August 19, 2013

PHILADELPHIA (August 19, 2013) – In a strong showing for some of Drexel University’s best and brightest, Dr. Frank Lee, an associate professor in the Antoinette Westphal College of Media Arts & Design and director of the Entrepreneurial Game Studio, and undergraduate digital media student Greg Lobanov were among the winners at the 2013 Philadelphia Geek Awards. 

Lee, who heads the Entrepreneurial Game Studio and was a co-founder of the Game Design Program at Drexel, took home “Hacker of the Year” honors and also received recognition for “Geek Story of the Year” for a bit of programming mastery that turned the Cira Centre into a 29-story game of Pong during Philly Tech Week in April. 

“I share the recognition of these awards with my fellow hackers and collaborators on the project, Gaylord Holder, Marc Barrowclift and Santi Ontanon,” Lee said. “This honor is a testament to the vibrant culture of technological innovation and artistic creativity that is encouraged and fostered at Drexel University from the very top on down. Where else but Drexel could a professor in digital media with a degree in psychology be named ‘Hacker of the Year?’”

Lobanov, who is a student in Westphal’s Digital Media Program and runs his own game design company, took home “Indie Game of the Year” honors for his mobile game “Perfection,” which was launched this spring for iOS, Android, PC and Mac. “As someone who grew up in and is inspired by the Philadelphia area, it feels really special to get recognition back from that community,” Lobanov said. “All I want to do now is work 10 times harder and come back next year with something even better.”

Westphal Alumna Amanda Danziger won Feature Length Indie Film of the Year for her documentary "Backyard Philly Project," which premiered at the URBN Center Annex this past May. Her movie tells the stories of four teenagers from an impoverished Philadelphia neighborhood known as “Penn Town.”

The awards, hosted by the Academy of Natural Science of Drexel University, have been presented annually by the blog Geekadelphia, since 2011 as a way to spotlight and celebrate Philadelphia’s vibrant “geek” culture. Described by Geekadelphia co-founder, Eric Smith, as “like the Oscars, but a lot sillier and a lot more fun,” this year’s Geek Awards recognized 14 winners in categories. 

In addition to the Dragons among the award recipients, Drexel was also represented at the podium by Dr. Youngmoo Kim, director of the ExCITe Center and an associate professor in Drexel’s College of Engineering, who was named Scientist of the Year at the 2012 Geek Awards, and served as a presenter this year. 

For a full list of the award winners visit www.geekadelphia.com.