Professor Game Podcast

During the last 6 years, he has been teaching courses in the Operations Management area at undergrad, graduate and executive levels. Although he loves teaching, he realized how old fashioned and non-effective is the traditional way of teaching. Based on that experience, he founded GameLab in 2013, an EdTech company that develops online and short-term simulators that enhance the motivation, engagement and learning experience of students at Business Schools. How?... transforming the classroom into a playground!

Mario has been living in Silicon Valley since 2001. He is researching technology trends, writing books and consulting companies on topics such as Innovation, Silicon Valley Mindset, Foresight Mindset, Automotive, Artificial Intelligence, Creativity, Intrapreneurship. For many years he worked at SAP as a development manager and innovation strategist. Now he helps companies on how they can apply the innovative and entrepreneurial spirit from Silicon Valley in their organizations, to be more innovative and discover trends and tipping points earlier and influence them. He gives keynotes about these topics and conducts workshops on Foresight Mindset, Artificial Intelligence, Innovation, Silicon Valley-Mindset, Automotive, Creativity, and Intrapreneurship. He also looks at signals of emerging technology trends and how they impact society, politics or employment. He also hosts and meets delegations from other countries and bring them contact with people and companies in Silicon Valley.

Nick Metzler has been designing games since he was 4. As a two-time award-winning designer in the Toy and Game Industry, Nick has pushed the boundaries of what board games could be, having worked with major licenses such as Marvel and Disney and integrated smart speakers into his game design. He's designed challenges for Survivor, helped design an experimental entrepreneurship class at USC taught entirely through game simulations, and has gamified theme park rides. He was recently published in a book about creativity in board games and was named in the top 100 most influential people in the Toy and Game Industry in 2018 and 2019. His first game hit market when he was 17 after winning the Chicago Toy and Game Fair Young Inventors Challenge for a second time and has over 20 games in market today. He is 26 at the recording of this episode.

Ibrahim Jabary is the CEO and one of the founders of Gamelearn, where he has participated in the concept of all the videogames of the company. He studied business. Later, he did his MBA at IE Business school. After a career in international companies and his experience at Jabary Consulting, a face-to-face training company for managerial skills, he embarked on the adventure of founding Gamelearn in 2007. This is how he has become a pioneer in the development of videogames for corporate learning and is a reference for game-based learning, named Innovator of the Year by the learning! Media Group twice.

Toby Beresford is an expert on using gamification and statistical metrics in business to build the best working teams. He has appeared on Sky News, as a keynote speaker and has written about gamification for .net magazine and others. Toby has worked with organizations large and small including IBM, PwC and has even gamified the United Nations to encourage UN staff to use social media to promote the work of the UN.

Brian began his fascinating and unique career as a Walt Disney Imagineer, where he helped "create the magic" for Disney's Florida theme parks before going on to produce work for a who's-who list of corporations and small entrepreneurial ventures. Along the way, he became a passionate educator, serving as an adjunct professor at several schools and as an Innovation Specialist for online education. Later in his career, he developed a deep understanding of new and emerging technologies, and, most importantly, how they apply to business, the military and in learning environments. He is now considered somewhat of an expert in this area, often exploring the most exotic "sci-fi" tech that's out there…or on the way. A sought-after Innovation Consultant through his practice known as The Brainstorm Institute, Brian combines his design-thinking skills and technology know-how with a strategic business acumen, enabling him to offer creative, design, and planning experiences for his clients. As head of VR/Simulations and Strategic Initiatives with the premier game design and content creation studio Magic Bytes, his focus is to make sure the company stays at the forefront of innovation by making sure their team leverages the latest and most relevant XR/VR gaming and design technologies available. An accomplished speaker, Brian is often interviewed on podcasts and is available to deliver keynote addresses, lectures and workshops or other corporate or conference presentations. Brian lives in Orlando, FL, USA and enjoys serving his clients around the world!

Sylvester Arnab- professor of Game Science, who is the applied innovation lead at the Disruptive Media Learning Lab of Coventry University, an associate of the Centre for Post-Digital Cultures, and the co-founder of the award-winning GameChangers initiative.

Andrew Lau is the CEO and founder of Think Codex – a multiple award-winning Gamification Organization headquartered in Malaysia. He is also the current Chair of the International Gamification Confederation (GamFed) – which is a community of gamification experts, academia and professionals from around the world. During his university years, he averaged 16 hours of video gaming daily for up to 2 weeks straight only to repeat the pattern after 1-2 days break. Back then he was passionate about gaming, but now he is passionate about the science and art behind games - which is the whole area of Gamification.

Emil is the founder of Hubro Education, who develop learning games for business education. He founded the company after a professor approached him, frustrated that he couldn't find a learning game that met his requirements. Today, their simulation games are used in 14 countries all around the world.

Bill Watson is an Associate Professor of Learning Design and Technology in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction at Purdue University and director of the Purdue Center for Serious Games and Learning in Virtual Environments. His research focuses on the critical, systemic change of education to realize a personalized paradigm, including the application of technology such as video games and digital badges, and the envisioning of new learning management systems to support this paradigm.