Veronika Margaret Megler (born 14 October 1960) is an Australian computer scientist. Megler is currently principal data scientist at

Amazon Web Services Amazon Web Services, Inc. (AWS) is a subsidiary of Amazon.com, Amazon that provides Software as a service, on-demand cloud computing computing platform, platforms and Application programming interface, APIs to individuals, companies, and gover ...

, and is well known as the co-developer of ''

The Hobbit ''The Hobbit, or There and Back Again'' is a children's fantasy novel by English author J. R. R. Tolkien. It was published in 1937 to wide critical acclaim, being nominated for the Carnegie Medal and awarded a prize from the '' ...

'', a 1982 text adventure game adapted from

the novel ''The Novel'' (1991) is a novel written by American author James A. Michener. A departure from Michener's better known historical fiction, ''The Novel'' is told from the viewpoints of four different characters involved in the life and work of ...

J. R. R. Tolkien John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (, ; 3 January 1892 – 2 September 1973) was an English writer and philology, philologist. He was the author of the high fantasy works ''The Hobbit'' and ''The Lord of the Rings''. From 1925 to 1945, Tolkien was ...

Education

Megler was born in 1960, and educated in Melbourne at

Mac.Robertson Girls' High School , motto_translation = Mastery of self , established = , type = Government-funded single-sex selective secondary day school , principal = Sue Harrap , location = South Melbourne, Victoria , country = Australia , coordi ...

, where she was school valedictorian in science. She began studying science at the

University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne is a public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in Victoria. Its main campus is located in Parkville, an inner suburb nor ...

, intending to major in statistics but switching to a computer science major which she found more enjoyable.

Beam Software

At university, she saw a job notice for a position as a programmer at video game development studio Beam Software/Melbourne House, which she successfully applied for, becoming the company's first employee. She recruited her friend, Philip Mitchell, into Beam and the two began working on an illustrated

interactive fiction '' Interactive fiction, often abbreviated IF, is software simulating environments in which players use text commands to control characters and influence the environment. Works in this form can be understood as literary narratives, either in the ...

game based on ''

'' by

, with Megler concentrating on the game's physics system and a measure of autonomy for non-player characters. Megler and Mitchell also developed another Beam game, '' Penetrator'', also released in 1982.

Computer science career

Prior to her graduation from the University of Melbourne, Megler resigned from Beam to concentrate on her studies, and Mitchell remained to complete the

ZX Spectrum The ZX Spectrum () is an 8-bit computing, 8-bit home computer that was developed by Sinclair Research. It was released in the United Kingdom on 23 April 1982, and became Britain's best-selling microcomputer. Referred to during development as t ...

version. Megler worked at IBM as an information technology architect, operating system expert and consultant. In 2009, she left IBM to study for a master's degree and PhD in computer science for scientific big data at

Portland State University Portland State University (PSU) is a public research university in Portland, Oregon. It was founded in 1946 as a post-secondary educational institution for World War II veterans. It evolved into a four-year college over the following two decades ...

. She currently lives in

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous co ...

and is principal data scientist at

Amazon Robotics Amazon Robotics, formerly Kiva Systems, is a Massachusetts-based company that manufactures mobile robotic fulfillment systems. It is a subsidiary company of Amazon.com and its automated storage and retrieval systems were previously used by compa ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Megler, Veronika 1960 births Living people Australian computer scientists Women data scientists Australian video game designers University of Melbourne alumni University of Melbourne women Portland State University alumni Scientists from Melbourne People educated at Mac.Robertson Girls' High School