Ph.D. Physics, The University of Texas, Austin, TX, 2016
B.S. Physics and B.A. Classical Studies, The University of Texas at Arlington, Arlington, TX, 2005
Creative Expression Statement
One focus of my creative work is on exploring and developing systems, particularly ones that interact meaningfully with the narrative. Another revolves around revisiting game systems, media, and aesthetics from the past. My choice of media ranges from retro-inspired video games to board games to works of interactive fiction, particularly gamebooks. I pay particular attention to interrogating conventions of these media, exploring and experimenting with what has traditionally been taken for granted, and using that to drive the storytelling in the work.
Gamebooks like Happy Fun Activity Book, and Awakening Aboard the Anastasia, explore ideas of cheating or seeing other passages and makes that integral to their play. What Lies Beyond the Standing Stone plays with the idea of using loops in the text to simulate combat rather than tracking numbers, and it also attempts to hide its game mechanics completely within the story. Other projects like Harrowing Adventures explores the limits and affordances of multiplayer storytelling. My artwork for the upcoming board game Tenebrus expresses the storytelling moments of the game with a special consideration for doing it in a way that explains the specific mechanics in that moment.
Articles
Positron Beams as Effective Nondestructive Tools for the Semiconductor Industry, Fink, Johnson, Nguyen, Electronic Device Failure Analysis Vol. 19, No. 3 (2017)
Flash Lamp Annealing of Tungsten Surfaces Marks a New Way to Optimized Slow Positron Yields, Anwand, Johnson, Butterling, Wagner, Skorupa, and Brauer, Jour. Phys.: Conf. Ser. 443 (2013)
First Experiments with MePS, Jungmann, Haberle, Krause-Rehberg, Anwand, Butterling, Wagner, Johnson and T.E. Cowan, Jour. Phys.: Conf. Ser. 443 (2013)
Presentations
"Leaning into the limitations of Physical Gamebooks," 2025 Southwest Popular/American Culture Association Conference, February 20th, 2025, Albuquerque, NM
"Asteroids Meets Snake: Facing New Design Challenges When Mashing Up Old Video Games," 2024 Southwest Popular/American Culture Association Conference, February 2nd, 2024, Albuquerque, NM
"Improving Slow Positron Yields”, Atomic, Molecular, and Optical Physics Seminar, The University of Texas, 2015
“The Annihilation of Positrons in Matter”, Atomic, Molecular, and Optical Physics Seminar, Helmholtz Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf, Dresen Germany, 2012
“Fundamentally Re-designing Labs for Physics 117M,” Physics Teaching Forum, The University of Texas, 2010
Creative Works
Chirality
A fantasy gamebook created for The Lindenbaum Prize for Short Gamebook Fiction 2024/2025 competition. In this, I explore a mechanic linked to the contest’s limitation of 100 entries.
Jupe
A pen-and-ink illustration created for Lone Wolf Anthology: Volume Two - Echoes of the Past. This work accompanies the short story “The Legend of Vynar Jupe” by Mark Baumann, which was published in March of 2025 by Holmgard Press.
Game Prototype Codename “Marathon”
A modern retro pixel art dungeon crawler. The prototype and concept won a Presidential Excellence Grant in 2024. The final game is currently in development.
What Lies Beyond the Standing Stone
A fantasy/science fiction gamebook created and submitted for The Lindenbaum Prize for Short Gamebook Fiction 2023/2024 competition. In this work, I sought to explore a deeper connection between traditional narrative and game mechanics. This work won a Merit Award, which is essentially second place (though there are three awarded).
Awakening Aboard the Anastasia
A science fiction horror gamebook submitted for The Lindenbaum Prize for Short Gamebook Fiction 2022/2023 competition. The exploratory foci of this book hinge upon: 1) using novel presentations of standard interactive structures to influence the player’s experience, and 2) presenting multiple similar endings where the reward is not the outcome but how much the player learns about the internal mystery.
This work won a Commendation Award, which is essentially an honorable mention.
The Happy Fun Activity Book
An interactive fiction and puzzle gamebook submitted for The Lindenbaum Prize for Short Gamebook Fiction 2021/2022 competition. The exploratory foci of this book involve: 1) reducing player/character separation to a minimum, and 2) requiring players to violate rules and conventions of normal gamebook play in order to win.
Harrowing Adventures
A multiplayer interactive fiction video game created in Unity. Museum, Austin, TX