Kevin Biloski
Alumni Profile: Kevin Biloski, HBSC '07
Kevin Biloski was born in Thunder Bay in 1985. Ever since he was young he has held an interest in computers and videogames. He finds computers fascinating and never passes up a chance to learn more about them. During high school Kevin built his first computer and also began troubleshooting and building computer systems for family and friends. He took his first real leap into the world of programming when he was 14 by modifying the artificial intelligence used to control computer players in Counter-Strike, a first person shooter. Afterwards, he was hooked and knew that he wanted to explore the world of programming even further. Kevin graduated from Hammarskjold High School in 2003 and set his sights on Lakehead University and its HBSc. Computer Science degree. Of his time at school, Kevin says:
“Lakehead showed me the world beyond code syntax. There are many ways to approach a programming problem, all with their benefits and downsides. The ability to critically analyze potential algorithms leads to efficient and effective coding solutions. While studying at Lakehead, I discovered I had natural ability in finding ‘edge cases’ in programming problems by viewing them from different perspectives. An edge case may result in software failure or unexpected behavior and often requires special handling by a programmer. Edge cases are easy to overlook and may not be handled in the initial design, but it’s possible to identify them during testing, as I do now.”
Kevin graduated with honours from Lakehead in 2007 and made a life – changing move to Reykjavik, Iceland in January of 2008 to accept a job with CCP as a Quality Assurance Tester. CCP (Crowd Control Productions) is an Icelandic video game developer and publisher with offices in Iceland, Shanghai and Atlanta. The company’s flagship title is “Eve Online”, a massive multiplayer online game which takes place in a science fiction universe.
A tester at CCP, like Kevin, is responsible for ensuring a game feature is of good quality and results in an enjoyable experience. There are many areas of the software to test, including the game mechanics, graphics engine, sound engine, and translations. Being able to switch between these different areas and share knowledge with peers is critical in being a good tester. Due to his technical knowledge, Kevin works with the programmers responsible for developing “Trinity”, CCP’s own custom graphics engine. In addition to feature testing, he performs a mix of hardware, performance, and stability testing to ensure that the client is robust for the end user. “Patch days” are exciting and really test your ability to work under pressure, says Kevin. When the company releases a patch for “Eve”, the Quality Assurance Team performs a dry-run. A dry-run is a series of checks to verify the game is working correctly on the production server. Kevin actually has developed a reputation for finding some of the more serious bugs on patch day. Last year, his manager even coined the term, “The Biloski Effect”. The Biloski Effect is the discovery of a critical game - breaking bug that prevents the game developers from opening the server to players until it has been fixed.
“Looking back, it’s amazing to see how such seemingly small choices brought me to where I am today. It requires a lot of courage to take the idea of working in a foreign country and run with it. The videogame industry is a highly competitive ever changing field and moving to a new continent is no easy task. My advice to others would be to take every opportunity to achieve your dreams once you graduate as there are fewer barriers holding you back. Owning a house, a car and starting a family make it much more difficult to do this later on in life.”
Kevin credits his current success, in a field of work which he is passionate about, to a combination of factors:
“My own ambition, in addition to my parents’ support, high school teachers, and university professors at Lakehead all helped to create the supportive environment I needed to succeed. I was driven and motivated to develop small games for my programming projects that went beyond the concepts and examples covered in classes and lectures. My parents always tell me to live my life to the fullest and do the things I love to do. Although it seemed like an impossible idea at the time, I’m now living out my childhood dream here in Iceland.”
Kevin Biloski currently resides in Reykjavik, Iceland. Since his graduation from Lakehead University he has also travelled to Germany, France, Italy, Mexico, and Morocco. In his spare time he enjoys biking, paintball, and photography. The photo above was taken during the historic Fimmvörðuháls volcanic eruption in Southern Iceland which occurred earlier this year.
