Entertainment Technology Center

Entertainment Technology Center

Type	Private
Established	1999
Director	Derek Ham[1]
Location	Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Campus	Urban
Website	www.etc.cmu.edu

The Entertainment Technology Center (ETC) is a department at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. It is located at the Pittsburgh Technology Center.

The ETC offers a two-year Masters of Entertainment Technology (MET) degree, jointly conferred by Carnegie Mellon University's College of Fine Arts and School of Computer Science. Students enrolled in the ETC learn interdisciplinary skills in design, art and technology, and are prepared for environments where artists and technologists work hand-in-hand, such as theme parks, interactive museum exhibits, website design and development, and the creation of video games.^[2]

History

The ETC was co-founded by Donald Marinelli, a Professor of Drama, and Randy Pausch, a Professor of Computer Science, in 1999. The ETC has a history of having agreements with certain companies, such as Electronic Arts, Activision, and Rockstar Games, where the companies agree to hire a set number of ETC graduates each year.^[2]

Curriculum

The ETC's curriculum is split into 4 semesters, with a required industry internship in between the second and third semesters. The first semester includes required classes, such as Building Virtual Worlds, Fundamentals of Entertainment Technology, Improvisational Acting, and a Visual Storytelling class. The next three semesters all consist of a semester-long project course, and one elective class, which can be any other class taught at Carnegie Mellon University. The project course consists of 5 team-based projects, each of which is completed with a scrambled team of students, and in a two-week period.^[2]

Faculty

• Don Marinelli
• Drew Davidson
• Brenda Bakker Harger
• Mike Christel
• Ruth Comley
• John Dessler
• Chris Klug
• Jiyoung Lee
• Michelle Macau
• Carl Rosendahl
• Shirley Saldamarco
• Jesse Schell
• David Culyba
• Scott Stevens
• Jessica Trybus
• Ralph Vituccio

Adjunct Faculty

• John Buchanan
• Mk Haley
• David Gurwin
• Kerry Handron
• Jessica Hodgins
• Eric Paulos
• Luis von Ahn
• William J (Chip) Walter
• John Wesner
• Josh Yelon

Staff

• Steve Audia
• MaryCatherine Dieterle
• Rebecca Lombardi
• Bryan Maher
• Cari Marty
• Julie McKenzie
• Vicki Poklemba
• David Purta
• Valerie Sofranko
• Susan Timko
• Jon Underwood
• Caitlin Zunic

Corporate partners

• Maiy El-Wakil
• Craig Lipchin
• Shawn Walters

Visiting scholars

• Anthony Daniels
• Nick Fortugno
• Michael Keaton
• Oscar Garcia Panella
• Mickey McManus
• Katie Salen

In memoriam

• Anne Humphreys
• Randy Pausch

References

1. Entertainment Technology Center https://www.cmu.edu/news/stories/archives/2024/may/derek-ham-named-director-of-cmus-entertainment-technology-center; Entertainment Technology Center. {{cite web}}: Check |url= value (help); Missing or empty |title= (help)
2. Pausch, Randy; Don Marinelli (July 2007). "Creating a Science of Games - Carnegie Mellon's Entertainment Technology Center: Combining the Left and Right Brain". Communications of the ACM. 50 (7): 50–57. doi:10.1145/1272516.1272539. S2CID 3229767.

External links

• Official website

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