Arts and Technology Ph.D. candidate Bobby Frye and ATEC faculty Kyle Kondas were featured on local radio station KERA for their work on Tiny Thumbs, a new organization looking to build up awareness for the indie game scene and showcase some of the best talent out there through pop-up arcades/art shows.
Read the entire article on Art and Seek.
Two teams of Arts and Technology (ATEC) and Computer Science students from The University of Texas at Dallas have entered the first annual National STEM Video Game Challenge.
Inspired by the “Educate to Innovate” campaign – President Barack Obama’s initiative to promote a renewed focus on Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) education – the National STEM Video Game Challenge aims to motivate learning among America’s youth by tapping into students’ natural passions for playing and making video games.
Both UT Dallas teams entered into the Collegiate Prize division, which awards $25,000 to the top undergraduate or graduate game submission geared toward young children (grades pre-K through 4). The first team, comprising students Jainan Sankalia, Liz Paradis, Chris Camacho and Matthew Tackett, created “Mission Earth: The Search for Hamburgers.” In “Mission Earth,” players learn the scientific method by helping a cute alien, Gumpert, explore the planets.
“We entered because it seemed like a fun, unique challenge to tackle, with the potential for national recognition,” Sankalia said. “Our game is designed to help young kids learn the steps of the scientific method, a core mentality that applies across STEM fields, and to help kids cultivate a desire to learn more about space.”
The second team, made up of students Tony Wu, Adam Chandler, Michael Kaiser and Daniel Ries, created “Space Cadet,” a game that teaches kindergartners about basic math concepts such as length and height by launching rockets.
Space Cadet teaches kindergartners basic mathematical concepts such as length and height by launching rockets.
Wu said, “A chance to design games is always welcome. Using space exploration as a background for our game and in-game learning objectives as the base concepts for learning, we hope to create a fun learning experience that doesn’t feel like learning.”
Dr. Monica Evans, assistant professor of game design at UT Dallas, said, “I’m thrilled that so many of our students, many of whom are working on educational or training game-based research projects, are able to take that experience and create their own educational games. I’m very proud of both teams and wish them both the best of luck.”
Dr. Mihai Nadin, Ashbel Smith Professor and director of antÉ, the Institute for Research in Anticipatory Systems at The University of Texas at Dallas (UTD), will appear on the Glenn Mitchell Show on Dallas public radio station KERA on Monday, Nov. 7, from noon to 12:30 p.m. Nadin will discuss his work in a new and fascinating field of science he is helping to pioneer – anticipation.
Nadin will answer questions from host Mitchell and listeners in a live broadcast from KERA studios in Dallas.
Nadin is one of the founders and acknowledged leaders of a nascent, somewhat arcane discipline that seeks to bring anticipatory characteristics of living organisms to mechanisms, as well as to a broad array of pursuits. Nadin began his own research into anticipatory systems in the late 1980’s. Upon his arrival at UTD in 2004, he established antÉ to study the premise of embedding the characteristics of anticipation – vital to efficient human functioning – in software for computers and other devices.
The Glenn Mitchell Show is broadcast on 90.1 FM and is also available online athttp://www.kera.org/radio/GMS/.
