Dan is a Principal Software Engineer and Lead at Microsoft with over 20 years of experience in the games industry. Dan started his career building AI for RTS titles such as Empire Earth, and progressed to building his own company, cross-play / platform game, tooling and engine, for the award-winning 1920s Poker RPG, Lords of New York. Dan has given talks at cppcon, authored multiple game gem articles ranging from pathfinding to physics to graphical mesh innovations. He has a heart-centered focus on technology, serves on advisory boards for universities, and is passionate about helping upcoming generations of engineers prepare for their journey into tech.