Meet The Team
Management
Ali - CEO & Founder
Ali is the Program Leader 👨🏫 for the Creative Media Department at University College Kensington 🏫.
During the day he leads & lectures for the undergraduate Computer Games Design 🎮 course. He has more than 15 years of experience and has worked on many different projects with many different companies such as Siemens, London Underground and Royal Air Force (RAF). In the eyes of his 12 year old nephew, he’s the coolest uncle in the world 😎, because he makes games! One day his nephew (who was 9 years old at the time) asked to learn games design. He was surprised 😮 to see how quickly his nephew learnt the same tools his adult students use. “You’re a lot more capable than I thought!” he said. He then taught the same techniques to his 8 years old niece who also learnt just as quick. This gave him the idea 💡 to set up Software Academy, so kids as young as 6 can start learning how to code 💻 and make 3D games.
Saeed - Operations Manager
Saeed has Master’s degree 🎓 in Digital Media Design from the University of Edinburgh (👀 number 16 in world's university ranking!🌎).
Saeed was a lecturer 👨🏻🏫 on the games design course at West Herts College 🏫 Now he is our Operations manager, the go to guy for any problem parents and tutors may face! He is our own version of Superman always ready for action!🎮 Saeed enjoys sports 🏃🏻 & music 🎵. He’s described as a dedicated manager by all of our staff!
Sam - Head of Finance & HR
1000 more rows at the bottom Samane holds a First-Class Degree in Pharmacology 🎓 and has experience working in pharmacy.
However, her passion for education ❤📚 led her to pursue a teaching career. She also holds a PGCE in Education for secondary schools and colleges. With over 10 years of experience teaching Chemistry 🧪 and Maths ➗ in various schools, including outstanding ones, Samane is highly skilled in supporting SEND children and high-ability students 🌟. She has always been loved by her students 💙 for her dedication and teaching style. Currently, she is part of Software Academy as our Head of Finance 💰 and SENCO 🏫, continuing her mission to make a difference in education! 🚀✨
Marjan - Qualification Manager
Marjan is our Head of Qualification Management, she graduated with a 🎮 Computer Games Design and Development Diploma 🎓
She specialised in Unreal Engine and 3ds Max. Marjan has always worked with young children through her teaching in Primary schools and Private tuition👩🏻🎓. She loves Persian music 🎵 skiing in Switzerland🎿 and world foods!🍣 🥘
Student & Parent Support Team
Jane - Assistant Manager
Before returning to the UK, Jane worked as an international teacher overseas 🇯🇵 and has now been with the Academy for two years.
In her current role, her focus is ensuring our tutors 🧑🏫 receive the support they need to flourish while assisting management with larger operations.📋 At heart, I will always be a teacher, and she is dedicated to ensuring that both our students and teaching staff have the resources and guidance they need to succeed.
Marley - Admin Supervisor
Marley graduated with a Bachelor’s in Games Art 🎮 from the University of Huddersfield.
She has a background with freelancing in graphics design, web design and development, illustration and 3D modelling 🖌️. She is currently enjoying learning how to code ⌨️ for games whilst creating her own passion project games in her spare time. She loves playing games as well as making art for them and aside from her time spent on the computer she loves reading and hiking with her dog 🐶!
Ciara - Admin Supervisor
Ciara graduated with a degree in Illustration 🎓 with a concentration in Concept Art for Games and Animation from Savannah College of Art and Design in the United States.
She is a published children’s book illustrator 🎨 with a proficient understanding of Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator and creating Animated GIFS. Ever since a young age, Ciara has used digital platforms as a means to create artwork and bring to life colorful worlds and characters. 🐉🖌️ When she is not working, you can find her volunteering in Gaming Communities to host safe spaces for tournaments, exploring the United Kingdom, playing cozy video games or brainstorming her own passion game projects! 🌱
Matt - Admin Lead
Matt has a background in Theoretical Physics from the University of York and proficiency in coding languages such as Python and C++ 💻.
As a qualified Maths teacher with certifications in quantitative finance and cybersecurity, Matt has a range of technical knowledge 📊🔐. He excels in administrative tasks and loves to streamline things, ensuring smooth operations behind the scenes ⚙️. Outside of work, Matt enjoys baking sourdoughs 🍞, playing speed chess ♟️, traveling ✈️, surfing 🏄♂️, wild camping 🏕️, and discovering new music 🎧.
Sami - Admin Lead
Sami Graduated from Teeside University in Computer Games Design 🎮 studying extensively in Unreal Engine.
Being lead level designer in his team 🆙️ with extensive knowledge of most recent games especially MMO Sami your go to guy if you want to know what to play next 🎯 in his spare time Sami loves Swimming 🏊♂️ and believes he is the fastest in the world 🏆
Aziz - Admin
Aziz graduated with a BSc from the University of Surrey. He starts every day with positive energy and a smile.
He loves Architecture, designing & creating DIY projects, and focuses on Music Production 🎧 🔉. With experience instructing youth athletes, children and adults in health and fitness 🤸♂️💪, Aziz strongly believes in building a well varied knowledge base, skills portfolio, and health foundations from a young age.
Catriona - Admin
Cat graduated with a degree in Marketing and Communications 🎓 📚 and has 12 years of experience in Operations and Office Management 🗂️
She also has experience in virtual assistant roles! In her free time, Cat enjoys running ᯓ🏃🏻♀️➡️ hiking 🏞️ and is an avid reader 📖
Christina - Admin
Christina has a degree 🎓 from the University of Lincoln in Business & Management 💼.
She has had a passion for gaming 🎮 since she was a teenager, as well as a love of everything creative 🎤🎵 ! She has combined her two interests and in her free time creates video gaming content 🎥. When she’s not at her PC, Christina loves cooking 🍳 and is on a mission to make the world’s best lasagna 🍲!
Elizabeth - Admin
Elizabeth graduated with a first-class honours degree in Game and Entertainment Design from the University of Hull 🎓, specialising in 3D Character Design and Sculpting.
She loves creating intricate (beautiful and sometimes terrifying!) 3D characters inspired by fantasy games and books 🧝. As part of her degree, she completed an internship at a game engine company as an Instructional Designer, developing educational content and learning support materials 👩🏻💻.
Elizabeth is an advocate for disability rights, SEN inclusion, and accessible design. She’s passionate about supporting others to grow to their full potential 🌱.
When she isn’t sculpting characters or developing her own indie projects, you’ll find her writing lore for table-top games ⚔️, doing arts and crafts 🎨, diving into a good book 📖 , or enjoying immersive or competitive gaming 🎮✨.
Jason - Enrolments Lead
Jason has been crazy about gaming 🎮 ever since childhood 👶 he has previously worked with digital media companies and IT 🖥 engineering
He is looking to hone his skills more with software academy and help develop young teenagers careers 🎓
Rod - Enrolments
Rod is a seasoned tech consultant 💻 with a strong background in the software industry, dedicated to helping young people and their parents find the perfect courses in IT, coding, gaming, design, and a wide range of digital skills 🎨.
He understands that every student learns differently, so he focuses on guiding families toward options that match each child’s interests, strengths, and goals 🌟.
His mission is to make the world of digital learning 💬 simple, accessible, and genuinely exciting 🚀 for students aged 6 to 16.
Known for his approachable communication style and clear, practical guidance, Rod helps build real confidence 💡✨ in both parents and students as they begin their learning journey.
He believes early exposure to digital skills sets young people up for success in a fast-evolving world 🌍, and he loves being part of that first step.
When he’s off the clock, Rod is usually out riding one of his motorcycles 🏍️ or relaxing with a good gaming session 🎮, always ready to recharge before helping the next family start their adventure into tech.
Eleanor - Enrolments
Eleanor is a motivated professional transitioning into Software Development 💻, with a background in international marketing and experience as a Treatment Coordinator 🏥.
She brings strong problem-solving, communication, and project coordination skills developed through her work in Dubai and the healthcare sector 🌍. Eleanor is now focused on applying her adaptable mindset and technical training to build innovative digital solutions. ✨
Yasemin - Enrolments
Yasemin is a University of Loughborough graduate with a degree in English, with a special interest in modules geared towards marketing and media in the digital age 👩💻.
Her dissertation explored the interesting ways in which artificial intelligence interacts with humanity on personal levels as well as society as a whole. Having experience as a digital marketer, Yasemin understands how important design is through the use of Adobe and other software. In her personal life, Yasemin enjoys all kinds of creation, whether it’s writing, painting 🎨 or experimenting with makeup💄 , she believes that creativity is a gift that all people should delve into one way or another!
Heroes behind the Learning
Bella - Course Leader
Bella is an animator and illustrator with a BA(Hons) in Animation from Nottingham Trent University 🎓. She specialises in 2D Digital Design using Photoshop, Illustrator, After Effects and Premiere.
Bella has been studying 2D design and animation since she was young and loves using software to create fantastical creatures and characters! She directed and animated an award-winning short film 📽, and when she isn’t tutoring, she is usually out bird-watching! 🐦
Christian - Course Leader
Christian is a final-year Games Programming student with a strong passion for mathematics, low-level programming, and game engine development ⚙. Alongside his academic work, he has gained invaluable industry experience during an internship where he contributed to the development of a AAA game, sharpening his skills in large-scale production environments.
He has hands-on experience with Unreal Engine, C based languages, Unity and Python, and enjoys the challenge of solving complex technical problems 🧠 .
In his spare time, Christian enjoys gaming 🎮 — especially chasing platinum trophies 🏆. He also dedicates time to developing his own custom game engine in C++, where he’s exploring systems like rendering, memory management, and physics from the ground up.
Dylan - Course Leader
Dylan is a recent graduate from the University of Staffordshire, where he gained a first-class BSc Games Development (Hons) 👨🎓 with over 6 years of experience in Unreal Engine 💻.
He is highly passionate about anything related to games, whether he is creating, teaching, or even playing 🎮! He enjoys plenty of things outside of games too, such as going to the gym 🏋️♂️, working on his car 🔧, or jamming to music 🎧. Dylan is also a part of a fostering family who have been fostering and caring for looked-after young people for over a decade!
Jakub K - Course Leader
Jakub has a background in computer game design🎮 and a great passion for teaching🎓 and game development🕹️, with a long experience in both.
Jakub knows Unreal’s blueprint system📘 like the back of their hand and loves to bring students’ ideas💡 to life with it! With their teaching experience, Jakub can help students comprehend and visualize complex coding issues with ease.🔨 Jakub also enjoys games and movies 🍿 in their spare time, and loves the opportunity to combine the passion for design with the ability to share their knowledge
Joseph - Course Leader
Joseph has a background in creative design and a degree from Norwich University of the Arts 🎓.
He has previously worked as an electrical tech ⚡, a drone pilot 🎮 and a sound engineer on TV shows 🎬.
In the past he has created lots of 3D printed equipment for TV and drones 🛸.
Joseph is knowledgeable about the linux operating system 🐧with lots of experience writing code in 🐍 Python, C++ and bash / shell.
Maryam - Course Leader
Maryam is friendly, positive, and determined 🚀. She’s a second-year Computer Science student with a passion for software engineering, cyber security, and helping others learn. She loves solving problems through code and is always eager to explore new programming languages and ideas💡.
When she’s not coding 💻, Maryam enjoys running 🏃♀️ and is working towards completing a 10 km race. One of her favourite holidays was to Melbourne, Australia. She loved the beautiful beaches 🌞, feeding kangaroos, and exploring the amazing nature around the city.
Rhys - Course Leader
With over 12 years of experience in the 3D industry 🖥️, Rhys is a master of Blender with extensive expertise in Adobe Substance Painter and Photoshop. Specialising in hard-surface modelling👷, he has turned his passion for recreating intricate UK buses 🚌 and iconic London landmarks 🎡 into a successful professional career. Rhys has produced multiple official DLCs for two leading bus simulators, collaborating with some of the world's top simulation studios.
At the Academy, Rhys is dedicated to translating his industry knowledge into inspiring lessons for the next generation of creators. When he isn’t modelling high-fidelity assets for his latest project, you’ll find him exploring the world of Pokémon or diving into his favourite games and simulations 🎮.
Tarek - Course Leader
Tarek earned a Distinction (First Class!) in his Master’s in Artificial Intelligence 🤖 at Loughborough University London and brings 8 years of tutoring experience, guiding students from Year 1 to A-Level 📚 with energy and precision.
A lifelong coding enthusiast, he’s programmed in Python since secondary school and mastered Java at university 💻. Beyond the classroom, he’s a gym regular and pop-culture fan who collects Pokémon cards, builds Gundam models, dives into Transformers comics, and unwinds with video games 🎮 and anime while sharing smart tips to help young coders level up fast.
William - Course Leader
Will has been developing games since he was a teenager and has always had a passion for gaming 🎮 and coding . He studied Games Development at Norwich University of the Arts 🎓 where he focused on games development with Unreal Engine ⚙️.
After he left university he went on to create two games, first one for phones 📱 and the second for consoles and computers 🖥️. He then went back into education at the University of East Anglia 🎓 where he earned his Masters degree in Advanced Computer Science 👨💻. Aside from making games in his spare time he also enjoys playing them 🕹️ and tinkering with all sorts of tech! 🔧
Xaq - Course Leader
Xaq has spent many years coding 👩💻, and loves every minute of it! 🥰 He graduated Lancaster University with a first class degree in Computer Science 🎓.
He then spent a couple of years learning Unreal and Unity to create games 🎮. Xaq loves games! 😍 Not just video games 🎮, but board games 🎲 and card games 🃏 too, like D&D 🐉 and Yu-Gi-Oh! ❤ If he’s not making or playing games, Xaq will be vibing in his room with a guitar 🎸 or sleeping 😴.
