The Year in Gaming
2008-2009

This has been a very eventful academic year at WPI with regard to all things gaming! Here is a list of some of the major events that took place within both the Interactive Media & Game Development (IMGD) Program and the Game Development Club (GDC).
Date Event
2008-08-23 IMGD welcomes the class of 2012!


2008-A-Term Walt Disney Imagineering sponsors an MQP advised by Dean O'Donnell. The team is made up of three IMGD students.


2008-A-Term Dean O'Donnell initiates the first "Master Class" of 2008/09: Brian Moriarty of ImaginEngine delivers "Game Design for Licensed Properties."


2008-A-Term Local industry representatives act as "publishers" for the final project pitches of IMGD-1001: The Game Development Process taught by Mark Claypool and Rob Lindeman.
The judges include:


2008-A-Term The IMGD program gets support from the WPI administration to higher two Professors of Practice, one in Game Design and one in Art.


2008-B-Term Chuck Rich delivers a newly designed senior-level course on AI in Games


2009-04-23 WPI Project Presentation Day features the eleven IMGD MQPs and two IMGD-themed IQPs completed this year.


2009-04-29 Two teams from WPI place 2nd and 3rd in the 2nd Annual Massachusetts Game Challenge sponsored by 38 Studios.
  • Each member of the 2nd-place team, Elena Ainley (IMGD Freshman) and Brian Hettrick (IMGD Senior), received $1,000 for their game Munch's Lost Timepieces.
  • Each member of the 3rd-place team, Daniel Bjorge (CS Freshman), William Decker (CS Freshman) and Samuel Rogers (IMGD Sophomore), received $500 for their game KickBack.


2009-05-01 The three-hour ShowFest 2009 showcases the work of IMGD faculty and students over the past year.


2009-05-16 Three MQPs share top honors for the Provost's Award for Best IMGD MQP:
  • The Muppet Experiment: An Alternate Reality Game for Disney's California Adventure
    Students: Daniel Tennant, Julia Berg, Joseph Strong
    Advisor: Dean O'Donnell
    Sponsor: Disney
  • Petrified: Design and Development of a Multiplayer Survival/Horror Game
    Students: Skyler Clark, Chris Drouin, Matt Fabian
    Advisor: Rob Lindeman
  • Memory Dash: A Multiplayer iPhone Game
    Students: Elisabeth Beinke, Keilin Bickar (CS), Josh Doyle, Alex Schwartz
    Advisor: David Finkel
    Sponsor: eBay, Inc.

In addition, IMGD Seniors Yilmaz Kiymaz and Alex Schwartz receive the 2009 "Outstanding Senior" awards.

Timelines from previous years:
gogo at wpi.edu