Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Ada Lovelace Day Post - Corrinne Yu

Today is Ada Lovelace Day, and I signed a pledge to blog about a Lady Computer Scientist on this day.

I chose to blog about Corrinne Yu, who is basically one of the most amazing people I had never heard of (until recently).

She is a GIANT in the field of game development. What do you think of when you think of computer games? Specifically, what do you think of when you think of the following?

Brothers in Arms: Hell's Highway
Aliens: Colonial Marines
Halo

I'll tell you. You think of guys. Geeky guys. Well, guess what? Corrinne Yu is a big part of all of those games. She codes, she write the engines that support these games. She's a technical big shot. And this is her:




I can't believe I had never heard of her. I'm not really into games, but a hott Asian chick kicking ass and taking names in a male-dominated computing field? She's my freakin' hero(ine)!!! She is a dramatically different member of the game development community by stereotype, but not by skill or prowess, and that is what I really respect and admire. It's hard to kick ass and not fit in, and she does it. Kudos to her.

So, Corrinne was the Director of Technology at Gearbox Games (yes, Director of Technology), but was hired away by Microsoft to lead the Halo development team. Halo. Halo. Talk about SHE MUST KICK SERIOUS ASS. I love it. I don't play games, but I must say, I was blown away and excited by the knowledge of her existence, and I must share.

To read more about Corrinne, check out this interview with her: Linky.

7 comments:

Yewtree said...

You should add her to the list of women computer scientists on Wikipedia.

Julie @ Bunsen Burner Bakery said...

Hawt!

Indeed, when I think of Halo, it conjures up images of my geeky high school friends returning home from college for the summer, carrying TVs and Xboxes from their homes to the home of the HeadGeek so they could set up a 16-player Halo game in 4 rooms of his house. I, of course, being a non-gaming, less-geeky female, was not permitted to participate (but was deemed geeky enough to warrant an invitation to watch). What does NOT come to mind is a hot Asian woman.

I am going to forward the interview on to all those geeky friends. They will be amazed (and drool).

Alyssa said...

That is really cool! Thanks for posting this! I don't know why, but I love to hear about scientists that are smokin' hot women!

Jane said...

Oh, cool! My intro students love to hear about game developers...thanks for giving me another (and female!) name to add to the list.

Hermitage said...

Well, now I have no choice but to go play Halo (even) more in female solidarity. Go Corrine!

ScienceGirl said...

It is quite amazing to see a woman kick ass in the gaming community, which tends to be even more male-dominated than the rest of the field. Go Corrinne, and great post, PhizzleDizzle!

Silver Fox said...

Great post!