Dr. Bruce Gooch, associate professor in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at Texas A&M University, was recently asked to participate in a Pearson Education documentary series. The series showcases professors and those who have inspired them to pursue their dreams.
Gooch currently teaches a video game design and development course at Texas A&M for which he requires students to build games in teams and deploy them in online marketplaces, such as the Android store.
“For one of the lectures, I show them how to write press kits and press releases for their games,” Gooch said. “This semester I thought that I would show the students how I got media attention for my products when I was doing startup companies, instead of just talking about it.”
He wrote a response to a casting call for this documentary series and sent it in along with a press kit about himself. A few days later, he received a call expressing interest in his story.
The mini documentary focused on Gooch, titled “Cracking the code to creativity,” centers around what led him to ultimately establishing a new shading algorithm called Gooch Shading.
Gooch and his adviser, Dr. Elaine Cohen from the University of Utah, co-wrote a research paper on the three fundamental shading algorithms in computer science. This research led to the inception of Gooch Shading, which became the fourth known shading algorithm.
Cracking the code to creativity is part of a larger campaign created by Pearson called “Inspiring Teachers.”