Claude Comair

Claude Comair is the founder of DigiPen Institute of Technology and a co-founder of the Nintendo Software Technology Corporation in Redmond, Washington, a subsidiary of Nintendo Co. Ltd. of Kyoto, Japan.

Comair was born and raised in the hamlet of Tannourine, located in the Batroun District of Lebanon, until he was 18 years old. He has received two degrees, one in Architecture and one in Environmental Engineering, and was invited to be a faculty member at the Osaka University in 1983. He has worked on games for Nintendo, Digital Eclipse Software, Inc., Intelligent Systems Co., Ltd. and Namco.

Comair comes from a line of medical doctors and originally went to school in Paris to become a doctor, but he returned to Lebanon out of worry for his family members and the condition of the country at the time. When visiting a college he should not have been at, he was forced to pretend he was there to take an entrance exam for architecture. He took the exam and was accepted. Because of this, he started delving into digital architecture and soon was offered an opportunity to do research with computers for the Japanese government. He met his wife Michelle in Japan and they moved to her native country, Canada (although Michelle is of Chinese roots), in 1988, where they first set up DigiPen. In 1996, Comair moved to Redmond, Washington, bringing the school with him. In Redmond, Comair served as one of the founders of Nintendo Software Technology, which has kept a strong relationship with DigiPen, hiring graduates as well as providing instructors.

Comair is also blind in one eye, according to a statement made in one of his lectures on November 22, 2006.

Game credits

• Mario vs. Donkey Kong (2004), Nintendo of America Inc.
• Ridge Racer DS (2004), Namco Hometek Inc.
• 1080° Avalanche (2003), Nintendo of Europe GmbH
• The Legend of Zelda: Collector's Edition (2003), Nintendo of America Inc.
• Spyro: Season of Ice (2001), Universal Interactive Studios
• Wave Race: Blue Storm (2001), Nintendo Co., Ltd.
• Bionic Commando: Elite Forces (2000), Nintendo Co., Ltd.
• Crystalis (2000), Nintendo of America Inc.
• Pokémon Puzzle League (2000), Nintendo of America Inc.
• Ridge Racer 64 (2000), Nintendo of America Inc.

External links

• Game Developers Conference 2005 (GDC 2005)
• Profile at N-Sider
• http://www.seattlehistory.org/include/techpdfs/Claude%20Comair%20FINAL.pdf

Reference

• Claude Comair at MobyGames

Persondata
Name	Comair, Claude
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth
Place of birth
Date of death
Place of death