The Alumni Magazine for Worcester Polytechnic Institute. (WPI)
Issue link: http://wpialumnimag.epubxp.com/i/277771
14 Spring 2014 the voice WPI's Keith Zizza creates sound effects for Marvel™ Puzzle Quest Professor also serves as the voice of The Incredible Hulk FOR PROFESSOR Keith Zizza, serving as the audio lead for Marvel Puzzle Quest, a puzzle/ action game app was "an unforgettable experience. It was truly a blast to create sounds for the X-Men, Avengers, Dr. Doom, Venom, and a host of other characters in the Marvel Universe," says Zizza, now in his third year as professor of practice in the Interactive Media and Game Development program at WPI. "I was blown away. As a kid I read a lot of comic books and became steeped in the whole mythical lore." To create hundreds of sound effects for the X-Men, the Avengers, and other heroes and villains, Zizza took audio samples and put them into a computer, where he created and set up combinations of sounds to make them more tactile and distinctive, and also to hear how they interact with one another in the game. As it turns out, Zizza said he couldn't fnd any "good grunts" in his sound effects library. "So I took some pitch-shifting software and manipulated my voice down and altered some of the frequencies to become the Hulk," he says. "It was quite an experience." Zizza's road to being tabbed for the project comes from networking contacts as he's spent more than 20 years working in the digital audio industry. "By maintaining my standing in game development as a consultant on these types of projects," he says, "I'm able to bring back new ideas, skills, and techniques to my students." W π royal visit Ghanaian King Comes to WPI Saving the Earth, Saving Humanity: A Lecture on Agriculture, Environment, Sustainability, and Poverty Alleviation OKYENHENE OSAGYEFUO Amoatia Ofo- ri Panin, King of Akyem Abuakwa in eastern Ghana, spoke at WPI in October. His visit marks the beginning of a possi- ble partnership between WPI and the University College of Agriculture and Environmental Studies he founded in Bunso, Ghana. WPI environmental and sustainability studies professor Rob Krueger, a member of the university's international advisory board, has been invited for a reciprocal visit to discuss collaboration on educating youth on is- sues of sustainability. "It is easy to think that a problem in Ghana has no impact here," said the King. "That is an illusion. We are indeed one." Noting that his peo- ple might have missed the industrial and information technology revolu- tions, he stressed that with climate change looming "we cannot afford to miss the green revolution. The least we can do is let the children of Africa wake up in a world of hope." Krueger, left, and his children, Eleanor and James, with Osagyefuo and Kwabena Abo-Agye Jr. WPI_spring14_FOB.indd 14 3/9/14 11:55 AM