June 18, 2008  

Pellissippi State now offering game design, programming certificates

This fall, Pellissippi State Technical Community College students will have the opportunity to focus more time on a popular hobby: video games.

The Media Technologies and Computer Science and Information Technology degree programs have come together to offer two new institutional certificates revolving around the video game and simulation industry.

The courses for the certificates—MDT’s Game and Simulation Design and CSIT’s Game and Simulation Programming—teach students to develop simulations, training products, games and commercial 2D and 3D programs on par with arcade-level and virtual-world programming needs. 

Addition of the certificates to the associate’s degree programs will help give students a leg up in a fast-growing area of the workforce, says Ronald Bellamy, coordinator of Media Technologies’ Video Production Technology concentration.

“The Design certificate, especially when added to an Associate of Applied Science degree, gives you more ammunition when you go out there,” he said.

Greg Walters, CSIT program coordinator, agrees.

“In the next decade, it is likely that the Internet and the browser interface may become a virtual reality first-person look and feel,” he said. “The student who has these game and simulation programming experiences may well have insights that will be highly needed in the next era of computing.”

Earning a Game and Simulation certificate offers students more than just a chance to develop the next big Xbox or PlayStation hit. Industries such as the military, Oak Ridge National Laboratories, Scripps Communications and other technology-intensive companies need employees who can help develop training tools, for example, assembly line simulations.

“The ability to make simulations, especially in a virtual reality environment,” said Walters, “will align with industries needing next-generation training modules, design and product testing, showing clients planned-for products and demonstrations.

“Whole new markets will emerge very soon that use many of the concepts, products and languages that these two certificates will encompass.”

Not that hitting it big with the next “Grand Theft Auto” isn’t also a possibility. According to Bellamy, the video game industry has surpassed Hollywood box office earnings for the past two years.

The popularity of video and computer games may lead many students to pursue a certificate, but the wide variety of career opportunities may keep them there. Whatever industry students choose, the certificate courses prepare them for success in the field.

Game and Simulation Design offers hands-on, project-oriented opportunities for the design of game and simulation products. Students learn to create items used in popular game consoles, online gaming and as stand-alone end products. The projects are prototyped, developed and tested. Designers work individually and on teams to earn their certificate.

The Game and Simulation Programming curriculum provides hands-on training for the development of programs for online gaming and stand-alone end products. Students concentrate on theory, purpose, strategies, marketing, development and programming of various commercial application products. Individual and teamwork also are a formal part of this certificate.

Game and Simulation Design and Development Intro (MDT 1600) and Introduction to Game and Simulation Programming (CSIT 1620) are offered for the fall semester. Both are part of the certificate course requirements. They also may be taken as electives in a number of A.A.S. degree programs.

Registration continues through Aug. 20, and classes begin Aug. 23.

For more information on the new certificates, contact Linda Randolph, Media Technologies director, at lrandolph@pstcc.edu or (865) 694-6522, or visit www.pstcc.edu.

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