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DigiPen Institute of Technology

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Template:Infobox American Universities DigiPen Institute of Technology is a college located in Redmond, Washington which has a focus on art, computer science, and computer engineering with emphasis in creating video games. DigiPen is a high-profile college well-known in the game industry for producing capable graduates.

History

DigiPen was founded in 1988 by Claude Comair in Vancouver, B.C., Canada. The school relocated to Redmond in January 1998. In May 1996 the Washington State Higher Education Coordinating Board granted DigiPen the ability to award an Associate and Bachelor of Science Degrees in Real-Time Interactive Simulation and an Associate of Applied Arts Degree in 3D Computer Animation. This made DigiPen the first university in the world dedicated to teaching how to create video games. In 2002 a sister campus was opened in Beirut, Lebanon. Currently the Lebanon campus only offers one degree in the programming aspects of video game creation.

Campus

The campus is part of a rented building from Nintendo of America. The bottom floor is Nintendo of America's warehouse where games and systems are shipped out. The top floor is made up of NST on the east half and DigiPen on the west half. In 2002 DigiPen expanded its hold on the second floor by acquiring approximately another quarter, adding four new classrooms and a new place for the library. The majority of classrooms have computers in them for the students to use while being instructed. Occasionally, speakers from the video game industry will come on campus and have talks with the students that are able to attend.

Education

DigiPen has three primary educational paths, Applied/Fine Arts, Computer Engineering, and Real Time Interactive Simulation (RTIS - video game development). The art programs are taught from a computer-oriented perspective, though many art students do not intend to work in the game industry and attend DigiPen for its unique curriculum and businesslike atmosphere. RTIS students are taught aspects of development including programming, design, and marketing. Though there are some liberal arts classes also in the curriculum, all required courses are pertinent to game development. DigiPen also offers a master's degree in computer science, and Comair plans to add a Ph.D. program as well.

Students

DigiPen is the only educational institution whose students place in the professional category at the Game Developers Conference, and they have done so in 2004, 2005, and 2006. Additionally, Digipen students have placed the largest number of student projects in the IGF student showcase every year since it began, with a 5-year total of 15 winning game projects. The next closest institution placing in the student showcase is Georgia Tech with 5 over 5 years.

DigiPen's Student Association currently supervises all major student events and organizations in the school. After a restructuring in the fall of 2005, SA President Russell Wardinsky, along with VP Mark Barrett, Sec. Brittney Aubert, Treasurer Austin McGee, and several others created a governing body to manage events with more student interaction. The intent of this ambitious group of Digipen leaders is to bring more of the enjoyable parts of the college experience to the hard-core work environment present at Digipen.

Other student run commissions include SAPR, DigiPen's student-run Public Relations committee and the CEC, the Campus Entertainment Committee. Senator and SAPR Director Zach Peterson is currently managing plans to get companies from around the world to share advise to students at the school in ways never done before. The CEC handles tournaments, movies, and other activities under the direction of Jamie Gault.

Student work (games)

Freshman year, Digipen students must collaborate to make two games. Sophomore year, student game teams must make graphical (2D) games. Junior year, the games must be 3D with multiplayer networking. The senior games are a little less restricted to allow for more artistic control, but must demonstrate technical competance.

The games are copywrited and owned by Digipen, but many of the best may be downloaded and played for free.

Some of the award-winning games are:

  • Bontãgo - Winner, innovation in game design, professional category, IGF, 2004.
  • Kisses - Finalist, professional category, IGF, 2005.
  • RumbleBox - Finalist, innovation in game design, professional category, IGF, 2006. Slamdance Physics Award, 2006.
  • Scavenger Hunt - IGF Student Showcase, 2005. Slamdance Audience Award, 2005.

Notable staff

Summer camps

Every summer, DigiPen runs three different types of high-school summer workshops (and middle-school "junior" workshops). In the most popular workshop, students create games using ProjectFun (DigiPen's own game engine). Each workshop is two weeks long and there are different levels of each workshop:

  • 3D Animation (Levels I and II)
  • Robotics (Level I)
  • Game programming (Levels I, II, and III)

Each two-week workshop costs $995.

References

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