MAY 2009 Issue

From left: Incoming GNWC President Matthew Carter, Board Chair Jamie Bruce, and an aerial view of the campus.

New Board and President appointed at Great Northern Way Campus

Presidents of the four post-secondary institutions at the Great Northern Way Campus (GNWC) announced the appointments of a new Board of Directors and President in April.

The Board of Directors will be chaired by Jamie Bruce, partner of investment banking firm Capital West Partners, who brings more than 25 years of financial experience and extensive leadership experience on corporate, non-profit and public sector boards.

GNWC’s new President, Matthew Carter, joins GNWC from UBC Properties Trust, where he served as Vice President. Carter has an extensive background in real estate finance and development. At UBC Properties Trust he led initiatives to advance UBC’s vision to build a sustainable, mixed use community while creating significant endowment for research and learning.

Carter notes that the majority of the board comes from the business community, thus providing the shareholder institutions an independent voice in advising on future directions for GNWC.

NEWS RELEASE

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Masters of Digital Media Set To Take On The Digital Media World

The first twenty-one graduates of the Masters of Digital Media Program were recognized at the school’s Inaugural Graduation Ceremony in April. Family, friends and special guests attended the event to celebrate the achievements of the first student cohort, who had started the Program in the fall of 2007.

The ceremony included an academic procession with dignitaries from Great Northern Way Campus’ partner schools, and speeches from both the Program’s Executive Director, Dr. Gerri Sinclair, and class valedictorian Ashley Blacquiere.

Also honoured at the ceremony were Senior VP of Interactive Entertainment Business at Microsoft and MDM Advisory Board member, Don Mattrick and former President of Worldwide Studios for Electronic Arts, Paul Lee, who were made "Honorary Masters of Digital Media" - a new honorary title for the program. Eric Kiss and Pauline Moller were on stage to introduce the awards.

Having finished their challenging collaborative course and project work, a number graduates have landed employment, while others have gone on to form their own start-up companies.

NEWS RELEASE

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MDM Team Wins Elan for Best Student Video Game

Graduate students of the Masters of Digital Media Program, Su Yon Sohn, Bryant Davey and Liam Kelly won best “Student Video Game” for Deguiyu at Saturday’s Elan Awards. The Elans are an international awards show that recognizes and honours the best in Video Games, Animation and Visual Effects.

Deguiyu is the sole Canadian winner at this year's show which saw Left 4 Dead (Valve) take home Best Video Game of the Year plus three other awards and Hayao Miyazaki bestowed with a Lifetime Achivement in Animation Award.

FULL STORY

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MDM Team Wins Prestigious Webby Award

Movisphere, a multi-platform virtual world games arcade developed by students of the Masters of Digital Media (MDM) Program in collaboration with Telefonica, has been selected as an Official Honoree for the Integrated Mobile Experience category in The 13th Annual Webby Awards. The Official Honoree distinction is awarded to the top 15% of all work entered. Nearly 10,000 entries were received from more than 60 countries.

In the Integrated Mobile Experience category, Movisphere competed against some of the largest companies in the world. Fellow honorees include Nike, Nokia and Addidas.

FULL STORY

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MASTERS OF DIGITAL MEDIA PROGRAM
at the Center for Digital Media

The MDM Program is a 20-month professional graduate degree jointly awarded by the four major public post-secondary institutions in Vancouver, Canada - the University of British Columbia; Simon Fraser University; Emily Carr University of Art + Design and the British Columbia Institute of Technology. This innovative program provides our students with practical team-based experience through industry-relevant curriculum and real-world industry-funded projects. Students work together to develop essential team-building, communications, and project management skills, preparing them for careers as creators, practitioners and senior managers in the rapidly-growing video game and digital media industry. We are housed in the Centre for Digital Media on the Great Northern Way Campus, jointly owned and operated by all four of our academic partners, in Vancouver- a spectacular city and digital media hub. FULL PROGRAM INFO

GREAT NORTHERN WAY CAMPUS

Located in Vancouver, BC, GNWC is a unique, collaborative university environment that combines the strengths of four leading academic institutions: University of British Columbia; Simon Fraser University; Emily Carr University of Art + Design and the British Columbia Institute of Technology. An urban campus, GNWC has the mandate to intersect arts, technology and the environment. Learn more at the GNWC Website.