Leiden University — Leiden, The Netherlands
Marcello A. Gómez Maureira
Researcher and Designer
Marcello - or Maro for short - loves his work. Sure, at times it can feel like a one-sided relationship, when he battles on only armed with coffee, aiming for the perfect result. But nonetheless, it remains his trusty companion through life. He is ambitious, a bit geeky, fascinated by good design, and a challenging conversation partner when discussing the topics he feels passionate about.
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Lecturer
"Introduction to Programming" (MSc.; 2017-2019), "Introduction to Video Game Making" (BSc.; since 2017), "Game Design, Story-Telling and Society: An Interdisciplinary Hackaton" (BSc.; 2018-2019)", "Hands-On: Reflective Game Development in Action" (BSc.; since 2019)", "Creative Programming" (MSc.; since 2020), "Video Games for Research" (MSc.; since 2021).
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Graduation Coordinator
Leiden University — Leiden, The Netherlands
Research and organisation support for graduating students of the Media Technology MSc. at Leiden University.
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Co-Owner
Dandy Unicorns VOF — Zoetermeer, The Netherlands
Dandy Unicorns is a Dutch VOF made up of the dynamic duo Marcello Gómez Maureira and Isabelle Kniestedt. Our core specialties are the fields of Graphic Design, Animation, (Digital) Games, Interactive Applications, Visualizations, and Web Design.
Find earlier positions here ...
Previous Positions
Education
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Ph.D. Curiosity in Digital Games
Leiden University — Leiden, The Netherlands
Research into invoking curiosity within and through digital games.
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Ph.D. Curiosity in Digital Games
University of Malta — Malta
First year only; continuation at Leiden University
-
M.Sc. Media Technology
Leiden University — Leiden, Netherlands
Graduation Thesis: "The Impact of Co-Located Play on Social Presence and Game Experience in Virtual Reality Games"
Graduated Cum Laude
-
B.Eng. Game Architecture & Design
Breda University of Applied Sciences — Breda, Netherlands
Visual Artist Track. Graduation Thesis: "SuperTux: A Song of Ice and Metrics - Comparing Metrics, Biometrics and Classic Methodologies for Improving Level Design"
Graduated Cum Laude
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Diploma in Mechatronics
Federal Technical College of Engineering — Mödling, Austria
Graduation Project: "Toothbrush Test Bench - Construction of a mechanical test apparatus"
Graduated Cum Laude
Honors & Awards
-
CHI Nederland: Gerrit van der Veer Award
The 'Gerrit van der Veer Prijs' is an initiative of CHI Netherlands and awards the best HCI thesis from Universities and Colleges. The award is named after the still active HCI education pioneer and co-founder of CHI Netherlands: Gerrit van der Veer (see website)
-
Huygens Talent Scholarship 2011
Launched in 2006, the Huygens Scholarship Programme was aimed at the inbound and outbound mobility and development of talented students, with the ultimate aim of strengthening the Netherland's knowledge-based economy as well as serving as a promotional tool for Dutch higher education. The programme had two key components: Huygens Dutch Talent (Huygens NL) for excellent Dutch students wanting to continue their studies abroad, and Huygens Internationaal Talent (Huygens INT) for excellent international students seeking to continue their studies in the Netherlands.
Review Activities
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16th International Conference on the Foundations of Digital Games 2021
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2021 ACM Designing Interactive Systems (DIS) conference
-
2021 ACM CHI Virtual Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems
-
2nd Multidisciplinary International Symposium on Disinformation in Open Online Media
-
International Conference on the Foundations of Digital Games 2020
-
IEEE Transactions on Affective Computing (April 2019)
-
Entertainment Computing
-
International Conference on the Foundations of Digital Games 2018
-
Entertainment Computing
-
10th Digital Games Research Association Conference
-
14th Advances in Computer Entertainment Technology Conference
-
IEEE Transactions on Affective Computing (Nov 2016)
-
ACM SIGCHI Conference on Designing Interactive Systems 2016
-
13th Advances in Computer Entertainment Technology Conference
-
12th Advances in Computer Entertainment Technology Conference
Student Supervision
-
Edith Järv — All Work and No Play Makes Jack an Inefficient Employee – A Study on Video Games’ Effects on Sustained Attention
Together with Iris Yocarini
-
Romy Koch — Losing yourself; the bidirectional influence of the player and the role in table top role playing games
Together with Max J. van Duijn
-
Jeannette Shijie Ma — Eating Sound Dataset for 20 Food Types and Sound Classification Using Convolutional Neural Networks
Together with Jan N. van Rijn
-
Claudia M. Agustini Quiroz — Narrative Choices and Agency
Together with Max J. van Duijn
-
Lotte van der Kamp — First Person vs. Third Person perspective in a digital Memory Palace
Together with Tessa Verhoef
-
Giulio Barbero — Intentionality and Engagement: The effects of video game engagement on mindreading performance
Together with Max J. van Duijn
-
Yanni Xiong — Gamified Learning: Using Narrative to Enhance Second Language Learning
Together with Fons J. Verbeek
-
Pinhsien Lee — Bring you closer to me: Does visually co-located video-mediated-communication draw more attention to the conversation?
Together with Maarten H. Lamers
-
Joëlle Zweekhorst, Nadine Roos and Ayla Koster — Escape Womb
Together with the Media Technology teaching team
-
Suus De Kock — Heritage Hunt - Developing a Roleplaying Game for Heritage Museums
Together with Stefano Gualeni
-
Adiel Ghafoerkhan — Mood Journaling - An Exploration Of Real Time Mood Developments As A Function Of Heart Rate
Together with Edwin van der Heide
Other Activities
-
International Summer School in Affective Sciences (ISSAS) (2 Weeks)
-
Introduction to Cognitive Neuroscience: From Molecule to Behavior (1 Week)
-
Being in an Online World – Towards a New Digital Psychology (1 Week)
-
Philosophy of Computer Games Conference (POCG) 2016
Previous Positions
-
Director
Placeholder Interactive Ltd. — Malta
Placeholder Interactive Limited (aka PHI Ltd.) is the actual, non-placeholder, name of a game company in Malta working on video games for the classroom. The first project 'Ariana's Magical Journal on Light' received funding from the Malta Information Technology Agency.
-
Lecturer
University of Malta — Malta
Teaching the elective course "Creating Virtual Worlds" to Bachelor and Master students.
-
Research Support Officer
University of Malta — Malta
Research and design work as part of the Erasmus+ funded game development project "FORETELL".
-
Teaching Assistant
University of Malta — Malta
Assisting with the course "Affective Computing", teaching Master students about analyzing and measuring physiological responses for the purpose of understanding and modifying player behavior in digital games.
-
Co-Owner
Dandy Unicorns Ltd. — Malta
Dandy Unicorns Ltd. was a Malta-based company working on Graphic Design, Animation, (Digital) Games, Interactive Applications, Visualizations, and Web Design. The company was closed and re-opened in The Netherlands in 2017.
-
Research Assistant
Breda University of Applied Sciences — Breda, The Netherlands
Research into the visualisation of video game player data to support informed design decisions
-
Teaching Assistant
Leiden University — Leiden, The Netherlands
Assisting with the courses "Introduction to Programming", "Human Computer Interaction", and "Embodied Vision" (focus on Virtual Reality)
-
Research Assistant
Breda University of Applied Sciences — Breda, The Netherlands
Assisting research into location-based content delivery as evaluated in a CAVE environment. Support and supervision in Bachelor graduation projects.
-
Teaching Assistant
Breda University of Applied Sciences — Breda, The Netherlands
Assisting with the courses 'Ludology' and 'Game Architecture'
-
Freelance Game and Interface Designer
Double Jungle — Breda, The Netherlands
Project work on an unreleased browser game
-
Research Intern
Breda University of Applied Sciences — Breda, The Netherlands
Internship at the NHTV Medialab with a focus on Biometric QA research.
-
Freelance Visual Artist and Interface Designer
Double Jungle — Breda, The Netherlands
Project work on the critically acclaimed action-puzzle video game "Gua-Le-Ni" released for iOS (www.gua-le-ni.com)
-
Freelance Game Designer
ForwardGames S.r.l. — Breda, The Netherlands
Design work for an unreleased Nintendo DS game.
-
Trainee Cinematic Artist
Playlogic Game Factory — Breda, The Netherlands
Cinematic Artist on the game "Fairy Tale Fights" for Xbox360 and PlayStation 3.
-
Game Tester
Playlogic Game Factory — Breda, The Netherlands
-
Design Engineer Intern
LMF — Leobersdorf, Austria
-
Lecturer
"Introduction to Programming" (MSc.; 2017-2019), "Introduction to Video Game Making" (BSc.; since 2017), "Game Design, Story-Telling and Society: An Interdisciplinary Hackaton" (BSc.; 2018-2019)", "Hands-On: Reflective Game Development in Action" (BSc.; since 2019)", "Creative Programming" (MSc.; since 2020), "Video Games for Research" (MSc.; since 2021).
-
Graduation CoordinatorLeiden University — Leiden, The Netherlands
Research and organisation support for graduating students of the Media Technology MSc. at Leiden University.
-
Co-OwnerDandy Unicorns VOF — Zoetermeer, The Netherlands
Dandy Unicorns is a Dutch VOF made up of the dynamic duo Marcello Gómez Maureira and Isabelle Kniestedt. Our core specialties are the fields of Graphic Design, Animation, (Digital) Games, Interactive Applications, Visualizations, and Web Design.
Find earlier positions here ...
Previous Positions
Education
-
Ph.D. Curiosity in Digital GamesLeiden University — Leiden, The NetherlandsResearch into invoking curiosity within and through digital games.
-
Ph.D. Curiosity in Digital GamesUniversity of Malta — MaltaFirst year only; continuation at Leiden University
-
M.Sc. Media TechnologyLeiden University — Leiden, NetherlandsGraduation Thesis: "The Impact of Co-Located Play on Social Presence and Game Experience in Virtual Reality Games"Graduated Cum Laude
-
B.Eng. Game Architecture & DesignBreda University of Applied Sciences — Breda, NetherlandsVisual Artist Track. Graduation Thesis: "SuperTux: A Song of Ice and Metrics - Comparing Metrics, Biometrics and Classic Methodologies for Improving Level Design"Graduated Cum Laude
-
Diploma in MechatronicsFederal Technical College of Engineering — Mödling, AustriaGraduation Project: "Toothbrush Test Bench - Construction of a mechanical test apparatus"Graduated Cum Laude
Honors & Awards
-
CHI Nederland: Gerrit van der Veer Award
The 'Gerrit van der Veer Prijs' is an initiative of CHI Netherlands and awards the best HCI thesis from Universities and Colleges. The award is named after the still active HCI education pioneer and co-founder of CHI Netherlands: Gerrit van der Veer (see website)
-
Huygens Talent Scholarship 2011
Launched in 2006, the Huygens Scholarship Programme was aimed at the inbound and outbound mobility and development of talented students, with the ultimate aim of strengthening the Netherland's knowledge-based economy as well as serving as a promotional tool for Dutch higher education. The programme had two key components: Huygens Dutch Talent (Huygens NL) for excellent Dutch students wanting to continue their studies abroad, and Huygens Internationaal Talent (Huygens INT) for excellent international students seeking to continue their studies in the Netherlands.
Review Activities
-
16th International Conference on the Foundations of Digital Games 2021
-
2021 ACM Designing Interactive Systems (DIS) conference
-
2021 ACM CHI Virtual Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems
-
2nd Multidisciplinary International Symposium on Disinformation in Open Online Media
-
International Conference on the Foundations of Digital Games 2020
-
IEEE Transactions on Affective Computing (April 2019)
-
Entertainment Computing
-
International Conference on the Foundations of Digital Games 2018
-
Entertainment Computing
-
10th Digital Games Research Association Conference
-
14th Advances in Computer Entertainment Technology Conference
-
IEEE Transactions on Affective Computing (Nov 2016)
-
ACM SIGCHI Conference on Designing Interactive Systems 2016
-
13th Advances in Computer Entertainment Technology Conference
-
12th Advances in Computer Entertainment Technology Conference
Student Supervision
-
Edith Järv — All Work and No Play Makes Jack an Inefficient Employee – A Study on Video Games’ Effects on Sustained AttentionTogether with Iris Yocarini
-
Romy Koch — Losing yourself; the bidirectional influence of the player and the role in table top role playing gamesTogether with Max J. van Duijn
-
Jeannette Shijie Ma — Eating Sound Dataset for 20 Food Types and Sound Classification Using Convolutional Neural NetworksTogether with Jan N. van Rijn
-
Claudia M. Agustini Quiroz — Narrative Choices and AgencyTogether with Max J. van Duijn
-
Lotte van der Kamp — First Person vs. Third Person perspective in a digital Memory PalaceTogether with Tessa Verhoef
-
Giulio Barbero — Intentionality and Engagement: The effects of video game engagement on mindreading performanceTogether with Max J. van Duijn
-
Yanni Xiong — Gamified Learning: Using Narrative to Enhance Second Language LearningTogether with Fons J. Verbeek
-
Pinhsien Lee — Bring you closer to me: Does visually co-located video-mediated-communication draw more attention to the conversation?Together with Maarten H. Lamers
-
Joëlle Zweekhorst, Nadine Roos and Ayla Koster — Escape WombTogether with the Media Technology teaching team
-
Suus De Kock — Heritage Hunt - Developing a Roleplaying Game for Heritage MuseumsTogether with Stefano Gualeni
-
Adiel Ghafoerkhan — Mood Journaling - An Exploration Of Real Time Mood Developments As A Function Of Heart RateTogether with Edwin van der Heide
Other Activities
-
International Summer School in Affective Sciences (ISSAS) (2 Weeks)
-
Introduction to Cognitive Neuroscience: From Molecule to Behavior (1 Week)
-
Being in an Online World – Towards a New Digital Psychology (1 Week)
-
Philosophy of Computer Games Conference (POCG) 2016
Previous Positions
-
DirectorPlaceholder Interactive Ltd. — Malta
Placeholder Interactive Limited (aka PHI Ltd.) is the actual, non-placeholder, name of a game company in Malta working on video games for the classroom. The first project 'Ariana's Magical Journal on Light' received funding from the Malta Information Technology Agency.
-
LecturerUniversity of Malta — Malta
Teaching the elective course "Creating Virtual Worlds" to Bachelor and Master students.
-
Research Support OfficerUniversity of Malta — Malta
Research and design work as part of the Erasmus+ funded game development project "FORETELL".
-
Teaching AssistantUniversity of Malta — Malta
Assisting with the course "Affective Computing", teaching Master students about analyzing and measuring physiological responses for the purpose of understanding and modifying player behavior in digital games.
-
Co-OwnerDandy Unicorns Ltd. — Malta
Dandy Unicorns Ltd. was a Malta-based company working on Graphic Design, Animation, (Digital) Games, Interactive Applications, Visualizations, and Web Design. The company was closed and re-opened in The Netherlands in 2017.
-
Research AssistantBreda University of Applied Sciences — Breda, The Netherlands
Research into the visualisation of video game player data to support informed design decisions
-
Teaching AssistantLeiden University — Leiden, The Netherlands
Assisting with the courses "Introduction to Programming", "Human Computer Interaction", and "Embodied Vision" (focus on Virtual Reality)
-
Research AssistantBreda University of Applied Sciences — Breda, The Netherlands
Assisting research into location-based content delivery as evaluated in a CAVE environment. Support and supervision in Bachelor graduation projects.
-
Teaching AssistantBreda University of Applied Sciences — Breda, The Netherlands
Assisting with the courses 'Ludology' and 'Game Architecture'
-
Freelance Game and Interface DesignerDouble Jungle — Breda, The Netherlands
Project work on an unreleased browser game
-
Research InternBreda University of Applied Sciences — Breda, The Netherlands
Internship at the NHTV Medialab with a focus on Biometric QA research.
-
Freelance Visual Artist and Interface DesignerDouble Jungle — Breda, The Netherlands
Project work on the critically acclaimed action-puzzle video game "Gua-Le-Ni" released for iOS (www.gua-le-ni.com)
-
Freelance Game DesignerForwardGames S.r.l. — Breda, The Netherlands
Design work for an unreleased Nintendo DS game.
-
Trainee Cinematic ArtistPlaylogic Game Factory — Breda, The Netherlands
Cinematic Artist on the game "Fairy Tale Fights" for Xbox360 and PlayStation 3.
-
Game TesterPlaylogic Game Factory — Breda, The Netherlands
-
Design Engineer InternLMF — Leobersdorf, Austria