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Mehdi Mekni, Ph.D., recently welcomed a diverse group of professionals in the technology and gaming fields to the University of New 51¶ºÄÌ. The mini conference was a way for Dr. Mekni to not only share his own passion for game development, but, also, the important ways the University is contributing to education and technology.

The University hosted the Connecticut Tech Talent Accelerator Grant mini-conference, dubbed "The Constitution State of Play." A workforce development initiative, the Tech Talent Accelerator seeks to help Connecticut reach its economic potential and keep the state’s workforce competitive by increasing talent with in-demand tech skills and credentials.

The University and Dr. Mekni are playing a pivotal role in this endeavor. The University received a $30,000 Connecticut Higher Education Tech Talent Accelerator grant, awarded by the , for the project, "Embedding Unity Credentials to Catapult Connecticut’s Workforce in Game Design and Development." The University, which hosted the mini conference as part of the grant, prepares students to earn a certification from Unity, a California-based video game software development company.

"The idea of the project we presented from the University was to use our game design and development concentration and embed credentials issued by Unity," explained Dr. Mekni, who leads the University’s game design and development concentration. "This would be an important way for students to not just learn technologies and obtain a degree, but to leave the University with professional industry-recognized credentials. The hope is they can hit the ground running and be more appealing to industry and employers, and that this will foster workforce development."

At the conference, Dr. Mekni announced that, earlier that very day, the first Charger had received the Unity certification. That student, Ryan Gibbons ’23, earned the prestigious three-year Unity Certified Associate: Programmer certification. A recent graduate of the University’s computer science program, Gibbons credits his professors and the courses he took at the University with helping him to prepare for and pass the certification test.

"It was a huge honor to officially be certified in the Unity Engine because the past year of my work and capstone project has involved this software, and it has become a huge passion of mine," he said. "Getting this certification really helped me see that all the work I have been putting in has paid off. I imagine having this certification will separate me from others in the workforce and provide evidence that I am capable in my abilities within Unity."

This opportunity is one of many that the University’s Tech Talent Accelerator grant – and, indeed, the workforce development initiative itself – is generating for students. Tech Talent Accelerator’s programs are designed to support students such as Gibbons and to foster partnerships between companies and higher education.

As part of its commitment to technical education, the University has developed collaborative relationships with leading tech companies SphereGen, Arsome, and Pleiadian. Attendees of the mini conference included professionals from these companies.

"The game development industry is a small industry, and we need to continue to grow it in Connecticut," said Ted Dinsmore, president and managing partner for . "We want to do this, and we want to do this with the University of New 51¶ºÄÌ. It’s important to grow the ecosystem around it."

"We, as an industry, need people to finish our job," added David Oyanadel, chief innovation officer and co-founder of Arsome. "The University has put an investment in this program and in equipping students with skills to be part of the gaming industry. This is big. Hearing what academics and practitioners are doing is important, and the University is doing that."

The event featured presentations that covered tech talent and funding, as well as a conversation about the gaming community. It also featured three panel discussions, one of which Dr. Mekni moderated. Panels included a wide array of industry leaders, such as Dinsmore, as well as University faculty members. Shaily Menon, Ph.D., dean of the University’s College of Arts and Sciences and vice provost for interdisciplinary initiatives, moderated the panel discussion about education and the future of games.

"I enjoyed collaborating to host the mini-conference, which was a wonderful opportunity to explore the state of play and future of games in Connecticut and in the New England region," she said. "The new Game Design and Interactive Media program at the University of New 51¶ºÄÌ, a collaboration between three academic colleges, adds to our ecosystem of gaming curriculum. This is a fast-growing, dynamic, and innovative arena with far-reaching benefits for students that includes the creation and exploration of recreational and serious games and the development of complex problem-solving and collaboration skills."

The mini conference brought together representatives from higher education, granting agencies, and the gaming community, as well as the state of Connecticut’s Office of Workforce Strategy and the . It included networking opportunities as well as a mixer, during which students and community members presented demos of games they are developing.

Alaa Ramzi ’25 was among the students who attended the event. He was eager to learn from those who already work in the industry, and he was taking notes.

"I wanted to listen to people to learn how to succeed in the industry," said Ramzi. "It’s important to get others’ perspectives. You can get so much of that from events like this. I learned what people are looking for when hiring in the game development field and how to succeed in the industry. I learned what worked for others."

Student experience was an important part of the event. Dr. Mekni discussed the key courses Chargers take as part of the University’s game development concentration, such as "Extended Reality for Games" and "Applied AI for Gaming" – courses that, he said, are typically full.

"That tells us a lot about the potential of growing the gaming field in academia," said Dr. Mekni.

Candace Williams, director of regional initiatives for Business-Higher Education Forum (BHEF), agreed, emphasizing the importance of supporting students and their interest in the field. BHEF and the New England Board of Higher Education, in partnership with the Connecticut Office of Workforce Strategy and the Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development, awarded the grants to seven business-higher education partnerships – of which the University was one – as part of the Tech Talent Accelerator.

"Better understanding students’ needs helps to foster collaboration and understanding and celebrates the success of projects such as Dr. Mekni’s," said Williams, who was among the presenters at the mini conference.

The event fostered important discussions about the impact of such projects. Attendees were excited about the future of game design in Connecticut – and at the University.

"The game design and development concentration we offer aligns well with the Tech Talent Accelerator initiative," said Ronald Harichandran, Ph.D., P.E., F.ASCE, dean of the Tagliatela College of Engineering and vice provost for research. "Bigger is better. We’re doing more on the tech side, and it is bigger than that because it is interdisciplinary – it includes graphic design, for example. We hope to continue to grow it."