MIT Undergraduate Research Opportunities (UROP)

MIT undergraduates who wish to gain experience in developing games should consider joining the fall or spring game development UROP program with GAMBIT. The fall and spring semester UROPs are designed to prepare students for the game development workflow and to help them gain familiarity with development tools that will be needed for the Summer Internship Program. MIT undergraduates working with GAMBIT may elect to receive direct or sponsored UROP funding or may choose to receive credit instead. GAMBIT UROPs should be familiar with standard MIT UROP Office procedures and deadlines.

Interested MIT undergraduates of any major should contact Philip Tan (philip AT mit DOT edu) with the following information:

• Statement of interest in this UROP
• Types of research you would be interested in
• Skills you bring to a game development team
• Other summer/term commitments
• Resume

GAMBIT Summer Program

	Apply Now! To apply to the Singapore-MIT GAMBIT Game Lab 2009 summer program, please download the application (in Microsoft Word format), edit it to answer each question and e-mail it back to gambitsg AT gmail DOT com by February 7th, 2009 along with any requested supporting information. Portfolio CDs are also due by February 7th, 2009 and should be delivered to: Maureen Chew Singapore-MIT GAMBIT Game Lab 1 Coleman Street, #09-06, The Adelphi Singapore 179803

Students from MIT and Singapore will collaborate for 9 weeks at MIT in digital game development teams with 6 or 7 student members from different disciplines. Each team will conceive, design, and develop a small game to demonstrate a concept from current and previous GAMBIT research with a short (5-30 minute), polished gameplay experience. The production values and scope of the game should approach commercial alpha builds (tested and feature complete) for casual games intended for online distribution. The student teams are entirely responsible for the design and implementation of the gameplay, assets, and deployment of the game. The top priority for every team is to create an engaging user experience with simplicity and clarity.

Teams are managed using Scrum methodology. Students will be required to become familiar and to adhere to the management principles in Scrum. Each team will work with a faculty or graduate student involved with the core research, who will participate in the Scrum process as a "product owner." Members of each team are expected to use the summer to become quickly familiar with the research concepts involved in each project in order to better demonstrate the ideas through design, gameplay, and implementation.

The intellectual property for the code, design, and assets of each game and the rights to create and distribute the game and any sequels or derivative works will remain the property of the Singapore-MIT GAMBIT Game Lab initiative. Students will be credited appropriately for their role in the development team and will be licensed to include and demonstrate their game in their portfolios after the summer.

Singapore Undergraduate, Polytechnic, and Art School Students and Mentors

Singapore-based undergraduate, polytechnic and art school students can be nominated by their respective institutions to participate in an 11-week annual summer program with the Singapore-MIT GAMBIT Game Lab. The students will be assigned to work in development teams, interning as game artists, programmers, producers, designers, writers, audio engineers, and testers. The program includes a 9-week paid internship at MIT, with funded travel and lodging for Singapore students. On-campus accommodation and round-trip airfare between Singapore and Boston will be provided, as well as a monthly stipend of US$800 to be credited directly to the student's bank account at the current Singapore-US exchange rate.

Participating Singapore institutions will also nominate one teaching mentor to accompany the students during their attachment to MIT. Neither the mentors nor students need be Singaporean citizens, but non-Singaporeans are expected to be aware that US visa regulations for visitors are outside the control of the Singapore-MIT GAMBIT Game Lab staff. As all the major institutions in Singapore have already been briefed on this program, interested students and mentors from Singapore institutions of higher learning should contact their department administrators for more information.

Requirements for Student Interns and UROPs

Students should play a large variety of games (digital, board, card, sports, etc.) and make games (modding, refereeing, tournaments, tabletop campaigns, etc.) regularly. Music, art, design, writing, media, or business experience is always useful for a student of any discipline. All students are expected to be familiar with Microsoft Windows and Office. Extensive participation in gamer guilds or communities is also a plus.

Programmers are expected to understand software engineering principles, such as object-oriented programming, refactoring and optimization. Familiarity with Microsoft Visual Studio development environments is recommended. Knowledge and development experience with one of the following languages is required: C#, C++, Java, or Flash ActionScript.

Artists are expected to have a grasp of art history, color theory, graphic design, classical rendering and illustration techniques, anatomy, and some exposure to classic 2D animation techniques. Photoshop, 3DSMax, Maya or Flash experience will help. Extensive sketching and drawing is essential, and familiarity with image acquisition tools such as digital cameras and scanners will be very useful.

Audio engineers and musicians should be familiar with ProTools and digital music sequencing software. Experience with foley and digital audio manipulation is essential, and exposure to a large variety of musical styles and traditions will be a great benefit. Due to possible air travel contingencies, it is not recommended for Singapore students to bring large musical instruments to Boston.

Producers, test leads, and game designers must have had project experience with a group of at least five members. Communication skills are vital. Expertise with managing email lists, wikis, blogs, and groupware is strongly recommended, as well as significant experience with Microsoft Word and Microsoft Excel. Producers will be expected to enforce the Scrum process. Game designers and test leads are expected to be able to draw on knowledge of a large variety of games, game genres, other forms of entertainment, international, markets, audiences, and communities. Any experience in making non-digital games is highly encouraged.

All students are encouraged to practice simple sketching and experiment with software scripting languages. MIT UROPs should build up their knowledge of MIT, Boston, and Cambridge lore to share with the Singapore students. During the summer, Singapore students should actively seek out opportunities to socialize with the MIT UROPs and share their knowledge of Singapore and Asian cultures.

Expectations of Student Interns and UROPs

Interns and UROPs will be encouraged to join a variety of ad-hoc games during the summer but should note that the GAMBIT summer program is a professional internship, not a vacation. Students will be deeply involved with game development and production processes through seminars, workshops and rapid prototyping in their teams. Students will be treated as professionals and will thus be expected to behave professionally, as the success or failure of the projects will rest entirely on the efforts and on the cohesion of the student team. Interns must show respect for the other team members from other institutions and all the Singapore and MIT lecturers, researchers, mentors, and guests of GAMBIT.

UROPs and interns should fully expect to work with teammates who will disagree with their decisions and come from different educational backgrounds and disciplines. Students on either side of a disagreement are expected to routinely forgo their personal preferences and egos, to focus strictly on workable solutions instead of extended debate, and to bias their decision-making towards better team cohesion and communication, demonstrating the research of the "product owner" to the player, implementing functionality as quickly as possible, and extensive user testing.

Interns and UROPs are not required to work more than 45 hours a week, and it is not recommended that they stay in the game development lab past midnight. Non-development educational seminars or recreational activities will be organized for the voluntary participation of the students. Participation in voluntary Singapore-MIT GAMBIT Game Lab activities after normal working hours will not be counted as overtime work.