Andrew Spearin brings to the Game Design advanced diploma program over a decade of wisdom from being a pioneering Indie creative director. Inspired by his training experience as a soldier in the Canadian Army reserves, Spearin cofounded and directed Insurgency, a top selling indie game on Steam, that propelled a globetrotting career. Spearin has presented at conferences in London, Berlin and Amsterdam; and in the United States appeared at events including e3 and Steam Dev Days. Born and raised in Hamilton, he founded Sharp End Studio in 2019 to help create local opportunities for aspiring game developers. SES has been the recipient of an Epic Mega Grant and Ontario Creates production grant; currently works with legendary publisher MicroProse; and has partnered with the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum to bring Augmented Reality to museum visitors. Prior to entering the games industry, Spearin worked as a photojournalist for The StarPhoenix newspaper and was a designer on the Digital Innovation Team for Postmedia.