Over the past couple of years, Ann DeMarle and her crew at Champlain College have been cooking up quite an impressive cluster of game education, research and development in Burlington, Vermont.

Being so close to Montreal, I had been meaning to pop in over the years, but timing never quite worked out. Ann’s persistence, along with an invite to dine with the state governor, prevailed and I finally made the trip down to a) spend some time with the students in Champlain’s various game degree programs, and b) celebrate the opening of the Emergent Media Center’s shiny new offices.

The EMC is a particularly interesting blend of serious research-driven game development work for external clients, mainly produced by students engaged on a part-time basis. Of particular interest is the UN funded game to end violence against women in developing countries. The team (which is lead by design veteran Heather Kelley) maintains a fascinating project blog - the photos from their recent trip to South Africa are stunning.

Finally, a few quick photos:


Vermont Governor James Douglas during the opening ceremony for the EMC.

 


Ann DeMarle sings the praise of her students and colleagues

 


Everyone joins in on the “ribbon” cutting (actually, it was a bunch of wires ;)

 


Folks flood into the EMC to check out all of the interesting projects.

 


Heather Kelley’s corner office, with an awesome view of Winooski Falls.

 


Photo wall of shots from the EMC’s trip to Cape Town, South Africa.

 


Champlain student and EMC designer Lauren Nishikawa, addresses the guests during dinner.