Honors and Recognition for IMGD

Gillian Smith, associate professor of computer science and IMGD Director, has been selected as a 2023 Fellow of the Higher Education Video Game Alliance (HEVGA). The program recognizes senior scholars in the games domain who have made significant to the field in design, theory, or research. Smith is one of four Fellows selected this year. In the HEVGA press release she was noted as “an award-winning game designer whose scholarship focuses at the intersections of generative AI, game design, textile crafts, and social justice”.

Smith said “It’s truly an honor to be inducted as a Fellow of HEVGA, and to join a group of senior scholars in this emerging discipline whom I have long admired.”

HEVGA made the announcement at this week’s Game Developers Conference in San Francisco where several WPI students were in attendance including Nick Frangie ‘24, who won a scholarship to attend through the GDC Game Narrative Review competition. Two faculty members, Ben Schneider and Farley Chery also presented talks at this year’s conference.

This week several IMGD faculty members and students, as well as MassDigi at WPI, are participating in PaxEast in Boston, one of the largest gaming expos in the world.