DigiPen Institute of Technology Singapore, conducts outreach in order to promote active exchange and knowledge-sharing between DigiPen (Singapore) and Polytechnics, Junior Colleges (JCs) and Secondary Schools.
DigiPen (Singapore) outreach is conducted in two ways – hosting programs at DigiPen (Singapore) campus or at the premises of the Polytechnics, JCs and Secondary Schools.
In 2015, DigiPen (Singapore) hosted schools such as Raffles Girls’ School (Secondary), Fuhua Secondary School and Bedok North Secondary School to workshops and presentations. Specifically, the workshops were designed to provide an overview of DigiPen (Singapore) programs and the roles played by programmers, designers and artists in the game production process.
These workshops give students a glimpse of the excitement and challenges of the game industry. Going beyond theory, the students get to try the same design software that is used in a typical game class in DigiPen (Singapore).
One of the most exciting programs that DigiPen (Singapore) has organized was to take a group of NUS High School of Mathematics and Science students to the DigiPen campus in Redmond, Washington, USA in August 2015 for two weeks. This trip was for the students to study artificial intelligence, 3D graphics, and mobile application development, as part of the ProjectFUN Summer Program.
DigiPen (Singapore) also holds Master Classes, workshops and career talks at all the five Polytechnics, as well as JCs like Hwa Chong Institution (HCI).
At a typical Master Class at a Polytechnic, for example, DigiPen (Singapore) Senior Lecturer and digital illustrator, Sandara Tang Sin Yung, would demonstrate her speed painting and illustration techniques. She would also answer questions about her thought process as an artist, and offer tips to students on how to improve their own illustrating techniques and styles.
HCI, on the other hand, was the setting for the elective class, Multiplatform Game Programming. The class exposed the HCI students to the different possibilities for game development across various platforms. It covered the basics of game programming and students were provided further insight into the Unity game engine, which the students used to work on different game projects.