Archive for January, 2010

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Profile of Executive VP Job at Global VR

Friday, January 29th, 2010

limaGreg Lima (class of 1999)
BA – Computer and Video Imaging

I am Executive Vice President of Gaming at Global VR’s east coast division where I invent and execute the creation of games of various casino game manufacturers. Not long ago, I patented a video poker game that was purchased by a major player in the casino industry.

One of the more rewarding parts of my job is the chance to be creative within such an exciting and fast-paced environment. I think the best lesson Cogswell taught me was to complete tasks with a production schedule in mind. It does not help in a commercial art setting to create innovative and imaginative pieces if they cannot be delivered. It is not profitable to create work without considering the time the project will take before you begin.

The interaction with faculty members at Cogswell was an important part of my experience. Thanks to the small class sizes, you get to know them pretty well. Some of them I still consider friends today.

I knew I wanted to be part of the video game industry since the time I received an Amiga computer in 1988. It was this computer that was responsible for a lot of the breakthrough CGI at the time. When I learned all that it could do, I was hooked on the Caligari-Ray and watching television commercials that used CGI.

Anyone entering this field needs to understand that formalized training is only 25 to 50% of the total package. One needs to be prepared to take what they learn day-to-day and apply the new skills every chance they get. This field demands total commitment.

-Bonnie Phelps, Dean of Institutional Advancement

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Award-Winning Artist Colin Miller Exhibits at Cogswell College

Wednesday, January 27th, 2010

colinexhibit_blog

Colin Reed Miller, known by his corporate pseudonym KALI, brings his popular “Mummies” exhibit to Cogswell Polytechnical College. The artist reception takes place on February 27, 2010 from 3:00  to 5:00 p.m.

His current fine art explores consumerism inspired somewhat by his extensive experience with commercial art. In addition to mummified objects in his Kali Artifacts, the work includes their accompanying canopic jars, x-rays, how-to’s and supporting theoretical materials.

Mr. Miller has enjoyed a successful career as a commercial artist – specializing in animation and special effects – in feature films, television and advertising campaigns. As a special effects and composite artist his credits include: Coraline, James and the Giant Peach, Idylwild, Across the Universe and Cats and Dogs.

He was Key Designer for countless commercial spots for A-list clients including: Coca-cola, Ford, Turner Networks and Apple. He has also directed commercials for Nissan, PBS, Apollo Ale and Turner Networks as well as music videos for Kali, Digital (more…)

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Register NOW for the Global Game Jam at Cogswell!

Monday, January 25th, 2010

group

There’s still time to register for the Global Game Jam at Cogswell College!  Please go to http://cogswellalumni.com/ggj2010/

Don’t delay!  Spots are filling up QUICK!

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Spring Open House Set For February 27

Friday, January 22nd, 2010

Cogswell Polytechnical College invites you, your family and friends to spend a day on campus at our upcoming Open House.

Located in the heart of Silicon Valley, Cogswell is surrounded by some of the best-known companies in the digital media entertainment and engineering industries – Electronic Arts, Cryptic Studios, Double Fine Productions, SEGA, Sony Computer Entertainment, LucasFilm, Pixar, DreamWorks, Industrial Light & Magic, Image Movers Digital, Digidesign, Dolby Labs, Cisco, Hewlett Packard, Intel, Juniper Networks, NetApp, Google and many more.

Don’t miss this opportunity to check out Cogswell’s state-of-the-art equipment, cutting edge programs and outstanding faculty. The event includes campus tours, classroom demonstrations, financial aid Q&A sessions and the chance to learn what you need to do to apply.

For the complete schedule of the day’s events and to RSVP, click here.

paul Yan

Cogswell Alumnus Paul Yan says,
“I learned a lot from both the teachers and from the natural competitive nature of being surrounded by other hungry students. Because Cogswell is small, you get to know most of your classmates and what they are doing – which made me competitive – but it also offered opportunities to learn from other students.” Paul is a Lead Animator at Activision.

-Bonnie Phelps, Dean of Institutional Advancement

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Cogswell Faculty Spotlight – Reid Winfrey, Digital Art & Animation

Wednesday, January 20th, 2010

ReidWinfreyReid Winfrey

Reid Winfrey, Associate Professor, is the Director of Digital Art and Animation at Cogswell. A graduate of the University of California at Davis and San Jose State University, he holds a Master of Fine Arts Degree in Printmaking and Pictoral Arts. He has presented at conferences and museums on topics ranging from printmaking and curating fine art to creativity and the digital revolution in art. His work as a painter is in hundreds of private collections and has been exhibited throughout the United States and in England and Japan. He is represented in public and corporate collections including Kodak, Union Bank of California, The San Jose Symphony, Dupont, and Southern Illinois University. He is listed in Who’s Who Among America’s Teachers, has been the subject of numerous art reviews.

Professor Winfrey was the Producer of 10,000 Kites, a short, animated film written by Iain McCaig and created at Cogswell for use as a fundraising tool for a joint Israeli/Palestinian art project. He is also a Line Producer for The Offering, an animated film created at Cogswell that will premier in Beijing in 2009.

What classes do you currently teach? Do you have a favorite class to teach?

I’m currently teaching Figure Drawing I and Concept Design. I have taught Figure here for many years and it is a favorite of mine; I have written a textbook for the class that is nearly done and usable in its current form. One more chapter and I’ll be shopping it for publication, and meanwhile all of my drawing students have copies that are making the class more understandable to them, I hope. I also enjoy Concept Design, mostly because the level of the students is higher and I can enjoy working with them more as opposed to trying to teach core principles.

Have you worked for non-academic companies in the past? Which ones? How did that experience make you a better teacher?

(more…)

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Cogswell Closed for Martin Luther King Day

Monday, January 18th, 2010

Cogswell College will be closed Monday, January 18, 2010 to observe Martin Luther King day.  The college will resume it’s normal hours on Tuesday, January 19th.

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The Offering Selected For Screening at Tiburon Film Festival

Friday, January 15th, 2010

ProjectX_JungleMaiden

Cogswell Polytechnical College is pleased to announce that The Offering, the first animated, short film produced under the umbrella of the Project X class, has been selected for screening at the 9th Annual Tiburon International Film Festival. The festival takes place from March 18 to 26, 2010 in Tiburon, CA just north of San Francisco.

Project X is a one-of-a-kind, project-based class – unparalleled in its scope and study as it incorporates every component of animation film production for the big and small screen. This class, under the direction of Animation faculty member and long-time professional animator Michael Huber, is only available at Cogswell. Students worked tirelessly for three semesters to produce this studio-quality short film. They were supported by a massive collaborative effort from faculty, staff, visiting artists, industry professionals and alumni.

The Tiburon International Film Festival (TIFF) seeks to provide a greater understanding of the world and its many cultures through the artistic medium of film. The festival attracts top quality films from around the world. TIFF wishes to enhance tolerance between people of all backgrounds. Its goal is one of cultural enrichment and heightened cultural awareness and to create a platform for independent filmmakers to express their talent and vision from any nation. TIFF strongly believes in its motto: “Understanding the World through Film”®

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Cogswell Hosting 2nd Annual Silicon Valley Global Game Jam

Wednesday, January 13th, 2010

ggj_logoDon’t miss this chance to join other San Francisco/Silicon Valley game enthusiasts for the second annual Global Game Jam weekend by registering now.

Cogswell Polytechnical College, conveniently located in Sunnyvale, will once again host this exciting event for the Bay Area.

DATES: Friday, January 29, at 5:00 p.m. to Sunday, January 31, at 3:00 p.m.

COST:
$10 Students (with college email address)
$20 Cogswell Alumni
$20 Early Bird Registrants (before or on January 15, 2010)
$40 Regular registration (January 16 – 28, 2010)

Space is limited to 50 participants. Get all the details about the event and register now.

-Bonnie Phelps, Dean of Institutional Advancement

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The New ESAL Boeing Contract

Friday, January 8th, 2010

The Engineering Simulation and Animation Laboratory (ESAL) at Cogswell was founded in 2004 by Dr. el-Hadi M. Aggoune for the visualization of complicated engineering systems. The Lab with locations in Sunnyvale, CA and Kirkland, WA does contract work for the Boeing Company. In addition to the lab employees, Cogswell students are hired to work on the projects as well. Dr. Aggoune is the Director of Cogswell’s Engineering programs.

This year’s contract calls for the team to continue its tradition of developing Real-Time Virtual Environments and Concept of Operation Scenarios. The current scenario focuses on illustrating forest fire detection and monitoring using unmanned aerial vehicles. This proprietary work will use the recent wildfires in Australia as a model for the simulation.

Following is a Q & A about the project.

Q: What skill sets will lab employees use to complete this project?
A: The artists should have a comprehensive background in modeling, texturing, rigging and animation for a game engine.

Q: What tools will employees use to complete the simulation?
A: ESAL has tremendous resources in terms of personnel, software, hardware and facility. Artists and programmers will be using Torque 3D, Maya and a proprietary simulation engine. They will also use Perforce for version control, Mentis for bug tracking and Twiki to post their work and progress reports. The programmer for this project will be required to write tools.

Q: Do you see any particular challenges in delivering this scenario?
A: The project has already been approved and delivery is set. The team is very aware of the deadlines, tries to anticipate any challenges and give themselves enough time to find solutions. As in the case of any project the ESAL undertakes, delivery of a product that satisfies the customer needs, on time and on budget are guaranteed. The project has many phases including research, event list development, pre-visulaization and implementation. The research phase is already done, the event list is being done and implementation starts on January.

Q: Outline the basic steps you take to ensure that the project is completed on time and to Boeing’s specifications.
A: The work is controlled internally by the lab and externally by the customer. Work is submitted to the customer on a biweekly basis; the customer tests and evaluates the work and produces a ticket list for all changes, modifications and extensions; the lab then takes the ticket list and resolves all issues raised. The work is not complete until all the issues in the ticket list are resolved by the lab to the satisfaction of the customer. Meetings with the customer through WebEx also occur on a biweekly bases.

Q: What is the timeframe for completing this project?
A: Our contract is from January to June during which the artists and programmer will be paid a stipend.

Q: How many people will work on the project?
A: Two artists and a programmer will work between 15 and 20 hours per week.

-Bonnie Phelps, Dean of Institutional Advancement

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Cogswell’s Short Animation “The Offering” Screened During a Masterclass in Beijing

Wednesday, January 6th, 2010
Cogswell grad Robert Moore (left) with his translator in China.

Cogswell grad Robert Moore (left) with his translator in China.

On October 26 a delegation from Cogswell Polytechnical College traveled to the Communication University of China (CUC) in Beijing – one of Cogswell’s partner universities – to provide an exclusive showing of The Offering, a short animated film produced by students in the College’s Digital Arts and Animation program Project X class. The screening was part of a Masterclass Michael Huber, Assistant Professor and Director of the 3D Animation program, was invited to teach during CUC’s annual Aniwow Festival.

The Festival’s goal is to provide a platform for animation practitioners and researchers from all over the world to advance the dialog and cooperation between academic research and industry and to provide students more opportunities to learn from established artists.

The Masterclass entitled, The Production of Project X, focused on the process Cogswell used to complete the film by modeling a professional studio setting. Students who worked on The Offering were held to the same standards as those working on films in companies around the world.

Dr. Chester Haskell, President and Robert Moore, 2009 graduate of Cogswell and Lead Animator on the project, also represented Cogswell during the visit. Mr. Moore participated in the Masterclass and Dr. Haskell joined in discussions about trends and the global nature of the industry. Check out the upcoming December issue of the Alumni News for an interview with the Cogswell group about their experiences, insights and the contacts they made.

-Bonnie Phelps, Dean of Institutional Advancement

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