About

About me

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My name is Alexej Zhukov and I'm a 23-year-old master's student. I was born in Drogheda, Republic of Ireland, and have lived in Cambridge for nearly my entire life. I hold an upper-second-class honours degree in Computer Games (BSc) from the University of Essex, and I am currently pursuing a master's degree in Games Engineering (MSc) at the University of Warwick.

Even before university, I was always passionate about technical work, such as using Adobe software for video editing, creating effects, animations, and working with technical equipment like cameras and computers—all of which I have experience in. Over time, my focus has evolved toward STEM-related tasks, particularly programming and development. This has further enhanced my technical skills, especially through projects like my dissertation, where I recreated a classic 2D arcade game in Unity, introducing subtle changes to give it a unique twist.

I have extensive experience with Adobe Photoshop, Adobe After Effects, Adobe Premier Pro, Unity C#, Blender, Visual Studio, Intellij IDEA, and Unreal Engine C++, gained academically as well as in my own time.

Education

I have a upper-second-class degree with honours from University of Essex in Computer Games (BSc). Modules (all 15 credit unless stated otherwise) completed include:

Y1 - Team Project Challenge
Y1 - Mathematics for Computing
Y1 - Introduction to Programming
Y1 - Object-Oriented Programming
Y1 - Introduction to Databases
Y1 - Web Development
Y1 - Network Fundamentals
Y1 - Fundamentals of Digital Systems

Y2 - Team Project Challenge
Y2 - Application Programming
Y2 - Data Structures and Algorithms
Y2 - Introduction to Artificial Intelligence
Y2 - Computer Game Design
Y2 - Computer Game Programming
Y2 - C++ Programming
Y2 - Operating Systems

Y3 - Individual Capstone Project Challenge (45 credit)
Y3 - Advanced Programming
Y3 - Information Retrieval
Y3 - Computer Vision
Y3 - Virtual Worlds
Y3 - High-Level Games Development

At Long Road Sixth Form College, I studied Media level 2 where I achieved a Distinction. In Media level 3 I achieved a Distinction*.

Skills

Adobe Photoshop (5 years)
Adobe Premier Pro (5 years)
Adobe After Effects (4 years)
Adobe Illustrator (2 years)
Blender (2 years)
Maya (<1 year)

C++ (3 years)
Java (3 years)
Python/TensorFlow (<1 years)
Intellij IDEA (3 Years)
Unity/C# (6 years)
Unreal Engine 4 (>1 year)
Unreal Engine 5 (<1 year)
DirectX 11 (<1 year)
GitHub version control (1 year) - Applied these skills during education, using issues, project boards, branches, etc. to keep a good workflow within the team.

Interpersonal Skills

My participation in a Game Jam event showcased my ability to collaborate effectively, lead a team, and deliver a polished project under tight deadlines. The game we developed was a humorous survival experience where players evade ghost-like figures while utilizing animals as weapons, each with unique sounds and abilities. This project not only demonstrated my technical and creative skills but also emphasized my strong communication, teamwork, and leadership abilities—essential qualities for working in multidisciplinary environments like games, film, and other creative industries.

From the Projects

48 Hour Game Jam Challenge

This project was a 48 hour challenge with two other people in creating a survival shooter game made in Unity.

Title sequence

This project is was all about making a title sequence with special effects. This was done using Adobe After Effects and Adobe Premier Pro.

Recreation of Donkey-Kong arcade in Unity

A re creation of a classic arcade game done in Unity. Part of my undergraduate dissertation project.

Car cinematic in a video game

This project was made during my spare time as someone who loves cars whilst utilizing Adobe Premier Pro video editing software.