Getting to know Julia Othlinghaus
junio 17, 2019
We start our first “Getting to know” section with one of our excellent Project Managers. Julia has been working in the German office since 2011 and she has been in charge of some of Native Prime’s most interesting projects. If you want to check some of the wonderful games she has been involved, check the fighting videogame The Muscle Hustle or the hilarious and original Morphies Law, both localized into seven languages!
Julia has a master’s degree in Applied Cognitive and Media Science and since 2015 she is working on her PhD at the COLLIDE (COLlaborative Learning in Intelligent Distributed Environments) group in the University of Duisburg-Essen. But what is the main goal of this investigation?
I’m focusing on research in the field of virtual role-playing games for the training of social skills in workplace environments featuring intelligent support. I’m dealing a lot with the development of learning environments involving AI-controlled chatbots and automated analysis of player behavior.
How interesting is that? She could not decide between the academic path or a working career, so she is doing both! Let her explain why she chose to do a PhD after her master’s degree.
I love both learning and teaching, so I decided to keep the connection to the university and do my PhD in Computer Science. However, I always wanted to work in the industry and so I did (at the same time). At first glance, it seems like my two professions do not have too much in common, but they are connected through my deepest passion: games. Games are fascinating and inspire people all over the world and they have so much potential to facilitate learning in the most natural way: by doing things. Having these two roles (PhD student and project manager) allows me to pursue my passion and unfold my talents in the best possible way I can imagine.
Besides her research and her work at Native Prime, she is also involved in different educational organizations. Needless to say that she keeps herself busy! This is what she has to say about her role as a teacher.
I’m teaching at the University of Duisburg-Essen once per week. I’m doing research projects with master students, giving seminars and providing support for our blended learning course “Gestaltung interaktiver Lehr-/Lernsysteme” (designing interactive learning systems). I am always trying not to be so much a “teacher” in the traditional sense, but a facilitator for learning, allowing the students to bring out their best, develop new ideas and discover their strengths.
To finish this interview, we asked her to give some pieces of advices to those starting in the localization industry and these were her answers:
1. Love games
2. Be patient
3. Keep cool even in the most stressful crunch times
Thank you, Julia, for taking the time to answer these questions!
See you all in the next “Getting to know”!
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