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Veronika Megler

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Veronika Megler
Born
Veronika Margaret Megler

(1960-10-14) 14 October 1960 (age 64)
NationalityAustralian
EducationMac.Robertson Girls' High School
Alma materUniversity of Melbourne (BSc)
Portland State University (MSc, PhD)
Scientific career
FieldsComputer science  • data science
InstitutionsBeam Software
IBM
Amazon
ThesisRanked Similarity Search of Scientific Datasets: An Information Retrieval Approach (2014)
Doctoral advisorDavid E. Maier
Websitewww.veronikamegler.com

Veronika Margaret Megler (born 14 October 1960)[1] is an Australian computer scientist. As of 2024, Megler is a principal data scientist at Amazon.com,[2] and is known as the co-developer of The Hobbit, a 1982 text adventure game adapted from the novel by J. R. R. Tolkien.

Education

Megler was born in 1960, and educated in Melbourne at Mac.Robertson Girls' High School, where she was school valedictorian in science. She began studying science at the University of Melbourne, intending to major in statistics but switching to a computer science major which she found more enjoyable.[3][4]

Beam Software

At university, she saw a job notice for a position as a programmer at video game development studio Beam Software/Melbourne House, which she successfully applied for, becoming the company's first employee.[5] She recruited her friend, Philip Mitchell, into Beam and the two began working on an illustrated interactive fiction game based on The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien, with Megler concentrating on the game's physics system and a measure of autonomy for non-player characters.[4][6][7][8]

Megler and Mitchell also developed another Beam game, Penetrator, also released in 1982.[9]

Computer science career

Prior to her graduation from the University of Melbourne, Megler resigned from Beam to concentrate on her studies, and Mitchell remained to complete the ZX Spectrum version. Megler worked at IBM as an information technology architect, operating system expert and consultant. In 2009, she left IBM to study for a master's degree and PhD in computer science for scientific big data at Portland State University.[4] As of February 2024, Megler lives in Portland, Oregon and is a principal data scientist at Amazon.com.[2][10][11]

References

  1. ^ "Megler, Veronika Margaret, 1960-". Library of Congress Name Authority File. Library of Congress. Retrieved 31 August 2021.
  2. ^ a b "Veronika Megler – Principal, Data Scientist". Amazon Science. Retrieved 9 February 2024.
  3. ^ Mason, Graeme (22 September 2022). "'I saw the possibility of what could be done – so I did it': revolutionary video game The Hobbit turns 40". The Guardian. Retrieved 9 February 2024.
  4. ^ a b c "Veronika Megler". Play It Again... Remembering 1980's gaming. Our Digital Heritage. Retrieved 13 February 2020.
  5. ^ "The Hobbit and his Lady". L'avventura è l'avventura. Retrieved 13 February 2020.
  6. ^ Sharwood, Simon (18 November 2012). "Author of '80s classic The Hobbit didn't know game was a hit". The Register. Retrieved 9 February 2024.
  7. ^ "The Hobbit". Australian Centre for the Moving Image. Retrieved 9 February 2024.
  8. ^ Stuckey, Helen (2023). "Melbourne House: The House of Hits 1980s Melbourne and the Early History of Australian Videogame Design" (PDF). RMIT Design Archives Journal. 13 (1). RMIT University: 47–55. Retrieved 9 February 2024.
  9. ^ Rollings, Andrew. The ZX Spectrum Book – 1982 to 199X. ISBN 9780977998395.
  10. ^ Stuckey, Helen. "Interview with Hobbit designer Veronika Megler on Storytelling by Luke C. Jackson". Play It Again... Australasian Digital Heritage. Retrieved 13 February 2020.
  11. ^ "Veronika Megler". LinkedIn.com. 26 January 2023. Retrieved 26 January 2023.
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