For media information, contact:
Dana Urrutia, 678-495-3638
durrutia@gwinnetttech.edu

January 31, 2007

Gwinnett Tech Adds Simulation/Gaming Program to Meet Needs of Growing Industry

New Program Provides Fundamentals in Design, Development of Popular Simulated Games

Gwinnett Technical College is responding to business and student needs by adding a new program—Simulation/Game Developer—to its roster, making it the first and only college in the state’s network of technical colleges to introduce such a program.

Simulated games are the guilty pleasure of many, appealing to individuals of all ages. Video store shelves lie empty of popular sellers like Halo, Madden and Lego Star Wars. With such soaring popularity, the intense demand for gaming instruction has been split by both companies needing skilled game developers and by individuals wanting to break into the market.

“Indications are that this field will continue its sky-rocketing appeal and popularity, and our new Simulation/Game Developer Program will put students well on their way to flourishing careers within the gaming market,” says Cathy Maxwell, vice president of academic affairs for Gwinnett Tech.

In contrast to programs and courses that focus on the aesthetics or graphics of games, Gwinnett Tech’s program is the sole provider in this part of the country to offer a program that focuses on the fundamental nuts and bolts of game design and development.

The college’s gaming program prepares students for this in-demand field with sought-after skills in three major areas: game design, game physics and Artificial Intelligence. Together these aspects are what give a game its ‘real-life’ feel, ensuring, for instance, that ‘people’ don’t walk through walls, providing true-to-life scenarios. Students learn to apply these skills to basic games, then on to multiplayer games and finally to massive multiplayer online games.

More than just plain fun, though, gaming technology is used all around us. It’s used, for example, by police departments, health agencies, weather services and airlines to simulate, forecast, model and reenact countless scenarios.

This wide-spread application of gaming is good news for graduates who will be entering the field where virtually any industry will have a need for them.

Students come out of the Simulation/Game Developer Program as attractive candidates for entry-level positions with game designers and game development teams. Top, entry-level positions can begin at as much as $50,000 a year.

Gwinnett Tech’s associate degree, diploma and certificate programs in gaming are designed to be completed as a sequence, taking from four to eight quarters (one to two years) to complete.

Find out more about the Simulation/Game Developer Program at Gwinnett Tech by calling 770.962.7580 or visit online at www.GwinnettTech.edu.

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About Gwinnett Tech
Gwinnett Technical College, one of Georgia's largest technical colleges, is committed to delivering relevant knowledge to meet the workforce training needs of its community. The college offers more than 50 associate degree, diploma and certificate programs and hundreds of seminars, workshops and courses providing specialized training. GTC is Gwinnett County's largest provider of corporate training and now serves residents and businesses in north Fulton County. Gwinnett Technical College is accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools to award the associate degree. Contact the Commission on Colleges at 1866 Southern Lane, Decatur, Georgia 30033-4097,404-679-4500, www.sacscoc.org for questions about the accreditation of Gwinnett Technical College. For more information, visit www.GwinnettTech.edu.

A unit of the Technical College System of Georgia.