The Executive Team
Chris Bennett
Chief Executive Officer
As CEO of Skyless Games, Chris Bennett is responsible for guiding the strategic growth of Skyless as well as overseeing the company’s operations. He frequently works with the game design team to ensure that every project undertaken by Skyless Games achieves the maximum possible impact on the world around us. Prior to accepting the role of CEO, Chris served as the Director of Marketing.
Chris is experienced in both small business development and transformative game design. He has been invited to speak about creating transformative games and Skyless’ work at conferences and events including Lets Play PA, OpenAccessPHL, and Tech in Motion Gaming Expo. Chris has also worked with several small to large businesses as a marketing consultant helping them to achieve their sales and growth goals.
Prior to joining Skyless Game Studios, he worked in sales and marketing for J.P. Morgan Chase and Intellicomm, a telecommunications firm.
Chris graduated Summa Cum Laude and with Honors from Drexel University with a B.S. in Marketing and Entrepreneurship.
Arad Malhotra
Chief Technology Officer
In his role as CTO, Arad Malhotra is primarily responsible for overseeing the technological direction of Skyless Games’ projects. He also focuses on business development and global expansion of the brand.
Arad is an award winning ‘serious games’ expert who was featured on the 2016 global Forbes 30 Under 30 list (for Games), is a recipient of the U.S government’s prestigious O-1A work visa (reserved for “Individuals with Extraordinary Ability or Achievement”) and is also a member of Transparency International’s exclusive network of global anti-corruption experts. As a part of his work at Skyless, Arad has been invited to speak at multiple local, national and international events such as the International Anti-Corruption Conference and has been covered by various major publications including Forbes, Huffington Post, Technical.ly and Zee Business etc.
Previously, Arad worked for Siemens Corporate Research as a Software Developer and Architect, and is currently an advisor to multiple disruptive startups including drone advertising firm Dronecast.
Arad graduated from Drexel University as a part of the National Computer Science Honors Society with a B.S. in Computer Science, concentrations in Video Game Development and Human Computer Interaction.
Oleks Levtchenko
Board Member and Co-Founder
One of the original co-founders, Mr. Levtchenko currently sits on the board of directors to help advise the business in his fields of expertise.
Oleks has a background in entrepreneurship and finance. Having acted as both a founder and financial advisor to a number of start-ups, Oleks has extensive experience in both fundraising and new venture financial management.
Oleks graduated from Drexel University with a B.S. in Entrepreneurship and Finance and a minor in Psychology. While at Drexel, he was an instrumental member of the re-founding of the University’s Pi Kappa Phi chapter.
Our Advisors
Ian Abrams
Professor Abrams went to Hollywood in 1979 and left in 1998. In between, he spent ten years as an entertainment industry publicist and ten years as a screenwriter. He wrote the 1993 film “Undercover Blues” and created the television series “Early Edition,” which ran four years on CBS and six more in syndication and Professor Abrams wishes it would go back into syndication because he needs the money. Professor Abrams wrote a lot of better stuff that never got made and some stuff that did get made that he won’t talk about. Since 1998, Professor Abrams has been Program Director for Screenwriting & Playwriting, and, since 2011, he has run Drexel in L.A.
Paul Diefenbach
Dr. Paul Diefenbach, Associate Professor in Drexel University’s Digital Media program, created the game design curriculum which is now ranked #4 for undergraduate and #6 for graduate studies in the nation by The Princeton Review and GamePro Magazine. He is co-founder of Drexel’s game research laboratory, the RePlay Lab, and leads projects in brain-computer interfaces, music-driven games, and serious games. He has over 20 years experience in 3D, game development, and human simulation. Prior to joining Drexel, he was CTO of OpenWorlds Inc., providing technology for NASA, Sony, Mitsubishi, and Boeing. His pioneering 1996 Ph.D. on multi-pass rendering serves as the platform for today’s modern real-time graphics. He has presented at worldwide conferences including SIGGRAPH, Eurographics, and I3D, and has been featured on the CBS Evening News. Dr. Diefenbach holds a Ph.D. in Computer Graphics/Computer Science from the University of Pennsylvania, where he previously taught interactive 3D graphics as Associate Adjunct Professor, and a B.S. degree in Computer Science from RPI.
Michael Wagner
Michael G Wagner is Associate Professor and the Director of the Digital Media Program at the Antoinette Westphal College of Media Arts & Design. Prior to his position at Drexel he held academic teaching, research and executive management positions at the Department of Computer Science at Arizona State University, the Department of Educational Technology and Interactive Media at Danube University Krems, Austria, and the Christian University College of Teacher Education Vienna/Krems, Austria. His research interests focus on the educational use of digital media and computer games. He is the scientific director of “Ludwig”, a curriculum based physics learning game for middle schools that has been awarded with the German Game Developer Award for Best Serious Game 2011.