Ashley Blacquiere

Experience

• 

  Activision

  Aug 2009 - May 2013

  Game Designer

  • Designed all [PROTOTYPE 2] meta-game reward systems and open world collectibles in direct consultation with the principle designer responsible for all open world systems.• Owned design and implementation of all [PROTOTYPE 2] in-game achievements for Xbox, Playstation and Steam platforms.• Fully implemented and led quality reviews of five [PROTOTYPE 2] open world missions. • Led adoption of user testing protocols in consultation with studio and head office leadership.• Developed in-depth design and physical and digital prototypes for three other unreleased video games. Show less

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  Centre for Digital Media at Great Northern Way Campus

  Jan 2011 - May 2012

  Adjunct Faculty

  • Advised two teams of three students and seven students, respectively in the development of bespoke video game projects.• Mentored all students in their chosen disciplines throughout the course of their respective projects.• Facilitated interpersonal challenges and supported extra-curricular learning processes.• Led 360 review processes for holistic supportive and critical feedback for all student participants.

• 

  KANO/APPS

  Jun 2013 - Jan 2014

  Game Designer

  • Led design on a small internal skunkworks team on an under-development social game.• Implemented and led new usability testing protocols for in-development games.• Formalized economic systems design policy for four active and highly successful social games.• Consulted on design processes with senior management and company leadership.

• 

  Techland

  Jan 2014 - Aug 2014

  Senior Game Designer

  • Led quest design activities across two separate cross-functional teams of five, including designers, artists and programmers.• Guided iterative design process for 30 side quests shipped with the commercial release of Dying Light.• Consulted with senior management on company-wide design process and staffing considerations.• Provided vital input on diverse mission critical design systems across multiple cross-functional teams.

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  University of Victoria

  Apr 2014 - Jun 2017

  Teaching Faculty

  • Developed course material for an innovative new flagship course on the history of video games.• Guided the flagship history of video games course through three iterations to a permanent home in the department of Art History and Visual Culture.• Taught over 500 students in four different departments across six semesters.• Co-organized IDEAFest Games Without Frontiers 2.0, a successful unconference about games and game culture.

• 

  Vancouver Island University

  Aug 2014 - Jun 2018

  Faculty

  • Developed and delivered course curriculum for 16 individual course sections over 8 regular semesters.• Increased visibility of video game design-related courses through cross-department consultation.• Integrated industry-standard processes into video game design-related courses.• Pioneered the use of live video recording for hybrid course delivery (pre-COVID).

• 

  North Island College

  Jul 2017 - Dec 2024

  • Direct daily operations and deliver best possible program experience for seven industry-facing, high-intensity web and mobile app development programs, ranging in length from accelerated 8-month programs to 3-year programs.• Manage program scheduling on a four-month semester basis, including course and event scheduling, requiring consultation with internal stakeholders, to ensure a stable course delivery supporting approximately 300 domestic and international students in both in-person and virtual classrooms.• Manage and assign operational tasks to faculty for program renewal and quality enhancement; maintain a backlog of tasks distributed across nine faculty members with short-, medium- and long-term roadmaps.• Work with team of nine faculty to evaluate impact of programs through engagement with multi-year program review process: Manage logistics of data collection and reporting process; assign tasks and manage deadlines in a consensus-driven environment; liaise directly with senior administration and institutional stakeholders to ensure quality metrics are achieved.• Develop relationships across the college to support program students during their program of study: Interact regularly with student advisors, accessible learning support, and student services based on collected data on cohort progression and based on needs of individual students.• Support development of a strong pipeline of graduates from diverse backgrounds transitioning to industry; maintaining an overall 85% post-graduation employment rate over the last three years. • Manage a yearly operational budget used to increase curricular engagement and opportunities for students and professional development opportunities for faculty. Show less Contribute to institution-wide governance as a member of North Island College’s Education Council, a BC Colleges and Institutes Act mandated committee that has oversight over all educational policies and initiatives at the institution.Education Council (member): 2022 - currentAcademic Governance committee (member): 2022 - currentAcademic Governance committee (chair): 2022 - 2023Common Professional Development committee (member): 2021 - 2023Professional Development committee (member): 2019 - 2023Academic Integrity committee (member): 2018 - current Show less • Developed and delivered computer science course curriculum for 33 individual course sections over 14 regular semesters, focusing on: Kotlin and Android development and web development and the development of an entrepreneurial mindset.• Integrated open-source principles, ethics, and best practices into essential coursework for required flagship first-year software engineering course; students developed bespoke relationships with OSS communities and developed an internal OSS project.• Collaborated on a complete program renewal of DIGITAL Design + Development programs to establish a mastery-based computer science curriculum, in consultation with faculty, college administration, and 40-member program advisory committee resulting in a 50% increase to enrolment in the subsequent academic year.• Enhanced access to professional development funds and opportunities across North Island College through improvements to policy and processes, through advocacy with faculty across the institution and in consultation with pan-institutional partners.• Led implementation of Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FIPPA) best practices in the DIGITAL Design + Development department, triggering further adoption across multiple program areas and an enhancement to institutional policy.• Develop relationships with external industry partners and Program Advisory Committee to ensure program relevance to industry; successfully increased tenure of Program Advisory Committee membership over five years through regular and ongoing engagement and data-driven decision-making.• Partnered with Regional Leaders of Open Education in the development of a draft strategic plan for the adoption and support of open educational resources (OER) at North Island College; advocated for the implementation of the same across college senior administration. Show less

  • Department Chair, DIGITAL Design + Development

    Sept 2022 - Dec 2024

  • Committee membership

    Aug 2017 - Dec 2024

  • Faculty, DIGITAL Design + Development

    Jul 2017 - Dec 2024
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  Lean FRO

  Dec 2024 - now

  Sr. Operations Manager

  Supporting the development of Lean!