About Candlelight Interactive
What We Do:
Functional democracy requires a scientifically literate public. Now more than ever, people need the ability to use scientific reasoning strategies to understand the world.
Candlelight Interactive exists for the purpose of strengthening scientific literacy among the general public through the use of games and technology. By fostering curiosity, creativity, and skepticism, we aim to provide players with strong science reasoning skills as well as improve the outreach efforts of science organizations.
In addition to developing our own software, we welcome the company of partners who are looking for technical or creative solutions to problems in research or science outreach. If you have a project with these types of needs, please do not hesitate to contact us.†
People:
Adam Mechtley - Founder and Director
Adam has been a professional video game developer since 2004. He has worked primarily as a technical artist and programmer on about a dozen different titles across the web, XBox 360, Playstation 3, and iPhone both independently as well as for various large companies and small indie developers. He has presented at multiple game development conferences including Unite and GDC, produced a Maya Python MasterClass for Autodesk, and authored a book for Elsevier on programming with the Maya API using Python. Adam is currently pursuing a PhD in Education Technology and Quantitative Methods at the University of Wisconsin - Madison with Kurt Squire, and is a University Graduate Fellow and a National Science Foundation Graduate Fellow.
Matt Mechtley - Engineer
Matt is currently pursuing an Astrophysics PhD at Arizona State University, where he is working on research projects using data from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter and Hubble Space Telescope, including interactive simulations for astronomy education. Matt has previously worked as a game programmer on titles for the web and iPhone. He also enjoys building novel input devices for games and interactive simulations.
Laurel Klein - Director of Curriculum
Laurel is an author and curriculum designer with over a decade of diverse development experiences and a master's degree in Curriculum and Instruction. She has developed and led programs for formal and informal learning environments with organizations such as the Desert Botanical Gardens, Futura Language Professionals, and Education2020. Laurel has also taught all core subject areas in traditional classroom environments, including six years as a full-time public school teacher for middle school and several years of after school and enrichment teaching experience with populations ranging from preschool students to adults. Since 2006, she has worked primarily in the field of virtual and online education. Laurel specializes in at-risk populations and student engagement.
Company:
Candlelight Interactive was formally organized in 2009. Immediately prior to the formation of Candlelight Interactive, Adam and Matt worked together on web games at Flashbang Studios, as well as on an independently-developed iPhone game, Touch KO.
The company name is an homage to a book written by the late Carl Sagan, whose views of science and commitment to science communication and popularization serve as inspiration for our endeavors.
Technology:
Professional, industry-standard technologies provide the foundation at Candlelight Interactive. We have been using the Unity game engine since 2006, and our developers have a breadth of technical and creative expertise acquired from working on nearly a dozen commercial products for the web, modern game consoles, and the iPhone.
†Please note that we cannot enter partnerships with organizations who seek to influence the outcomes of elections by endorsing or financing political parties or candidates.
