Markus Hettlich is physicist with over 35 years of experience as a professional programmer. Focusing on game informatics at the CGL, he covers a broad range of game related technologies, such as game engine design, network programming, 3D programming, and mobile devices.
Education and Professional Experience
Markus studied physics at the University of Cologne and completed a preclinical semester of medicine at the University of Hamburg. His field of work was atomic and molecular physics and his diploma thesis was the development of a time of flight spectrometer for a 150kV proton accelerator and the associated software. This spectrometer analyzed the masses of molecule fragments by the flight time over a specific distance in an electric field. The fragments where generated by a collision between a pulsed proton beam and a molecule target. The pulse generator for the proton beam was also part of the thesis. Markus has been with the Cologne Game Lab from the beginning in 2010, first as lecturer, then as interim professor in 2016 and as full-time professor one year later.
Markus wrote his first commercial software application in 1977 on a Canon BX1 for a structural engineer. Starting in 1984, he began to work as a freelance professional, first in part time, and after the end of his studies in full time. In 1989 he co-founded Nano-comp electronic GmbH, a small company focusing on selling hardware and developing software. Four years later, Markus realized that the business aspects of a company didn’t fit his passion for developing software related solutions, and he decoded to leave.
As a freelancer, Markus’ projects cover a broad range of applications, from large scale media facades to mobile games. The list of past clients includes the Bundesministerien (Ministry of Berlin), TV stations, publishers, event agencies, the automobile industry and chemical and pharmaceutical industries. The following list of customers is only an excerpt: SONY, VW, Philipps, Opel, Mitsubishi, ZDF, WDR, RTL, superRTL, Bayer, MerckSerono, Pfizer, BASF, DHL, Festo, T-mobile, Lufthansa, SAP, Metro, BMAS, BMF, BMBF, Bosch, Fresenius, Bauknecht, ABB, EnBW.
Most of the projects mentioned before were based on gamification mechanics, and were not released as standalone games. In parallel to these projects, Markus began developing continuously in the mid-1990’s. Beside a few larger productions, his games generally focused on small to midsize scaled projects for children between 8 and 12. Most of these were simple, fun games, educational games or games related to TV-series. His recent games primarily target mobile devices and the web.
Current Research Projects
Prozedurale Erstellung von Spielelementen (PES) [-> Website]