Laura Puerto

What and where are you studying?

Computer Science (concentration in Games Design) from the University of Calgary.

Why did you do a co-op at EA?

It has been an ambition for me to be in the Games Industry and doing my internship with EA was my ultimate goal as a student. Especially working for Need for Speed, one of my favorite games and game genres, was a dream come true. Growing up in a third world country and being a female gamer helped me realize this is a very interesting and challenging career path and gave me a big desire to be part of the game creation process especially for a company like EA which creates top of the line games. After moving to Canada I decided that taking computer science was the road to being part of this creative and fun industry. The fact that I enjoy both problem solving and being creative makes being an SE for EA and excellent opportunity to do what I like and also learn much more of what I want to do with resources like EAU, which is one of the many great things EA offers to its employees.

What are you doing on your co-op?

The first 4 months of my co-op term I was hired by the EAC CTO as an SE to work on a number of projects for the game teams. The most important project was a metrics tool now being used by all the sports titles to compare the differences on code for a number of technology packages. I then moved to Need for Speed which is where I am currently working (for 8 months) as an SE for the team working on game run-time metrics and moving to the Front End area of the game.

What have you so far learnt from EA?

As an EA SE I have learned many new and interesting things about the gaming industry and acquired technical skills that are not taught at school. Every day is a new learning experience which makes me love what I am doing more. I have experienced the fact that the people that work at EA are very friendly and are willing to help any new members as much as needed, which makes me feel part of a team where approaching people is not intimidating and any question is well received and answered.

What are your future ambitions?

My most important ambition right now is to get the Star program that EA offers to co-ops, that way I can get an awesome job as soon as I graduate. If I don't get the program I will still try to get a job at EA after graduation and gain much more experience doing great games. Maybe move up the ladder and get to have more decision power with game features and such. And after a number of years being part of EA maybe pursue getting a new IP going or creating my own games company.