AIE's Next Generation Education

Submitted by Matt W

The Academy of Interactive Entertainment (AIE) today responded to a shortfall in relevant industry skill sets and education by launching its new Advanced Diploma of Professional Game Development. Developed over nine months through an exhaustive consultation process the new qualification has been nationally accredited and will be delivered at AIE?s Canberra and Melbourne campuses.

AIE Chief Executive Officer, Mr Ian Gibson says "This course is our equivalent of a next gen release. The advanced diploma is the result of many hours of industry consultation, graduate feedback and hard work and is technologically and academically cutting edge. This is the most industry focused and relevant games course in Australia."

The course was developed over 9 months in which AIE undertook extensive research into the Game Development Industry and the skill requirements of Developers. Course development was supported by over 26 Australian and international Game Developers providing feedback on course outcomes and graduate success.

With the growth of next generation consoles, such as Playstation3 and Xbox 360 and the continuing evolution of games graphics and interactive design many games courses have failed to keep up and have contributed to a lack of qualified staff within the Australian Game Development Industry.

Ben Palmer, Director at IR Guru's, recently stated that ?IR Gurus plans to hire 20 junior programmers this year and with the exception of the AIE graduates, of whom we have hired 25 in the past 3 years, we are failing to find sufficient qualified staff.?

The Advanced Diploma of Professional Game Development has responds to this industry input and now features next-gen skills for Programmers in the areas of graphics programming including FX and shaders, and focuses on providing students with the skills required to work across multiple platforms. For Artists and Animators more emphasis is placed on specialty skills including specific texturing outcomes, character and environment modelling and custom animation.

The Advanced Diploma of Professional Game Development builds on the success of AIE's Diploma of Computer Game Development, which has equipped more than 500 Graduates with the skills and opportunities to grow their games and animation careers since 1999. AIE has had great success in providing industry ready graduates to the Games Development sector, with over 85% gaining industry employment within 6 months of graduation.

The Advanced Diploma of Professional Game Development curriculum has been reviewed and rewritten in response to industry demand making it the most industry focused and up-to-date course in Australia. The Advanced Diploma of Professional Game Development is unique in that it has been designed to provide training and skills not normally covered in TAFE and University curricula.

AIE games graduates have also been successful finding employment in emerging 3D content industries outside of the games industry, including; Town Planning, Defence Simulation, Advertising and Television, Environmental and Architectural Modelling and Biotechnology.

For more information, head to www.aie.edu.au