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 DWC
Named Microsoft Halo 3 Tournament Site
(Nashua, NH) -
There were only 20 colleges and universities selected, and
Daniel Webster College was among the fortunate few
to sponsor one of Microsoft's Halo 3 campus tournaments.
Some sixty DWC
"gamers" participated in the September 29th event, held in
three locations within DWC's Eaton-Richmond Center and
Collings Auditorium starting at 7 p.m. Set up as an
elimination tournament, the winners, by midnight, were:
1st place: Mike Akin, a Gaming, Simulation, and Robotics (GSR)
freshman from Liverpool, NY; 2nd place: Ross Wuilleumier,
a GSR freshman from Somerset, MA,; 3rd place: Chris
Lindberg, a Computer Science freshman from Holden, MA; and
4th place: Dan Gilnack, a GSR freshman from Naugatuck, CT.
Microsoft provided a
variety of prizes, including an edition of Halo 3, for
participants to win. Academic Developer Evangelist Edwin
Guarin, from Microsoft's Waltham, MA, office and DWC Computer
Science Division Chair Professor Thomas Goulding
are working together to support DWC and Microsoft's common
vision of re-energizing interest in the study of computer
science through the introduction of complex game
development in the college curriculum.
"We selected
DWC since it is doing a great job building up its gaming
program, interesting students in technology by presenting
them with relevant subjects in context, and having
experience running successful game tournaments in the
past," said Guarin. "It was great to see students'
enthusiasm for the tournament, whether or not they have
ever played a version of Halo before. It's the first time
I've seen any campus use outdoor speakers to play the Halo
soundtrack that can be heard throughout the entire
school."
Microsoft,
he explained, is conducting the Halo 3 tournaments to
create a fun event on campus that allows students to
become engaged with technology and thinking about how to
take their interests to a new level that bridges their
passion with their education.
"We are
working with DWC to leverage the excitement around Halo 3
to educate students about XNA Game Studio Express and to
show them how they can take it to the next level and build
their own games. The
Imagine Cup Competition
has a new
Game Development competition that challenges a students'
creative and technical skills as they create a game that
is not only entertaining but has a social message about
creating a sustainable environment."
Microsoft,
one of the largest software and gaming companies in the
world, is no stranger to Daniel Webster. A close
association was developed with Professor Goulding as he
successfully wrote for and received more than $120,000 in
grant money and products over the past two years,
including a recent invitation to participate in
Microsoft's XNA curriculum development program.
"I am
thrilled to be once again supporting Microsoft's efforts
to utilize game development to re-energize the computer
sciences," said Goulding. "Microsoft's support has
resulted in 48 new computer science students this fall, a
significant increase over last year. I'm especially
excited that the most recent grant from the XNA product
group will fund two excellent students to develop
materials for the XNA group and the gaming community at
large."
From the XNA Game
Studio Express Innovation 2007 grant, Daniel Webster will
be receiving 20 Xbox-360 premium consoles and $10,000 in
program funding. The grant will fund a laboratory with
gaming systems as well as the two students to work with
Professor Goulding to develop XNA tutorials for
publication by Microsoft to be made available to any
institution.
About Daniel Webster College
Daniel
Webster College fulfills its mission by helping
purposeful men and women discover how to channel that
purpose in their lives through blending theory and
practice from day one; and, in so doing, graduates leave
Daniel Webster College "workforce ready" for entry and
advancement in a variety of highly relevant
professions. As a result, we envision we will be in the
top quartile by 2015 of higher education institutions
serving the professions in which we specialize. Visit us
on the web at
www.dwc.edu.
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