Mike Gamble, Epic Games European Territory manager, is being honoured as visiting professor at Staffordshire University. Mike will be using his two decades of experience to educate various forms of game designs students via his personal insights into the industry and professional experiences with video games and hoping to inspire students as the start there game creation careers stating:
“I am really thrilled at being honored as a visiting professor at Staffordshire given the quality of their courses and the students who graduate from them. I am particularly looking forward to sharing my industry and Epic Games experience to help build the students’ knowledge, and prepare them for what to expect and how to succeed in what is a fast-changing and ultra-competitive environment.”
Mike was very impressed with the university’s use and adoption of the Unreal Engine technology and a chance meeting with one of Staffordshire’s game design lecturer’s, James Butcher, started up the foundations of the team up. Commenting on working with Mike and Epic Games James stated:
“It is great for us to be working alongside someone with such a wealth of experience. Mike’s skills and knowledge will be invaluable in enriching the experience of Staffordshire University games students and graduates. It has been a great pleasure to lead the link between the university and Epic, and with our continued use of the industry-leading Unreal Engine technology, it is a great fit for our awards and students.”
It’s great news to see that the higher ups in the games industry are starting to notice and really respect what the academic side of game design can do. Hopefully this collaboration will be the first of many more to come.
What do you think about this news? Are Education/industry team ups a good thing? Let us know what you think in the comments below!