We are producers, technologists, artists, game designers, movers and shakers.
We are Evil Geniuses.
As graduates of Carnegie Mellon University’s Entertainment Technology Center, we have experience in many fields of entertainment: from traditional video games to social marketing.
Learn more about us below. Don’t worry, we won’t bite.
Tracy Kobeda Brown is the CEO & Founder of Evil Genius Designs, Inc., a spin-off company from the Entertainment Technology Center (ETC) at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU). Evil Genius Designs’ owns and markets a mobile gaming platform that allows any player's mobile or wireless device to engage in games developed by the company. The product is marketed under Get in Line Games which focuses on gameplay experiences for people waiting in lines. Tracy spent a summer working with Activision and is credited on James Bond: Quantum of Solace. She also produced an experimental alternate reality game, The Deep Sleep Initiative, which won 2nd place at Indiecade 2009.
Prior to pursuing her Masters from CMU, she was a corporate executive for American Eagle Outfitters, a $2 billion clothing retailer. During her time there, she was responsible for information security for the entire company as well as the director of information technology for the e-commerce business. She spent years as a technology strategy consultant and worked for Andersen Consulting.
In terms of board advisory relationships, she was the chairman and board director of the Merchant Risk Council, a non-profit organization that educated merchants on how to fight cybercrime as well as a board director for the National Cyber-Forensics Training Alliance (NCFTA), a non-profit organization for industry, law enforcement and academia to collaborate on cybercrime topics. She is a professional speaker and has presented at numerous conferences as well as at Quantico for the FBI.
Tracy has been a semi-professional gamer in Call of Duty and Battlefield for the Pandora’s Mighty Soldiers (PMS Clan), the world’s largest all female gaming clan, and is the General of North American PC gaming.
In addition to her Masters in Entertainment Technology from CMU, Tracy holds a BS in Economics from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania concentrating in Decision Sciences and Insurance/Risk Management.
After a successful career of pillaging and looting on the high seas, Blackbeard turned his cutthroat talents to the buisness world. Operating as Evil Genius Designs' CFO, Blackbeard has created unprecedented growth using his patented negotiation and deal making techniques.
In his free time, Blackbeard enjoys extortion, smuggling, piracy, pillaging, looting, and ten-pin bowling.
(Seriously, though, if you have CFO skills we are interested in talking to you. Go here).
Erica Sandbothe arrives at Evil Genius from Carnegie Mellon University's School of Computer Science. As an undergraduate, Erica focused her studies on computer graphics, computer vision, and machine learning. In her senior year, she took the Building Virtual Worlds class at the Entertainment Technology Center, where she first met the Evil Genius group.
Over her summers, Erica interned with TerraSim Inc. and Intel R&D labs, doing computer vision research on images ranging from aerial photography to board games. She also headed the Computer Science side of Carnegie Mellon Robotics Club's RobOrchestra project for three years, where she developed algorithms that would allow robots to improvise music.
Erica spends her free time writing, drinking tea, and feeding sparrows.
Ali Spagnola joins the Evil Genius Designs team as an Artist and Designer.
Prior to becoming an Evil Genius, Ali worked at Sim Ops Studios. There she created graphics and web designs as well as composed music and sound effects. During that time she also worked with Schell Games on the Toy Story Mania ride installed in Walt Disney World and Disneyland. For this interactive 3D park ride, Ali created LCD screen designs and animations.
Ali obtained her BFA in Art from Carnegie Mellon University. While studying art she also had a focus in Music Theory which propels her sound design.
In her free time Ali enjoys acrylic painting and running.
Chris Stagno joins Evil Genius Designs as a Game Designer and Producer, after earning his Master's Degree from Carnegie Mellon's Entertainment Technology Center.
Prior to joining EGD, Chris worked with the Fred Rogers Center to create an iPhone application called Mad Dash that encouraged physical activity and creativity for parents and pre-school aged children, promoting a healthy lifestyle and positive media creation at an early age.
Chris has a Bachelor of Fine arts in English from St. Olaf College, bringing his editing and analysis skills to his work as a designer at EGD.
During all portions of his life Chris has been an avid gamer from video games to board games, and gives back to the community working as a Judge for Magic: The Gathering.
Ryan Myers is a programmer and long-time gamer.
Before becoming Evil (officially, anyway), Ryan worked at SilverTree Media on multiple projects including Pixie Hollow, a massively multiplayer online game for young girls, and Cordy, a physics-based puzzle platformer. Prior to that, he developed features of a research application for a professor at Carnegie Mellon University's HCI department.
Ryan attended Brown University, where he decided he wanted to be a game programmer after his introductory programming course in his first semester and reinforced that decision while working on a game for an independent study in his last semester. He holds an Sc.B. in computer science.