Ken Turner is a game industry veteran and educator with more than 20 years of experience shipping AAA titles across every major platform, with credits on iconic franchises like "Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon" and "Rainbow Six," as well as the groundbreaking title "Six Days in Fallujah."
Having held QA leadership roles, design and production credits and built government training simulations, Turner brings a rare blend of technical depth and project management expertise, including certifications as a Scrum Master and a proven track record in platform compliance, database architecture and cross-functional team leadership.
Since 2010, he has been part of Wake Tech's Simulation & Game Development department, first as an instructor and curriculum developer before stepping into the role of department head in 2021, where he leads a rigorous program that prepares students for industry careers, highlighted by a signature 10-week capstone sprint in which students build fully functional games from concept to completion and present their work live to hundreds of industry professionals.
Whether mentoring the next generation of developers or delivering polished products under pressure, Turner excels at bridging creative vision with technical reality and putting the right people in the right place. He likes the color red.
George Cox has an AAS in Simulation & Game Development and a master's degree in English from North Carolina State University. He has been teaching college level courses for 25 years. Currently, he is the lead instructor for SGD-112 (Design I) and SGD-167 (Ethics). He also teaches SGD-212 (Design II) and SGD-113 (Introduction to SG Programming).
Besides playing video games, Cox enjoys writing science fiction short stories and playing his acoustic guitar.
Aisha Eskandari has been connected to Wake Tech for many years, beginning as a student who founded the college's first Game Development Club. She has served in several roles, including director of Wake Tech's ATEC program, introducing high school students to game design, engineering and robotics.
With experience in IT, finance and education, Eskandari blends business strategy with game development to prepare students for success in the interactive entertainment and simulation fields. She is the lead instructor for courses in serious games, business management, technical documentation and advanced design – focusing on project planning, budgeting, marketing and the practices that support successful game projects.
Eskandari holds an AAS in Simulation & Game Development, a BS in Accounting & Finance and certificates in Finance Analytics and Marketing Analytics. She contributes to curriculum development and student career readiness both as faculty and as the SGD Department's Work-Based Learning coordinator.
Ryan E. Grady is an illustrator and concept artist based in Raleigh. She received her BFA in Studio Art at Appalachian State University and her Master of Art + Design from North Carolina State University. She primarily teaches art courses in the Simulation & Game Development program. She is also an experienced artist, most recently serving as a concept artist for the TTRPG "Our Brilliant Ruin" by Studio Hermitage.
During her time teaching at Wake Tech, she has completed two externships with local companies: a 3D-modeling externship with Lucid Dream VR and a photogrammetry externship with RTI International. She also was co-PI for Wake Tech's National Science Foundation project "Developing Certificates in Technical Art & Photogrammetry and Technical Animation."
When she is not teaching, Grady is working on her self-published comic series, "Daughters of Atlas," and on her visual novel, "Lythe the Forgetful Witch."
Lydia Granholm has a BA in Simulation & Game Design from William Peace University and a Master of Art + Design from North Carolina State University. They previously tutored at WPU and have taught at Wayne Community College and N.C. State. They have freelance experience in art, graphic design, programming and QA.
Grahholm is an avid game jammer and enjoys making and playing cozy games. They teach at Vernon Malone College & Career Academy, Southern Wake Campus and the Tutoring and Learning Center.
Amber Johnson has been working in games and related media for more than 20 years, bringing that experience into courses in 3D art, environment design and photogrammetry. She holds a master's degree in Art + Design from North Carolina State University, with a focus on animation and interactive media.
Johnson's work centers on building immersive environments in Unity, with an emphasis on XR development, spatial interaction and collaborative production workflows. In her teaching, she emphasizes industry-relevant pipelines and team-based projects to prepare students to work in industry. She stays current with emerging tools and best practices in real-time 3D for both Unity and Unreal engines.
Ven Lewis earned an associate degree in game programming from Wake Tech, as well as a bachelor's degree in software engineering at Western Governors University. While his specialty lies in C#, he also has experience in Python and JavaScript.
Outside of programming, Lewis also enjoys digital painting, illustration and narrative writing.
Richard Marshall is a practicing artist who has exhibited in and curated exhibitions worldwide. He was born in Wales and has a bachelor's degree in fine art from Winchester School and a master's degree in animation and digital media from North Carolina State University.
Marshall works as a multimedia artist using video and animation, as well as more traditional media such as oil on canvas, drawing and collage. He teaches SGD-111: Introduction to Simulation and Game Development, SGD-116: Graphic Design Tools and SGD-117: Art for Games to the high school juniors at Vernon Malone College & Career Academy. He also teaches on the Southern Wake Campus.
Brad Swearingen teaches 3D modeling and animation, level and game design. He began his digital 3D career in 1997 in the Virtual Reality Department at Research Triangle Institute, where he created simulations, 3D worlds and graphics. He also worked with a team of forensic engineers, creating 3D accident recreations and 2D graphics and building websites.
As a freelancer, Swearingen has worked on animating electrical substation simulations and cellphone ads for clients. He earned a bachelor’s degree in art from East Carolina University, a certificate in computer art and animation from the School of Communication Arts and a master’s in business administration.
