June 1, 2015

This month we're highlighting the amazing efforts of EGS, the Entrepreneurial Game Studio, led by Dr. Frank Lee. This is a unique mashup of gaming and entrepreneurship, encouraging Drexel students to bring games they develop to market, and providing them with the practical tools to turn their games into businesses.

We've long since dispelled the false choice between pursuing gaming for fun as opposed to being technically rigorous. Games are both. Of course, great games are fun. But they also provide an introduction to computer graphics, human-machine interfaces, and artificial intelligence. Modern games push the cutting edge of technology, and some of the greatest advances in computing, like today's incredibly powerful graphics processing units (or GPUs), have been driven by gaming.

I want to emphasize that gaming and game development do not form one discipline, but are a diverse array of disciplines. Beyond technology, EGS also pursues ways to engage the public and inspire a broad audience to learn to code by creating their own games. I believe that  lack of diversity is one of the most pressing issues in technology today, and in this podcast, you heard about partnerships with the Girl Scouts and TechGirlz to encourage middle school girls to pursue computer science. We're very proud to host such initiatives.

Lastly, games are a continual source of inspiration and motivation. Last month, we showcased Kollect, a game to help with physical therapy for those with cerebral palsy, which started as an ExCITe Seed project. EGS also pursues applications of "Serious Games” for health, learning, behavior management, and public engagement.  And at the ExCITe Center, we embrace these highly multidisciplinary efforts as prime examples of the great things made possible when you bring together technology, design, and entrepreneurship. 

Youngmoo Kim, Director