Media Release
May 16 2008
Partnership puts SA at the forefront in digital media education
A
new partnership between Carnegie Mellon
University’s Entertainment Technology Centre (ETC) and the
University of South Australia’s
School of Communication is set to see the South Australia blossom as
an expert centre for digital media and entertainment technologies
education.
The agreement brings together aspects of ETC’s elite post-graduate program in interactive digital media with UniSA’s highly regarded communications degrees.
UniSA Deputy Vice Chancellor, Professor Peter Lee says the partnership is an intelligent collaboration that builds important skills capacity in a State which has already nurtured some highly successful digital media enterprises.
“We have some extremely successful niche businesses and individual players who have made a splash in industries such as computer games development, special effects, and digital animation,” Prof Lee says.
“South Australia has the perfect environment to develop that creativity and expertise further and this partnership will strengthen and broaden opportunities for students here. It will also build SA’s reputation for capacity, excellence and innovation in what must be one of the most significant new industries of the 21st century.”
The partnership plans include:
- incorporating ETC’s “Building Virtual Worlds” course into the UniSA’s Media Arts curriculum;
- establishing a joint visiting faculty program involving exchange of teaching staff ;
- establishing a student exchange program, taking advantage of ETC’s global presence in Osaka, Pittsburgh, Seoul and Silicon Valley;
- making it possible for SA students to work on significant global projects;
- enabling Uni SA students to visit Silicon Valley before the end of 2008;
- establishing a co-badged Masters in Entertainment Technology Communications to be delivered by UniSA’s School of Communication.
These improved delivery options represent an important step forward
for the now superseded ETC Masters in Entertainment Technology.
ETC and UniSA staff will work closely together on an ongoing basis on
this new delivery model.
ETC-Global Executive Producer,
Professor Don Marinelli
says as part of this new initiative ETC-Pittsburgh will continue
supervising philanthropic projects in SA which will be undertaken by ETC
and UniSA students in an ongoing commitment to community-building.
“The first of these projects is an exciting collaboration with the
National Railway Museum at Port Adelaide. Students will modernise the
Museum’s Sugar and Tea Train exhibit by developing a state-of-the-art
interactive and educational display. UniSA students will be the first
Australian students to work with the ETC on the project, fulfilling one
of the goals of bringing the ETC to Australia,” Prof Marinelli says.
Media contacts
- Michèle Nardelli office (08) 8302 0966 mobile 0418 823 673 email michele.nardelli@unisa.edu.au
- ETC Program Director, John Buchanan office (08)
8231 1391 mobile 0403 512 279 email juancho@cmu.edu