We are Game Design and Art Collaboration (GDA)! Founded in January 2015 by a small group of UC Santa Cruz students, our mission is to promote the collaborative work of artists, musicians, programmers, and game designers, with an emphasis on networking and skill-sharing. That involves a few programs:
Mock Studio: Students pitch and then develop game(s) that we work on as a community. The Mock Studio is great for learning about the process and production of game-making from start to finish. As a nice bonus, students who work on these games have something to add to their resume at the end of the school year!
Workshops: We run a variety of workshops and game jams, separate from Mock Studio, to build game development skills.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does GDA do?
A lot! We make one game every year, pitched by student volunteers in the Fall. We also run weekly workshops for aspiring game developers (covering topics like audio, narrative, game design, etc), and host game jams. Overall, we do things that give students opportunities to get game-making experience, learn game development disciplines, and find friends who also enjoy games.
How do I join/become a member?
You just have to be a UCSC student and join our Discord community. There you will find out about any upcoming events, and meet fellow game devs!
Click here to join the Discord!
When does GDA meet?
Our weekly meetings are always on Fridays from 6-8 pm, either in-person at DARC 308 or online through Zoom. We will always announce the topic and location of our general meetings on our Discord beforehand.
We also have weekly department meeting times that can be found in this Google Calendar!
I have more questions!
Please post any other questions in the #general-chat in the GDA Discord server, or private message anyone with the ‘Admin’ or ‘Officer’ roles on there, and they will be happy to help!
2025-26 GDA Officers
GDA’s officers work through the year (yes, even when school isn’t in session) to keep the lights on for new and returning members. Our team this year:
Ivy Dudzik (she/her)
President
Saira Hamid (she/any)
Mock Studio Coordinator
Gabe Ahrens (he/him)
Chief Operating Officer
Mandy Xie (she/they/he)
Vice President, Art Officer
Ronan Tsoi (he/him)
Vice President, Production Officer
Robin Medina (she/her)
Design Officer
Sam Spivey (he/him)
Sound Officer
Kait Srivastav (she/her)
Programming Officer
Joelle Kaufman (she/her)
Writing Officer
Tien Le (she/he/they)
Marketing Manager
Torrey Spear (she/her)
Outreach Officer
Sofia Aminifard (she/her)
Webmaster
Jared Nussbaum (he/him)
Mock Studio Coordinator
John Sai (he/him)
Treasurer
Madison Navarro (she/her)
Art Officer
Danica Dancel Carlos (she/any)
Production Officer
Aegis Michael (she/her)
Design Officer
Jade Sells (she/they)
Sound Officer
Hunter Kingsley (he/him)
Programming Officer
Jason Rangel-Martinez (he/him)
Writing Officer
Catherine Head (she/her)
Event Coordinator
Previous Officers
2024-25
- Alexa Medina: 2024-25 Vice President, Design Officer
- Dylan Mahler: 2024-25 Logistics Officer
- Emily Tran: 2024-25 Events Coordinator
- Ethan Yoshino: 2024-25 Design Officer
- Evan Lake: 2024-25 Programming Officer
- Gabe Ahrens: 2024-25 Sound Officer
- Garrett Blake: 2024-25 Chief Operating Officer
- Jared Nussbaum: 2024-25 Programming Officer
- Joe Gibson: 2024-25 Writing Officer
- Joelle Kaufman: 2024-25 Community Manager
- Jonah Ryan: 2024-25 President
- Juliana Luu: 2024-25 Community Manager
- Juno Cheng: 2024-25 Production Officer
- Sammy Chang: 2024-25 Shadow Officer
- Sai Hamid: 2024-25 Outreach Officer
- Savannah Burch: 2024-25 Art Officer
2023-24
- Athena Patronas: 2023-24 Art Officer
- Celine Lafosse: 2023-24 Writing Officer
- Gloria Chim: 2023-24 Vice President/Art Officer
- Jane Grantham: 2023-24 Vice President/Production Officer, 2022-23 Mock Studio Coordinator
- Jessica Yoon: 2023-24 Design Officer
- Nicholas Schetman: 2023-24 Treasurer
- Rohan Venkatapuram: 2023-24 Webmaster
- Sai Hamid: 2023-24 Community Manager
- Seren Becker: 2023-24 Writing Officer
- Tatiana Lucero: 2023-24 Mock Studio Coordinator
- Tiana Chamsi: 2023-24 President
- Tori Moore: 2023-24 Design Officer
- Tyler Knowlton: 2023-24 Chief Operating Officer
- Vinh Ta: 2023-24 Sound Officer
2022-23
- Andrew Dunne: 2020-22 Vice President, 2020-23 Art Officer, 2022-23 Writing Officer
- Annalivia Martin Straw: 2022-23 Vice President, Outreach Officer
- Annie Zhang: 2021-23 Art Officer, 2022-23 Vice President
- Calex Raffield: 2022-23 Programming Officer
- Jane Grantham: 2023-24 Vice President/Production Officer, 2022-23 Mock Studio Coordinator
- Neo Zhang: 2022-23 Design Officer
- Parmpreet Gill: 2021-23 Sound Officer, 2022-23 Vice President
- Robert Newlin: 2021-22 Mock Studio Coordinator, 2022-23 President
- Ryan McCarty: 2022-23 Writing Officer
- Sophie Martin: 2022-23 Community Manager
2021-23
- Annie Zhang: 2021-23 Art Officer, 2022-23 Vice President
- Autumn Moulios: 2021-23 Sound Officer
- Nik Thomas: 2021-23 Design Officer
- Parmpreet Gill: 2021-23 Sound Officer, 2022-23 Vice President
- Zoey Laytart: 2021-23 Production Officer
2021-22
- Cameron Beattie: 2021-22 Design Officer
- Eric Long: 2020-21 Production Officer/Outreach Coordinator/Event Coordinator, 2021-22 President
- Joshua Augenstein: 2021-22 Programming Officer
- Naman Bushan: 2021-22 Logistics Officer/Treasurer
- Robert Newlin: 2021-22 Mock Studio Coordinator, 2022-23 President
- Ryoma Marta-Sugawara: 2020-21 Webmaster, 2021-22 Vice President/Production Officer
2020-22
- Andrew Dunne: 2020-22 Vice President, 2020-23 Art Officer, 2022-23 Writing Officer
- Molly Thompson: 2020-22 Writing Officer
- Stevie Rodriguez: 2020-22 Writing Officer
2020-21
- Dallas Truong: 2020-21 Production Officer/Outreach Coordinator/Event Coordinator
- Enrico Widodo: 2020-21 Sound Officer
- Eric Long: 2020-21 Production Officer/Outreach Coordinator/Event Coordinator, 2021-22 President
- Herman Wu: 2020-21 Art Officer
- Jeven Zarate-McCoy: 2019-20 Vice President/Writing Lead, 2020-21 President/Writing Officer
- Justin Hammer: 2019-21 Treasurer, 2020-21 Archivist
- Niko Sanchez: 2020-21 Design Officer/Community Manager
- Ricky Chavez: 2020-21 Design Officer
- Ryoma Marta-Sugawara: 2020-21 Webmaster, 2021-22 Vice President/Production Officer
- Thomas Applewhite: 2019-20 Webmaster, 2020-21 Programming Officer
2019-21
- Holly Cheng: 2019-21 Art Lead/Officer
- Justin Hammer: 2019-21 Treasurer, 2020-21 Archivist
2019-20
- Charles Miller: 2019-20 Production Lead/Archivist/Outreach Coordinator
- Gigi Bachtel: 2019-20 Design Lead
- Jeven Zarate-McCoy: 2019-20 Vice President/Writing Lead, 2020-21 President/Writing Officer
- Seiji Emery: 2019-20 Programming Lead
- Thomas Applewhite: 2019-20 Webmaster, 2020-21 Programming Officer
- Valentino Abate: 2018-19 Vice President, 2019-20 President/Programming Lead
2018-21
- Madeleine Glenn: 2018-21 Sound Lead/Officer
2018-19
- Eric Mitchell: 2018-19 Archivist/Webmaster
- Liam Dugard: 2017-18 Event Coordinator, 2018-19 President
- Muhammad Al-Suwaidi: 2018-19 Art Lead
- Valentino Abate: 2018-19 Vice President, 2019-20 President/Programming Lead
2017-18
- Aubrey Issacman: 2017-18 Outreach
- Christopher Paz: 2017-18 Outreach
- Edmond Le: 2017-18 Treasurer
- Fernando Zamora: 2017-18 Sound Lead
- Gian Paredes: 2017-18 Outreach, 2018-19 Art Lead/Treasurer
- Ian Rapoport: 2017-18 Event Coordinator
- Jon Alancantara: 2017-18 Archivist
- Kyle Oppenheim: 2017-18 Vice President
- Liam Dugard: 2017-18 Event Coordinator, 2018-19 President
- Linda Nguyen: 2017-18 Art Lead
- Nicholas Ho: 2017-18 Event Coordinator
- Nicole Maines: 2017-18 President
2017
- Zane Gregorian: 2017 Sound Lead
2014-2017
- Jarrett Van Den Bergh: 2014-17 Programming Officer
- Allyssa: 2014-17 President
- Daniel C: Webmaster