MSU, software company commit to $1.1 million partnership

A partnership between Mississippi State and a major computer company is making the most powerful software in 3-D animation and special effects available for faculty and student projects.

The agreement with Alias-Wavefront, a Toronto subsidiary of Silicon Graphics Inc. of Mountain View, Calif., is worth some $1.1 million in specialized programming.

The Alias-Wavefront's PowerAnimator is used by the majority of major feature film, animation and effects production companies in Hollywood to achieve dramatic, illusionistic effects and animated sequences. "Dragon Heart" and "Twister" are two recent movies featuring the software.

The University Television Center, Department of Art and the College of Engineering's National Science Foundation Engineering Research Center will develop research and curricular applications of 3-D software under the agreement.

Developed by TV center director David Hutto, the agreement will enable faculty in the art and architecture departments to teach students and conduct research with the latest industry standard software in the UNIX platform. Faculty and professional staff in art, architecture, engineering, and the TV center will receive training and certification in the software.

Guillaume Chartier, assistant art professor and faculty member in the master's degree program in art-electronic visualization, will direct the certification process. The Canada native called the partnership "a landmark event" in the visualization arts for MSU and the state.

"The relationship places the institution at the potential leading edge in the field of research and instruction in high-end 3-D animation," he said.

Mississippi State is one of the few schools in the South offering academic concentrations in animation and multimedia at the undergraduate level, as well as an emphasis in animation at the graduate level. The university also is one of very few U.S. institutions of higher learning offering a terminal degree in the field.

Department head Brent Funderburk said art is the fastest growing program at the university. The department, which has more than 320 students and nearly two dozen faculty members, is accredited by the National Association of Schools in Art and Design.

The architecture school-the only one of its kind in Mississippi-also offers a master's degree in digital design.