I used an NSF Graduate Research Fellowship to fund a trip north to MIT's Lab for Computer Science. Great place, but my research interests didn't fit well, so I moved on with an MS in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. Then I went to the Naval Postgraduate School, and finished my PhD in computer science on networked virtual environments.
I kept researching and teaching with the NPS MOVES Institute, and in 2000 we proposed the Army Game Project. I was the original designer, and also served as producer, and lead engineer. It was more fun than it sounds. Millions of folks played, which admittedly can't be said about my research!
In late 2002, Epic Games made me an offer that I couldn't refuse: to move home to Raleigh and start a new game company, Scion Studios. I was fortunate to build a fantastic team, and we eventually merged Scion with Epic. Now I'm the luckiest guy in the world, President of Epic Games.
If you're curious about Epic's projects, or what I've been up to, you
can
check: