Pantano, Frank / Higher Education in Scientific Visualization

Higher Education in Scientific Visualization

One of the intriguing parts about SciVis career paths is that you can find people making a living at it in all stages of the education continuum. From high school dropouts (not that I would recommend that!) to people with multiple doctorates, there are a lot of different ways to break into the business. As with any other career field, there are countless studies and documentation to show that the longer one stays in school, the greater the lifetime salary will be. There are not really any shortcuts! The good news is that you can start your higher education right here in North Carolina! Here are some sites you will want to visit if you are thinking about a SciVis education:

The FIRST Stop for SciVis Info in Winston-Salem - The Center For Design Innovation (CDI) - The CDI has a unique mission to help inspire and educate our community and help us all become creative thinkers and problem solvers. The best way for our students to get involved with CDI "happenings" is to visit their web page and find an upcoming event to attend. From Idea Exchanges to Maya software lessons, CDI has something for everyone.

Check it out, here: http://www.centerfordesigninnovation.org/Community/Events.php

General Descriptions of CG-related College Majors

The College Board
Occupational Outlook Handbook - Graphic Designers
Occupational Outlook Handbook - Computer Software Engineers and Programmers
STEM to STEAM - US News story about the intersection of science and art.

Community Colleges

Central Piedmont Community College - Offers programs in Simulation and Game Development, Computer Engineering Technology, and Computer Engineering Science.
Wake Technical Community College - Offers programs in Simulation and Game Development, Computer & Engineering Technologies.
Forsyth Technical Community College - Offers programs in Digital Effects and Animation

Public Universities

North Carolina A&T State University - Offers programs in Graphic Communication Systems & Technological Studies.
North Carolina State University - Offers programs in Art + Design, Scientific Visualization, and Computer Science.
Georgia Institute of Technology - Offers programs in Computational Media, Computer Graphics, and even has an Experimental Game Lab.
Texas A&M - Offers many Digital Media programs.
University of Illinois - Sure it's cold outside during the winter, but look at what they are doing in the graphics lab here.
University of California Berkeley - One of the top engineering schools in the country also has a great computer graphics program.
Texas Advanced Computing Center (University of Texas) - Everything is BIG in Texas, including their SciVis programs.
University of Iowa - Here is a sample of some research that is going on at the Advanced Research Computing Group.
Here is a really cool project that was done at Wake Forest University (with a little help from the students at Atkins high School) - BioBotz.

Private

Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) - Offers programs a variety of Graphics and Design areas.
The Computer Graphics (CG) School
MIT - No meaningful list of top computer graphics schools is complete without including MIT.
Carnegie Mellon University - CMU is very, very highly rated in the computer graphics field.
Stanford University - One of the top schools in the country, the computer science and graphics programs here are top-flight.
Brown University has a very cool program using "The Cave" - an immersive virtual reality environment.

International Programs

Zurich University of the Arts - Yes, you can go to Switzerland and focus on programs in a variety of Graphics and Design areas while "seeing" the world.
Dagstuhl SciVis Seminar Series - You don't always have to spend four years learning about a topic in traditional "college" setting. Here is a Seminar Series in Germany where SciVis thinkers gather to share research and ideas.