2018 - December 2018

  • Researched HRTF filter design and architecture to gain experience with spatialization DSP.
  • Developed a custom time-domain HRTF plugin in C++ capable of spatializing ~100 concurrent audio sources to allow for creation of more immersive player experiences
  • Learned the inner workings of the Wwise Plugin API to expand my understanding of Wwise and it’s API ecosystem.

MIDI Synthesizer

Jan 2017 - May 2017 Course: Introduction to Audio Programming (ECE101L)

  • Prograbundlmmed an ARM Microcontroller to be an Additive MIDI Synthesizer.
  • Designed a system to parse and understand MIDI Commands in real-time.
  • Gained Experienced with Q-Format Integer Math

ACADEMIC GAME PROJECTS

Gameplay Programmer

September 2020 - December 2021 Aster - Team Size: 6

  • Developed a Spell Crafting and Combat Game built in Unreal Engine 4 focused on making players feel like a powerful Mage.
  • Prototyped a basic Spell interface that helps the team quickly create new and interesting spells.
  • Designed a Spell Crafting System implementation that lets players combine spell components to create a variety of unique spells.

Gameplay Programmer | Technical Director

September 2018 - April 2019 Higher Power - Team Size: 7

  • Built a VR God Game for the Oculus Rift using Unreal Engine 4.
  • Designed and Programmed a C++ Temperature System to provide new and exciting emergent gameplay experiences for our players
  • Implemented a Blueprint Wrapper around the Temperature System to help designers quickly tweek and modify the underlying logic.
  • Ensured that code quality adhered to style and performance standards by using an Unreal Style Guide.

Core Engine Programmer | Tools Programmer

Sept 2017 - April 2018 Contingency - Team Size: 7

  • Created a Custom 2D Game Engine in C++ and OpenGL with a user-friendly API.
  • Architected and Implemented a component system for dynamic Game Object Creation to allow for robost and rapid prototyping.
  • Designed and Built a scene and game object editor using ImGUI to allow our Game Designers to work in-engine with no programming required.

TEACHING & LEADERSHIP EXPERIENCE

DigiPen Institute of Technology

Teacher’s Assistant - Introduction to Audio Programming Jan 2018 - May 2020

  • Mentored over 40 students on the fundementals of audio programming.
  • Taught students how to build an Additive MIDI Synthesizer on an ARM microcontroller.
  • Graded programming assignments based on high-quality code via style and performance metrics.

ProjectFUN

Lead Instructor - Video Game Programming (AP Computer Science A) May 2018 - August 2018

  • Co-instructed a class of 30 students the foundations of Java through video game programming
  • Refined the existing course curriculum to be bought up to date with modern Comp. Sci. content
  • Engaged students in hand-on learning of Java programming with well-defined benchmarks and game development milestones

We Connect the Dots (Non-Profit)

Community Ambassador Jan 2016 - Jan 2017

  • Taught a weekly extracurricular TouchDevelop course a class of 20 5th graders to encourage the learning of Computer Science at an early age
  • Lectured an audience of 150+ students ranging from 13 - 18 on the basics of Computer Programming
  • Presented We Connect the Dots to a panel of Harvard Business School Judges as a part of a venture captial competition