Allow myself to introduce... ...myself.

I'm probably not a name you'll recognize, but I've been around behind-the-scenes of DirectX SDK releases for the past 3 years.  I've been looking for new ways to get in touch with developers and the MSDN blogs sounded like a natural course.  I'm a Software Development Engineer in Test with Microsoft DirectX, which is a fancy way of saying that I write test automation and develop test scenarios for DirectX components.  Right now I work on an upcoming tool called PIX (Performance Investigator) for Windows, Managed DirectX, and some new debugging functionality that's been added to the Direct3D 9 debug runtimes.

I've been working with Managed DirectX for close to three years now.  I showed up at Microsoft as a new hire from college in just enough time to ship Windows XP.  Immediately following the XP launch, I became a tester for Managed DirectPlay and Managed DirectInput.  My position eventually evolved, and I now own test for all managed runtime components (though I do work with other test developers on some of the larger areas like D3DX).  I also own test for PIX for Windows. For those of you unfamiliar with PIX on the XBox, PIX for Windows is a stand-alone application that ships as part of the SDK.  It is designed to capture data about Direct3D 9 applications and allow developers to analyze the results.  That's a pretty thin explanation for a very powerful and involved tool, but you'll get to play with PIX yourself when the DirectX Summer 2004 SDK Update ships.

Sometimes I have a life outside of work, and that life also has a lot to do with games.  I'm a MOD developer and I'm taking my first stab as a MOD team leader this Summer.  I dabble in electronic music production and original game development.  Oh yeah, and I play games too sometimes :)