Experience

General Information

Full Name
Aya Al Sabahi
Languages
English & Arabic
Email
theayaalsabahi [at] gmail [dot] com

Education

2027
Master of Entertainment Technology
Carnegie Mellon University
  • Concentration in Transformational Play
2025
B.Sc. in Computer Science
Carnegie Mellon University
  • Minor in Game Design
  • Selected Courses
    • Computer Graphics
    • Distributed Systems
    • Introduction to Machine Learning
    • Introduction to Computer Systems
    • Game Design, Prototyping, and Production
    • Designing Educational Games
    • Introduction to 3D Animation
    • Algorithm Design and Analysis
    • Parallel and Sequential Data Structures and Algorithms
    • Introduction to Computer Security
    • Cognitive Psychology

Experience

Prototyping Lead — SoKids
Carnegie Mellon University
  • Lead programmer on an interdisciplinary team of 6 building a research tool at the intersection of child psychology, game design, and social science
  • Architected a data collection system tracking over 10 behavioral and response data points per session for children ages 3–6
  • Designed and built two prototype structures (linear and Hub & Spoke) spanning 18 scenes
  • Presented findings to faculty and PhD researchers
Outreach Specialist Intern
Tokyo Seitoku University, Tokyo, Japan
  • Conducted a survey analyzing student engagement, yielding insights to improve participation by approximately 25%
  • Created interactive language-learning games that improved language proficiency metrics by more than 20%
  • Leveraged data analytics to identify key engagement factors, advancing student interaction by approximately 30%
Teaching Assistant
Carnegie Mellon University
  • Guided students across multiple programming and logic courses (15-110, 15-112, 80-210)
  • Held 6 office hours weekly supporting over 50 students combined
  • Mentored 7 student-led term projects, 4 focused on game development — several featured at end-of-semester showcase
Software Developer Intern
PhazeRo, Muscat, Oman
  • Built backend for an internal applicant management system using NodeJS and REST API
  • Produced an onboarding document that improved knowledge transfer for future interns that included most used git commands

Projects

Jan 2026 - May 2026
Computer Graphics Engine tools
C++
  • Ray tracer with shadows, reflections, BVH acceleration, and Monte Carlo anti-aliasing
  • CPU-based rasterization pipeline with z-buffering and Phong shading
  • Half-edge mesh structure supporting subdivision, smoothing, and other geometric transformations
Oct 2025
Wings of Trouble — VR Game
Unity · Meta Quest 3 · C#
  • Presented at Carnegie Mellon's 3rd Extended Reality Technology Center symposium
  • Implemented bird flight mechanics and teleportation for immersive VR navigation
Mar 2024 - Apr 2024
Embiggened Indignant Cygnet - 3D Closed World
Unity · C#
  • Developed enemy AI, alert system, player mechanics, UI features, and sound design
July 2023
Finding Oberon — 3D Open World Game
Unity · C#
  • Led a team of 3 to build a mini open-world game with three side quests in 1.5 weeks for a game jam
June 2023 - July 2023
Bibiborg — 3D Animation
Maya · ZBrush · Substance Painter
  • Original 3D animation combining futuristic themes with Omani culture and heritage
  • Handled UV mapping, rigging, retopologizing, animation, sculpting, and texturing
Sept 2023 - Dec 2023
Machine Learning Projects
Python
  • Achieved model accuracies exceeding 90% on benchmark datasets
  • Reduced input features by 40% through dimensionality reduction without sacrificing accuracy

Honors and Awards

2025 - 2027
  • Carneegie Mellon Entertainemnt Technology Center Fellow
2021 - 2025
  • Qatari Amiri Diwan Full Ride Scholarship, awarded to 5 Omani students per year competitively
2021 - 2025
  • Dean's List — Fall 2022, Spring 2024, Fall 2024
2021
  • Advanced Placement Scholar with Honor

Activities & Leadership

2026
  • Volunteered at the Carnegie Mellon ETC booth at the Game Developers Conference
2021 - 2025
  • Founder, Film Photography Club — cooperated with Khalifa Art Center to deliver a photo walk and film development workshop
  • Teaching Assistant and Academic Review Board member, Carnegie Mellon University
  • Executive Member, Computing Club — presented talk on game development, organized events including end-of-year CS party and monthly Bits & Bites
  • Executive Member (Writing), Arts & Crafts Club — wrote monthly articles for the lam7a campus newsletter on art and the world
  • Social Media Assistant, CS Department — crafted LinkedIn & Instagram posts and increased engagement

Skills

Programming
C++, C, C#, Python, Java, NodeJS, REST APIs, NumPy, LaTeX
Tools & Engines
Unity, Maya, Git
Languages
English, Arabic

Other Shenanigans

  • Love diving with turtles, especially in Oman :)
  • Once made a music playing pinball machine fully from scratch with my team, lots of improvisation involved! (we called it Balltoven)
  • Big fan of anything adrenaline & action, from bungee jumping over water to city skywalks
  • Please ask me about my Fujifilm.