Game Education Summit North America

The keynote presentation will review the importance of the creation of simulation curricula for the game and entertainment industries, and the anatomy of DigiPen Institute of Technology’s degree programs.

Mr. Comair announced during the European Simulation Symposium (ESS) 1996 in Genoa that the Higher Coordinating Education Board of the State of Washington had granted DigiPen Institute of Technology the right to open the first-ever university dedicated to the sciences of simulation related to the game industry and to offer the first Baccalaureate Degree of Science in Real-Time Interactive Simulation. This degree was the product of an evolution of a curriculum that was registered by DigiPen (Canada) in Vancouver, British Columbia in 1993. The original curriculum represented several years of research in the field of game simulation prepared by DigiPen’s engineers in Canada with the collaboration of Nintendo of America Inc. Since then, DigiPen has added several degrees in Fine and Applied Arts, Simulation Sciences, Computer Engineering, and Game Design. All DigiPen’s education is centered on the same goal: the creation of the best students who are able not only to create, but also to innovate in the fields of their studies.

Today, DigiPen’s presence in Redmond, Washington has helped, without a doubt, in the creation of a powerful and healthy game industry in the area. In the mid-90s, DigiPen Institute of Technology received an invitation by the Government of Singapore to become part of a national plan to build a world-class game industry in Singapore. After several years of preparation and R&D, in 2008, DigiPen Institute of Technology started a sister campus in Singapore to service its students in Asia. Since then, the game industry in Singapore has grown, and DigiPen now partners with or works closely with companies, such as Ubisoft and Lucas Arts, which have chosen to start production in Singapore. In 2008, DigiPen Institute of Technology received an invitation from the Bilbao Chamber of Commerce to create a sister campus in Bilbao, Spain in an effort to expand the region’s game industry. In addition to these three campuses, DigiPen also has a partnership with a university in Korea.

As a host of this Summit, Mr. Comair believes that it may be of interest for attendees to hear about the anatomy of DigiPen’s programs in more detail with the hope that it will stimulate collaborations between DigiPen and other colleges and universities.