Tell us a little about yourself.
Hello, my name is Liam Joseph Milinazzo. I grew up in Scottsdale, Arizona. My biggest passions right now are soccer and audio engineering, which I have been teaching myself for my own personal projects. That has led me into Blender, video editing software, and whatever other tools I pick up along the way. I chose the Sanghi College of Engineering due to the overlap in strengths as well as the post undergrad career opportunities. Something unique about me is that my brain runs mostly on fun facts. If there is a piece of odd trivia attached to a topic, I probably know it, and unfortunate to you, I will probably tell you about it.
Tell us something fun or unexpected about yourself.
In my free time you will find me either shiny hunting in the Japanese versions of the DS and 3DS Pokémon games or watching sports. I am a sports head. I have facts and numbers lodged deep in my brain that mean absolutely nothing to anyone except other sports nerds. I also play intramural sports and love indoor soccer, so I am not just watching from the couch.
Why did you choose NAU and the Sanghi College of Engineering?
I chose NAU, and specifically the Sanghi College of Engineering, because of the IMG (Immersive Media and Games) program. During my junior year of high school, I was fortunate enough to attend a camp at NAU for potential incoming IMG students, where we got hands-on experience at a game jam. That weekend was what sold me. I got to see the campus for myself, and I met two professors who I am grateful to still have a great relationship with four years later. The scholarship I was awarded for my academic performance in high school made the decision even easier. Between the program, the people, and the support, NAU was the only school that checked every box for me.
Why did you choose your major?
I chose IMG because of the overlap between my passions and my skill set. My dad started teaching me programming languages and the basic principles of computer science when I was eight years old. Eventually he introduced me to coding through Minecraft, where I used the game as an engine to build my own mods. That was the moment it clicked for me. I was not just playing a game anymore; I was changing how it worked and watching other people play inside something I had made. Ever since then, my focus has been on creating fun worlds that users want to stay in. IMG is the rare major that lets me keep doing exactly that, with the technical foundation to back it up.
What has been your favorite experience at NAU so far?
My favorite NAU experience has been the study abroad trip I was lucky enough to take through the IMG program. We spent time in Japan experiencing the culture firsthand, visiting anime studios, historical computer science offices, and exhibits of computer science art and video work. Toward the end of the trip, we partnered with a local university for a game jam where randomly assigned teams of four had two days to build a game around the concepts of kawaii and kowai. Working with people I had just met, in a country I had just arrived in, under that kind of time pressure, taught me more than any single class has. We closed out the trip at the World Expo, which was an experience in itself.
Tell us about a project, research experience, internship, or hands-on learning opportunity you’re especially proud of.
One experience I am especially proud of is the cross cultural game jam we did in Japan. My team was myself, another NAU student, a Malaysian student studying abroad, and a student from Ukraine. Four people, four backgrounds, 48 hours, and one game built around the themes of kawaii and kowai. Before we could write a single line of code, we had to find common ground: shared interests, a concept that made sense to everyone, and a platform we could all actually work in.
I took on gameplay development, building the core mechanics and then debugging what broke. Most of my time went into character logic errors and player and AI interaction problems that only surfaced once someone else played the build. We iterated through feedback from the design and art side of the team, then presented our rationale and workflow to peers and faculty. The game took first place.
What made it meaningful was not the win. It was learning that technical skill only gets you halfway when your team does not share a first language. The rest is patience, clear communication, and being willing to let a better idea replace your own.
What’s been your biggest challenge as an engineering student, and how have you overcome it?
My biggest challenge has been time management. I want to work on my personal projects, I hold myself to a high academic standard, and I am involved in enough outside of class that something is always competing for the same hours. During the last year I have been working two jobs while carrying a full course load, and I learned quickly that wanting to do everything is not the same as being able to. I still have not perfected it, and I am not sure anyone does. What has changed is that I now decide what gets my time on purpose instead of by accident.
Have you had a faculty member, advisor, or mentor who made a difference in your experience?
Many faculty members have contributed to my academic and career success, and the word limit is too small to give each of them the flowers they deserve. Professor Amresh is both my boss with Let’s Talk Code and my professor in the IMG program, and the two of us bonded during the study abroad trip. Professor Duval, who I also grew close with on that trip, has given me opportunities to volunteer at meaningful game events. Finally, Chase Kurbat, my supervisor in CEFNS career advisement, has coached me on my resume, my portfolio, and my LinkedIn. She is a large part of the reason I am where I am today.
What career goals do you have after graduation?
My dream is to work for Nintendo of America as a game developer or a project manager. Studying the history of games in Japan made that goal feel a lot more concrete than it did before. Long term I want to stay in programming and computer science, building games that people want to live inside rather than just finish. That said, my career development work at NAU has given me a real skill set on the human side, including coaching, event planning, and communication, and I would not rule out a path that puts those to use alongside the technical work. Either way, the problem I care about is making worlds people keep coming back to.
What advice would you give to future engineering students?
Maximize the resources put in front of you. There is computer science advising, tutoring, and career advising built specifically for engineering students, and none of it costs you anything but the time it takes to show up. If a professor mentions a free resource, take it. Working in career advising has shown me how many students never walk through that door, and the ones who do are usually not the students who are struggling the most. They are the ones already doing well. That is not a coincidence. Asking for help is not a sign you are behind, it is most of how the people ahead of you got there.
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