Announcing the judges panel for the AdMob Student App Challenge
December 11th, 2013 | Published in Google Student Blog
Google is proud to announce the judging panel for The AdMob Student App Challenge. Our six judges have either built apps or advised developers, and between them have accumulated hundreds of millions of downloads.
Toni Fingerroos: Toni Fingerroos is the CEO and founder of the mobile games company Fingersoft. He developed Hill Climb Racing which reached 1st place in top free games in the USA in Google Play and has been downloaded over 100 million times globally. In 2013 he received the Game Developer of the Year award in Finland. Fingerroos came up with the name Fingersoft when he was ten years old, with a passion for developing games. After years of making games for his friends to enjoy he wanted to learn more about business and economics. He co-founded two companies and also assumed managerial responsibility. After gaining experience from these businesses he was ready to start a company of his own that would make use of his skills and laid-back attitude. In 2012 he officially founded Fingersoft Ltd. pursuing his life-long dream of running an independent game studio.
Edward Kim: Edward Kim got his start in the Android development world by developing and entering his apps in various Android development contests. Most notably, he won 3rd place in Google's Android Developer Challenge 2, taking a $25,000 prize. He also won 1st place in Verizon's ‘Power Your App’ contest, taking a $75,000 prize. Edward Kim is the co-founder and CTO of ZenPayroll. Prior to co-founding ZenPayroll, Edward was the CEO and co-founder of Picwing.com, a Y Combinator-funded startup and photo-printing platform that was acquired in 2011. Edward holds a BS and MS in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University.
Artavazd Mehrabyan: Artavazd Mehrabyan is co-founder & COO of PicsArt: a fun and full-featured mobile photo editing, drawing app, and art community for Android and iOS. He worked previously as Senior Software Architect at prominent web portal Lycos Europe. Artavazd has conducted practical classes in Software Architecture at the American University of Armenia, and has been a guest lecturer at Yerevan State Polytechnic. He is a graduate of the American University of Armenia.
Sana Choudary: Over the last two years Sana has been the CEO and co-founder of YetiZen, a cornerstone of the game developer ecosystem. This includes the YetiZen accelerator, the wildly popular games-focused accelerator and the YetiZen Innovation Lab, the only game developer community space of its kind for game developer business education and synergy in the new and ever evolving world of social mobile. It has served over 10,000 game developers in the last 12 months. Sana Choudary has a reputation for being a powerful force in creating successful entrepreneurs. She has been highly active in the entrepreneurial and gaming communities throughout her career as a leading member of Women 2.0, StartupWeekend; and as a co-founder of NYC’s largest entrepreneurial group, Ultra Light Startups. In addition to YetiZen, Sana chairs TiE SF and TiEcon Youth Track, the world's largest entrepreneurship conference. Through YetiZen, Sana is intimately involved with hundreds of startups, gaming veterans, investors, and gaming giants, giving her a unique and unparalleled perspective on the game space.
Jake Ward: Jake Ward oversees operations and programming for the Application Developers Alliance, including media relations, marketing, membership and corporate partnerships. He has more than 10 years of experience in public relations, marketing and public policy. He has led strategic communication and issue-advocacy campaigns on behalf of Fortune 100 companies, public interest groups and industry associations.
Taizo Son: Taizo San is CEO at Movida Japan, Chairman at GungHo Online Entertainment and Advisor at SoftBank. “I have worked fervently for the past 15 years to start new IT-related venture companies. In 2002 I founded GungHo, one of Japan’s most successful online gaming companies, and our flagship game Puzzle & Dragons is the world’s top grossing app for iOS and Android. With Movida Japan, a seed accelerator I founded in 2009, we aim to significantly boost the venture ecosystem in East Asia by 2030. I also serve as an Advisor at SoftBank, a Japanese Telecom and IT conglomerate with more than 1300 subsidiaries and affiliates worldwide, founded and led by my brother Masayoshi Son.“
Our panel is excited to see what our participants come up with during the contest. Be sure to follow AdMob on Google + for any Challenge-related announcements, and to check out the Challenge website.
Toni Fingerroos: Toni Fingerroos is the CEO and founder of the mobile games company Fingersoft. He developed Hill Climb Racing which reached 1st place in top free games in the USA in Google Play and has been downloaded over 100 million times globally. In 2013 he received the Game Developer of the Year award in Finland. Fingerroos came up with the name Fingersoft when he was ten years old, with a passion for developing games. After years of making games for his friends to enjoy he wanted to learn more about business and economics. He co-founded two companies and also assumed managerial responsibility. After gaining experience from these businesses he was ready to start a company of his own that would make use of his skills and laid-back attitude. In 2012 he officially founded Fingersoft Ltd. pursuing his life-long dream of running an independent game studio.
Edward Kim: Edward Kim got his start in the Android development world by developing and entering his apps in various Android development contests. Most notably, he won 3rd place in Google's Android Developer Challenge 2, taking a $25,000 prize. He also won 1st place in Verizon's ‘Power Your App’ contest, taking a $75,000 prize. Edward Kim is the co-founder and CTO of ZenPayroll. Prior to co-founding ZenPayroll, Edward was the CEO and co-founder of Picwing.com, a Y Combinator-funded startup and photo-printing platform that was acquired in 2011. Edward holds a BS and MS in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University.
Artavazd Mehrabyan: Artavazd Mehrabyan is co-founder & COO of PicsArt: a fun and full-featured mobile photo editing, drawing app, and art community for Android and iOS. He worked previously as Senior Software Architect at prominent web portal Lycos Europe. Artavazd has conducted practical classes in Software Architecture at the American University of Armenia, and has been a guest lecturer at Yerevan State Polytechnic. He is a graduate of the American University of Armenia.
Sana Choudary: Over the last two years Sana has been the CEO and co-founder of YetiZen, a cornerstone of the game developer ecosystem. This includes the YetiZen accelerator, the wildly popular games-focused accelerator and the YetiZen Innovation Lab, the only game developer community space of its kind for game developer business education and synergy in the new and ever evolving world of social mobile. It has served over 10,000 game developers in the last 12 months. Sana Choudary has a reputation for being a powerful force in creating successful entrepreneurs. She has been highly active in the entrepreneurial and gaming communities throughout her career as a leading member of Women 2.0, StartupWeekend; and as a co-founder of NYC’s largest entrepreneurial group, Ultra Light Startups. In addition to YetiZen, Sana chairs TiE SF and TiEcon Youth Track, the world's largest entrepreneurship conference. Through YetiZen, Sana is intimately involved with hundreds of startups, gaming veterans, investors, and gaming giants, giving her a unique and unparalleled perspective on the game space.
Jake Ward: Jake Ward oversees operations and programming for the Application Developers Alliance, including media relations, marketing, membership and corporate partnerships. He has more than 10 years of experience in public relations, marketing and public policy. He has led strategic communication and issue-advocacy campaigns on behalf of Fortune 100 companies, public interest groups and industry associations.
Taizo Son: Taizo San is CEO at Movida Japan, Chairman at GungHo Online Entertainment and Advisor at SoftBank. “I have worked fervently for the past 15 years to start new IT-related venture companies. In 2002 I founded GungHo, one of Japan’s most successful online gaming companies, and our flagship game Puzzle & Dragons is the world’s top grossing app for iOS and Android. With Movida Japan, a seed accelerator I founded in 2009, we aim to significantly boost the venture ecosystem in East Asia by 2030. I also serve as an Advisor at SoftBank, a Japanese Telecom and IT conglomerate with more than 1300 subsidiaries and affiliates worldwide, founded and led by my brother Masayoshi Son.“
Our panel is excited to see what our participants come up with during the contest. Be sure to follow AdMob on Google + for any Challenge-related announcements, and to check out the Challenge website.