From Student to Software Sage: Kory Byrne's Python Optimization Masterclass

It was a genuine pleasure to welcome back Kory Byrne ('19) to Shawnee State for our Game On speaker series. For those of us who remember him as a student, it was inspiring to see how his passion for tinkering and problem-solving has blossomed into a successful career.

"Kory was (and is) one of our best graduates. It was a pleasure seeing him on campus and having him share his insights with the next generation of game developers. Thank, you, Kory!" - Prof. Jason Witherell, Department Chair

Kory's talk was a fantastic blend of personal journey and technical depth. He generously shared his post-graduation path, which included roles at Battelle Memorial Institute, a stint in education during COVID, and a return to software development. His core message to our current students was both reassuring and empowering.

"You succeed at a couple [things], you fail at like hundreds, and it kind of works out."
— Kory Byrne

The heart of his presentation was a live-coding deep dive into optimizing a 3D software rasterizer built in Python. He masterfully demonstrated a critical skill for any developer: how to methodically identify and fix performance bottlenecks.

Kory showed how to use Python's built-in cProfile to gather data and the pstats module to make sense of it. This helped him quickly identify the hot path, illustrating the 80/20 rule where a small fraction of functions consume the vast majority of the processing time. Instead of a major rewrite, his fix was strategic: target those critical functions with powerful libraries like Numba for Just-In-Time (JIT) compilation.

He then walked through practical optimizations like clipping unseen triangles and reducing render resolution, turning a sluggish slideshow into a smooth, real-time demonstration.

The extended Q&A was a highlight, covering everything from imposter syndrome and the value of game jams to pragmatic (and cautious) uses of AI in a developer's workflow. Kory's advice was grounded, honest, and exactly what our students needed to hear.

We're proud to count Kory among our alumni and are grateful he returned to share his expertise. His visit was a perfect example of the enduring and supportive community that is SSU Games.

Try It Yourself

• 🕹️ Explore the Code: Tinker with the rasterizer on Kory's GitHub
• 🎮 Join a Jam: Put these principles into practice at our Fall 2025 Game Jam!

About the Speaker

Kory Byrne is a software developer, 2019 SSU Games graduate, and a passionate mentor. As a polyglot programmer, he is experienced in everything from C++ and OpenGL to Python and data analytics.

• 👾 Play His Games: koryb.itch.io
• 💼 Connect on LinkedIn: Kory Byrne's Profile
• 💬 Find Him on Discord: KoryB / Kordel B (on the SSUGames Server)