About Me

My name is Tommy and I am a Software Developer at Amazon. I attended Carnegie Mellon University majoring in Computer Science with a Minor in Game Design and another Minor in Social and Political History. I'm a self-proclaimed nerd and am interested in learning just about anything there is to know. I like Science and Math, but also love to learn about History, Language, and Literature. I was born in New York City and grew up in New Jersey in a wonderful household with two younger brothers. My mother's side of the family is from England and Germany, and my father's side originated in Cuba- hence the Spanish name.

In my free time, my passion is games. I love to play them, but especially to design and make my own. Ever since I was a kid, I've been trying to make games to impress my friends and have fun! As I got older, I learned how to program computer games and haven't kicked the habit since. This website is meant in large part as a space for showing off the games that I have made.

Favorite Video Games: Sid Meier's Civilization, XCOM, Super Smash Brothers, FTL: Faster than Light, Fire Emblem, The Elder Scrolls
Favorite Board Games: Codenames, Avalon, Settlers of Catan, Twilight Struggle, Scrabble, Chess
Favorite Sports: Tennis, Soccer, Skiing

Also I am a huge fan of Magic: the Gathering and Hearthstone.
Will talk at length about any of the above.

Contact Details

Tomas San Miguel
115c 17th Ave,
Seattle, WA 98122, USA
(973)-214-6882
tsanmigu@andrew.cmu.edu tsanmigu@gmail.com

Education

Carnegie Mellon University

BS in Computer Science, Minor in Game Design, Minor in Social and Political History • Expected Graduation: May 2019

I took classes in Computer Science and Game Design, but also have taken electives in Science and History. While I was there, I served as president of the Game Creation Society, was on the board of our Magic club, and even help start the Undergraduate Poker Club. For my service to these clubs, I was awarded the Senior Leadership Award. At CMU I learned the value of hard work, but also made many lifelong friends and have excellent memories.

The Pingry School

High School Diploma • June 2015

I graduated from the Pingry School with honors and won the Computer Science Award my senior year. I was a member of the Tennis team and the Soccer team and participated in the school plays and musicals as a techie, operating the lights and sounds and constructing sets. I also played in the jazz band.

Work

Amazon

SDE• Fall 2019-Present

After graduation, I joined Amazon full-time as a Software developer. I work on a project designed to improve the quality of the data you see when you are looking at a product on amazon.com. I have personally contributed substantial code towards an internal tool that is used by dozens of employees every day and handles Terrabytes of data. I have learned how to handle a tool that is live in production and how to quickly respond to user feedback. In 2021 I was promoted to SDEII and am now managing larger projects with higher stakes. I hope to continue to grow my career at Amazon.

At Amazon, I work with some incredibly brilliant people, and I learn new techniques and best practices every day. Although I still hope to work in games someday, this job has been an amazing experience that is teaching me to be the best engineer I can be.

Vicarious Visions

Engineering Intern• Summer 2018

My first (and hopefully not my last!) foray into the game industry proper. I worked as an engineering intern on Crash Team Racing. I got to contribute real features and code that will ship with the game! I worked on a wide variety of tasks including gameplay, graphics, and UI. If you've ever been hit by the sinister Warp Orb powerup, that was created by me! I also worked a little bit on the tools side. I learned version control with Perforce as well as how to use JIRA for task tracking. This was an awesome experience for me and really confirmed how much I like working in the games industry. I got to work collaboratively with many other talented individuals and I think I am a much better engineer coming out of the internship.

National High School Game Academy

TA and Student• Summer 2017, 2014

I attended a 12 week program taught at CMU's own Entertainment Technology Center. I learned how to make games using Unity, met with industry professionals, and was instructed in the art of game design. I first developed a very well received individual project called Forever Falling. Then I worked in larger team and developed Angry Beards, a parody on Angry Birds. Finally, in a three week large project, I led a team of six to create the game Ulrich, in which you play as a deranged scientist protecting his inventions from the government.

Later, I returned to the NHSGA, but as a Teaching Assistant instead! I taught the class programming skills, Unity, and helped them integrate their projects onto new platforms such as Mobile, the HTC Vive, Occulus Touch, and the ETC's Cave. I worked closely with the students to help create fourteen different projects by the end of the program.

Dashbid Inc

Intern • Summer 2016

Dashbid is a start up in the advertising technology industry. Dashbid acts as a middleman between internet publishers and advertisers. I worked as an intern for three months. During this time I learned a considerable amount about web development and about the world of digital advertising. I helped compile valuable data and perform analysis to demonstrate how well or poorly certain publishers were doing. I built several web tools for internal use, including a tool for automatically converting URL macros into compatible forms and an onboarding website for new recruits.

Hi-Tech Camp

Instructor• Summer 2015

I worked as an instructor at a tech camp held in the Summer hosted by my high school. I built lesson plans and then taught younger children (aged 9-15) how to use various software. Each week students would create their own project using the software. Among these were Unity, GameMaker, AppInventor, Alice, GameSalad, Python, and Lego Mindstorm.