Bryan Neill

New Media

Spring 2023

Expected Graduation – Fall 2023

The party line as a software engineer is that “you don’t need a college degree to get a job.” While not entirely false, having one certainly helps. After working as a Front-End Software Engineer for several years I decided the best shot I had at progressing in my career was to finish my degree. I wanted to be able to add something new to my skillset, which led me to the New Media program at University of Tampa. With the help of my advisor, Professor Echeverry I was able to learn design skills and unlock creativity that I could pair with my expertise in programming to propel me into my next role.

Given that I was bringing 7 years of software engineering experience to the table, my strengths lied in UI/UX design and creative coding. Some works produced that showcase this include an interactive Mandala that was created with pure HTML and Javascript, as well as “Top 5 Ballparks,” which was a webpage made to showcase the Major League Baseball stadiums using parallax design.

Throughout the program I added strengths in digital imaging and storytelling, as seen in “Murder Mystery”, an interactive website inspired by Mexican Fotonovelas with assets created in Photoshop. In addition, my resume materials exhibit one cohesive theme showing strengths in design and branding. As far as the New Media program is concerned, I believe I still exhibit weaknesses in areas such as 3D modeling and integrating that into the software I write. This could be due to the order in which I took some of those classes, taking Virtual Production before 3D Animation 1. I would have liked to have seen a greater focus on integrating 3D assets into software such as video games.  

As I prepare to graduate, I would like to move into a more senior front-end role at a company. One where I can contribute not only my knowledge in software engineering, but also creatively towards the direction or design of a product or service. In addition, I’d like to brand and grow my sports trading card company, one in which, through the experience gained in the program, I have created logos and branding for. I believe through my portfolio of work, connections made, and the confidence I have gained I will be able to achieve my goal shortly after graduation.