Do you know someone who loves video games? Have you ever considered a career in the computer gaming industry? If so, check out Montgomery College’s annual Game Day on Tuesday, April 29, from noon to 4:30 p.m. Game Day will take place in the Theatre Arts Arena on the Rockville Campus, 51 Mannakee Street, Rockville, Md. This event is free and open to the public.

The schedule of events is as follows:

• Noon–1 p.m. – Interactive Demonstrations
  Game Day will begin at noon with interactive demonstrations of exercise-oriented video games and motion capture suits. Information will also be available about the computer gaming and simulation, computer science, computer graphics, printing and Web programs at Montgomery College.

• 1–2 p.m. – Live action “Donkey Kong”
  Computer Gaming Professor Deborah Solomon assigned her students the task of bringing a video game to life in order to test their abilities in creativity, communication and teamwork, which are skills needed by professional game designers. Students will create a full-size, live action version of the video game “Donkey Kong.” Music and costumes will be used to portray the characters of Mario, Pauline and the gorilla, Donkey Kong. The audience will be invited to help Mario in his quest to rescue Pauline from the clutches of Donkey Kong.

• 2–4 p.m. – Computer gaming industry speakers
  
  
• Keynote speaker - Matt Shaw, Chief Technology Officer at Electronic Arts Mythic
  In his role at Electronic Arts Mythic, Matt Shaw helps create and implement new technology for all of Mythic’s titles, including “Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning,” an upcoming fantasy massive multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG). EA Mythic’s titles also include “Dark Age of Camelot” and “Ultima Online,” which started the modern MMORPG movement more than 10 years ago.
  
  Shaw is a 19-year veteran of the games industry, best known for the World War II flight series “Fighter Duel.” After starting and running two game companies that self-published for years, Shaw joined Kesmai in 1999 as lead of the “Air Warrior” project. In 2001, he joined Lodestone Games as a principal engineer. He joined the Mythic team in 2003, and enjoys games, WWII aircraft and the challenging and ever-evolving field of computer graphics.
  
  
•  Panel presentation and discussion – The NOAA/Montgomery College Game Project
  Marina Kraus from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Montgomery College Professor Deborah Solomon and Montgomery College computer gaming students will discuss their efforts to create an educational computer game for students in sixth through eighth grades. The game, which is currently under development, aims to teach students about estuaries and ocean environments. This project is jointly funded by NOAA and the Montgomery College Foundation.
  
  
• Talk – Life After Montgomery College… For Gaming Students
  Kathleen Harmeyer, director of the University of Baltimore’s bachelor’s degree program in simulation and digital entertainment, will discuss how students can achieve a four-year degree in gaming by starting at Montgomery College and transferring to the University of Baltimore. She will also address scholarship opportunities available to transfer students. UB gaming classes are taught locally at the Universities at Shady Grove.
  
  
• 4 – 4:30 p.m. – Student Showcase
  Students in the computer gaming and simulation program will show off their work.

To learn more about the computer gaming and simulation program at Montgomery College, visit www.studygaming.com.

For more information about Game Day, contact Professor Deborah Solomon at 240-567-5136 or deborah.solomon@montgomerycollege.edu.

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Montgomery College is a public, open admissions community college with campuses in Germantown, Rockville, and Takoma Park/Silver Spring, plus workforce development/continuing education centers and off-site programs throughout Montgomery County, Md. The College serves nearly 60,000 students a year, through both credit and noncredit programs, in more than 100 areas of study.

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