Stimulant loves Carnegie Mellon University, having two alumni among our ranks. Joel Pryde, our most senior developer, and Nathan Moody, our design director, both emerged from the school. However, they didn’t have the good fortune to attend the Entertainment Technology Center, a program that’s tailor-made for the sort of work that Stimulant does. Students in the program work in an agency-like setting with project briefs, teams of creatives and developers, and short deadlines to produce interactive games, installations, and artworks.

We were naturally excited to be included on the group’s tour of interactive agencies during the first week of 2015.The afternoon started with a standing-room-only presentation session in our biggest conference room to share behind-the-scenes details of how our projects get developed, and to explain our inclusive and collaborative design process. After a lively Q&A, they had the run of the studio to play with some of our installation mockups, ask questions, and share their portfolios with us.

The visit was a great experience for both the Stimulant team and the students, we’re sure to see some of those students again when it’s time for summer internships and full-time positions in 2015.