What was the spark that motivated our employees to pursue a career in science and technology, before coming to work for Ubisoft? This is what we hope to find out by meeting up with Mackly, an animation programmer at Ubisoft Montreal. Learn about his inspiring path.
Mackly has always been fascinated by math. The top of his class in elementary and high school, he sees himself as a jack-of-all-trades. He draws, writes and creates comic books, all while maintaining a strong interest for mathematics, science and physics. As these two fields are equally important to him, he decided to choose a CEGEP program that would allow him to focus on both at the same time; a DEC in Science, Literature and Arts at Jean-de-Brébeuf College.
After college, Mackly considered a career in actuarial science. However, he had a change of heart after talking to a friend about the Software Engineering program. This field of study requires a creative side, touches on physics as much as math, in addition to offering a more vibrant career path over his first option. He decided to continue his academic path at Polytechnique Montréal, where he became actively involved in the Poly Games committee. This club promotes video game professions to students and organizes Game Jams.
A spark for animation
Thanks to his involvement with Poly Games, Mackly was invited for a visit to the Ubisoft Montreal studio. And here, Simon Clavet, an animation programmer on Assassin’s Creed III, gave a talk outlining his career to the students. The work and technologies used by Simon captivated Mackly, which inspired him to pursue this profession.
With this new objective in mind, he applied to participate in the Ubisoft university competition. A decision that paid off, since he was selected from the team representing Polytechnique Montreal, and ended up winning three prizes with his game Zorya (best prototype, most creative and best use of the theme, as well as the people’s choice award). Ubisoft’s talent acquisition specialists quickly noticed his talent and made him an offer to join the studio at the end of his university degree. Goal achieved!
Giving back to the next cohort
Now well integrated within the For Honor game team, Mackly continues to be involved as a mentor for the university competition. With the 2020 edition, he is in his second year of participation and is still just as passionate about sharing his dream job with young students. Who knows, maybe he himself lit more than one spark along the way with this involvement!
Want to know more about our education initiatives? Take a look at our Ubisoft Education program page.
