Michael Champi: More Than A Game
Like many young adults these days, Michael Champi entered the world
of computers before he entered kindergarten. "I was really into
video games," he recalls. When he discovered early on that there
were people who got to program those games, he decided that was
what he wanted do when he grew up.
In high school, he learned to program using the Pascal programming language, then went on to Penn State to study computer science. In his junior year, he committed to a blended major that integrated computer engineering and programming. Studying across an academic spectrum running from physics to statistics to assembly language, he earned a B.S. at the end of 1999.
As an engineer thoroughly acquainted with the interface between programming and hardware, Champi ventured into the working world - but not into the video game industry. That interest had drawn him into computers, but other challenges attracted his professional interest.
He moved from Pennsylvania to Maryland to take a job with ARINC, a leading provider of aviation and other transportation communications solutions. Working there are a software engineer, he got to know a contractor who was both a student and a teacher in the Hopkins part-time engineering program at APL. When he learned what Hopkins had to offer, he enrolled. Now he's 1-2 years away from getting a Master of Science degree with a major in Computer Science.
After ARINC, Champi went with a start-up company - AIRIA - which also serves the airline industry, offering an in-flight entertainment service that streams real-time news and sports video for seatback TV viewing 24 hours a day, around the world.
Next was another start-up, named The Descartes Systems Group Inc., where he helped develop software that facilitates efficient delivery management for trucking companies, shippers, manufacturers, distributors and others.
Champi now works with High Performance Technologies, Inc., a contracting and consulting firm that handles supercomputing projects for Federal agencies in the defense, intelligence, homeland security, commerce and other fields. He specializes in using Java Platform, Enterprise Edition, to develop frameworks for large-scale distributed systems.
The EP approach to education is, according to Champi, "very accommodating to professionals." Nevertheless, the combination of full-time work and part-time studies leave little time for what remains a passion: video games. He longs for the day when he and his wife - fellow gamer and also an EP M.S. candidate - can get back to gaming sessions that can last 12 hours or more.