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EA Supports Florida Interactive Entertainment Academy
By UCF Staff
ORLANDO, Feb. 9, 2005 -- The University of Central Florida today announced Electronic Arts’ support of its Florida Interactive Entertainment Academy.
EA sparked the creation of the academy, known as FIEA, by contacting UCF in November 2003. EA officials worked with UCF administrators to convince the state of Florida to provide a $3.2 million grant last year to start the academy and $1 million annually in operating funds. EA employees in Orlando helped to design FIEA’s curriculum.
“EA applauds the creation of FIEA,” said Steve Seabolt, the company’s vice president of University and Marketing Education. “EA has been involved with helping to shape the academy since its inception. EA personnel helped shape the creation of the academy’s curriculum and culture. We have confidence in FIEA’s faculty, and believe that students who excel in the program will be well-poised for careers building video games.”
The Florida Interactive Entertainment Academy will open in the fall at the Expo Centre near downtown Orlando. As many as 50 students will enroll in the graduate certificate program and will learn about the design, testing and programming of video games. Classes in the intensive, 16-month program will deal with topics such as business and entrepreneurial skills, project management and the critical study of games.
Mike Moshell, executive director of FIEA, said EA’s support gives FIEA a major advantage in recruiting students because only a few other schools have received EA’s support. Those schools include the University of Southern California and Carnegie Mellon University’s Entertainment Technology Center.
“Potential students know that EA is one of the most innovative and exciting companies in the industry,” Moshell said.
Moshell praised EA for supporting faculty sabbaticals and summer internships. UCF Digital Media professors Ian Gibson and Erick Vick and Computer Science professor Khanh Vu worked on joint research projects in digital asset management and artificial intelligence for games. Digital asset management databases track components of a project such as an animated movie to make sure everything is in the proper order.
EA Tiburon staff members will work as adjunct professors at FIEA, and the company is donating capital equipment for the new facility in the Expo Centre.
“The University of Central Florida is pleased to have EA’s support, and we look forward to a long-term relationship with the company,” Provost Terry Hickey said. “We greatly appreciate EA's cooperative spirit and tangible support in carrying out joint research projects for mutual benefit and helping the university provide quality graduates and specially trained personnel. EA's continuing support for our new entertainment academy, FIEA, provides a unique benefit for UCF, EA and related industries in our community.”
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