Global Gaming Company Partners with Local University
IGT and the University of Nevada, Reno (UNR) have partnered to create a university program around computer gaming. Milton Glick, UNR’s new president, highlighted the workforce development program for members of the media and local business professionals today at the University campus.
The amount that IGT contributed was not discussed, although, I’m sure it will be covered by the press tomorrow. What interested me most was that IGT currently employs 1,200 engineers and about 180 came from UNR. This still leaves a deficiency of around 120 open jobs. It turns out that since the dot com bubble burst, computer science has been on a major decline with enrollment at about a 15-year low.
I was rather surprised to hear this. If I were back in school as an undergraduate, I think being a computer science major would be where it’s at ; granted, I’m a self proclaimed geek and used to program for Twelve Horses daily.
The partnership will hopefully give IGT - and other local tech companies - a plethora of employees to pick from.
UPDATE: UNR has just posted a story on the event with more detail. Apparently the amount IGT contributed was $500,000. Less than I would have thought but substantial none the less.
October 9th, 2006 at 8:19 pm
That’s great news. UNR has been needing to turn up the volume on their CS offerings for awhile now.
October 10th, 2006 at 8:08 am
Yeah, I just hope there are enough tech companies willing to pay good wages to keep these kids in Reno after they graduate.
October 10th, 2006 at 1:14 pm
I hope for the same thing — I also hope that smart kids who get a good computer science education at the local university can collaborate and make something interesting locally. Tech economies work best when they are home grown. The glamour work is in The Valley, Seattle, and Massachusets because that’s where the critical mass of software development and electronic engineering are located, mostly because those industries sprung up locally. To do anything other than develop LOB apps for median wage for random corporation x, the kids are gonna have to get out of the box and start something new.
Of course I know little about VC opportunities in such cases, which is a whole different animal. I would think that if the IGT sponsored program can help some clever cats learn how to turn their game ideas into ‘reality’, then some really good game ideas could spring locally independent of IGT. I think the money would follow.