jacob dorais, general programming intern
Tell us about you! Introduce you in a couple of sentences.
Let me introduce myself, Jacob Dorais, I like puzzles as well as my different Rubik cubes, and video games (my all-time favorite is Half-Life, but I also loved Crysis 2, Getting over it and these days I am very much on Bullets per minutes). I grew up in Saint-Hubert and I still live there, with my spouse and my 2 daughters-in-law.
What are you studying?
Software engineering at Polytechnique, multimedia concentration. I made it to my last session!
What made you choose Eidos-Sherbrooke?
I was interested in the position, but also by the fact that the studio is entirely dedicated to research and development, and I wanted to experience this facet of video games!
What was your role at Eidos-Sherbrooke?
I was a Generalist programmer on the multi-node game engine project. I was a bit of a general-purpose programmer, working on several projects at the same time.
What’s the best thing/lesson your learnt during your internship?
Apart from my constant learning on technical programming, I learned a lot about project management, studio management and career management, thanks to my very pragmatic Team Lead! And since the studio teams are tightly knit, I was able to interact with everyone, even the studio manager, which was very instructive for me.
What’s a thing you accomplished during your internship that you’re proud of?
I can’t go into too much detail, but I’m proud of the projects I’m involved with because I’m sure that eventually a lot of games will use the proceeds of our efforts.
Any advice for students who would like to pursue a career in video games?
I advise you not to just limit yourself to the school curriculum. If you want to stack the odds in your favor, you have to stand out. Try to participate in a game-jam, do a small personal project or a project with your friends, even if it remains small and incomplete.
françois hébert, machine learning intern
Tell us about you! Introduce you in a couple of sentences.
Nature buff, I love hiking and camping deep in the woods. Plus, I especially like finding out how things work and digging into various “rabbit holes”. In 2019, my curiosity was piqued by the performance of the AI Alpha Star in the game Starcraft 2. A mechanical engineer by training, I went back to school, specializing in Artificial Intelligence to better understand this new field.
What are you studying?
A Master of Computer Science with a specialization in Artificial Intelligence
What made you choose Eidos-Sherbrooke?
The people! During the hiring process, I had the chance to meet several members of Eidos-Sherbrooke and I was charmed by their humanity and their sense of humor. It is also for this reason that I agreed to continue the adventure with this wonderful team!
What was your role at Eidos-Sherbrooke?
I was a Machine Learning Intern.
What’s the best thing/lesson your learnt during your internship?
Learn to ask for help faster. The studio is full of talented people who are always ready to help. It allowed me to get to know my colleagues better and to develop solutions more quickly.
What’s a thing you accomplished during your internship that you’re proud of?
I worked on an image recognition model that generates a 3D scene from a simple hand sketch.
Any advice for students who would like to pursue a career in video games?
Develop your curiosity and don’t wait until you have all the knowledge before experimenting. The world of video games is an excellent “sandbox” for learning while having fun.
Thomas Gervaise, GENERALIST PROGRAMMING INTERN
Tell us about you! Introduce you in a couple of sentences.
Hi ! My name is Thomas, and I came to Quebec to finish my computer engineering studies (started in France) by specializing in video games. As you will probably have guessed, I really like video games, especially FPS and MOBAs, but not only! I also have a strong passion for travel and history.
What are you studying?
In France, I was studying General Computer Science as part of my engineering training. I then did a DESS in video game development at the University of Sherbrooke, then a Master’s Degree which will be validated at the end of my internship.
What made you choose Eidos-Sherbrooke?
I have always had a certain attraction for research. Being at Eidos-Sherbrooke, I had the opportunity to combine a first research experience with video games, which seemed perfect to me.
What was your role at Eidos-Sherbrooke?
Officially, Generalist Programmer at Eidos-Sherbrooke in the Voxels group. I assisted in the development of our project by refactoring and adding features to better serve our objectives.
What’s the best thing/lesson your learnt during your internship?
I am happy with all the new concepts that I was able to learn during the internship, whether they are theoretical (related to voxels), or more technical, such as engine implementation and knowledge of the engine itself.
What’s a thing you accomplished during your internship that you’re proud of?
I think this is the refactoring of our algorithm to detect separations in groups of voxels. I was able to considerably reduce the time required for these operations. There is nothing more satisfying than seeing a runtime melt away iteration after iteration!
Any advice for students who would like to pursue a career in video games?
The field of video games is really accessible. If you want to put the odds in your favor, start creating prototypes with friends now, doing game jams, etc. Any experience is good to take and will be valued later!
