Production Opportunities
Outisde of organized courses, there are a variety of places for students to create, share and showcase their work.
The UT Dallas Computer Gaming Entrepreneurship Competition
The Computer Gaming Entrepreneurship Competition (CGEC) is the largest university-run competition of its kind in the nation, awarding nearly $50,000 in cash prizes and funding to UT Dallas students. Student teams compete for eight months to prepare a playable demo of an original game concept paired with an innovative business plan. The CGEC is sponsored by Hughes Ventures, the Institute for Interactive Arts and Engineering and the Institute for Innovation and Entrepreneurship.
Game Engineering Conference
The Game Engineering Conference is hosted each spring by student organizations in Arts and Technology, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. The conference is designed to bring together Dallas-area high school and college students, industry professionals and thepublic for two days of speakers, presentations and gaming tournaments, as well as a student showcase for gaming projects.
Arts Festival
The Arts Festivals occur at the end of every long semester and feature the work of more than 700 UT Dallas students from more than 40 courses in music, visual arts, creative writing, sound design, video, dance, theatre, animation and gaming. Arts and Technology students often present work in a variety of fields, utilizing gallery spaces, performance spaces and presentation venues.
New Works Festival
This annual festival is designed to showcase innovative performace work in a variety of media, including acting and directing, playwrighting, animation, interactive games, film and video, virtual environments and interactive narrative.
Student Organizations
The Arts and Technology program has a strong, tight-knit student community with a variety of student-run organizations, ranging from weekly social gatherings to independent project development groups. Three of the largest and longest-running are the Arts and Technology Student Association (ATSA), the Student Game Developers Association (SGDA) and the Student Animators Guild.
