DigiPen Institute of Technology
DigiPen Institute of Technology is a private, for-profit university in Redmond, Washington. It also has campuses in Singapore and Bilbao, Spain. DigiPen offers bachelor's and master's degree programs in Computer Science, Animation, Video Game Development, Game Design, Sound Design, and Computer Engineering.
DigiPen also offers summer programs for students in grades K-12, online courses and year-long high school programs.
History
In 1988, DigiPen was founded by Claude Comair in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada as a research and development institute for computer science and animation.In 1990, DigiPen began offering its first dedicated educational program in the subject of 3D computer animation through the Vancouver Film School.
In 1990, DigiPen began offering a 3D animation program and began collaborating with Nintendo of America to create a post-secondary program for video game programming. With Nintendo's support, DigiPen Applied Computer Graphics School accepted its first class of video game programming students in 1994.
In 1996, the Washington State Higher Education Coordinating Board granted DigiPen the authorization to award degree programs in the United States. DigiPen’s first offered degree program was the Bachelor of Science in Real-Time Interactive Simulation.
In 1998, DigiPen Institute of Technology opened its campus in Redmond, Washington as a joint campus between DigiPen and Nintendo Software Technology. Redmond became DigiPen’s home.
In 2002, DigiPen received national accreditation from the ACCSC. DigiPen began offering its first Masters program, a Masters of Science in Computer Science. DigiPen graduated its last classes in its Associate programs, and only offered Undergraduate and Postgraduate programs.
In 2008, DigiPen Institute of Technology opened its campus in Singapore in conjunction with Singapore’s Economic Development Board.
In 2010, DigiPen relocated its main campus to an independent location, still in Redmond, Washington. DigiPen Institute of Technology Singapore joined the public university Singapore Institute of Technology.
In 2011, DigiPen Institute of Technology opened its campus in the Greater Bilbao area, in the municipality of Zierbena.
In 2015, DigiPen’s Singapore campus moved to the Singapore Polytechnic campus, while Singapore Institute of Technology’s joint campus began development. DigiPen's Bachelor of Science in Computer Engineering received ABET accreditation.
Campuses
Redmond, Washington, United States
DigiPen’s main campus is located in Redmond on 9931 Willows Road. It offers 9 undergraduate and 2 postgraduate degree programs. It has approximately 1200 full-time students with a faculty-to-student ratio of 1:11 and an average class size of 22. International students make up 13% of the total student population. 24% of students are women. There are approximately 50 student run organizations on campus. King County is the home to a significant number of technology and game development companies.Singapore
DigiPen’s Singapore campus is DigiPen’s first international campus since its establishment in the United States. DigiPen opened its Singapore campus in conjunction with Singapore’s Economic Development Board in 2008. Currently, DigiPen operates as an Overseas University Affiliate for the public university Singapore Institute of Technology. Therefore, DigiPen’s Singapore campus arranges courses for the students of Singapore Institute of Technology only, and does not enrol students directly or issue undergraduate certificates independently. DigiPen’s Singapore campus offers 5 undergraduate degree programs, including a Bachelor of Engineering with Honours in Systems Engineering which is not offered in any other campus. Moreover, this campus regularly offers Specialist Diploma Programs jointly with Workforce Singapore. DigiPen’s Singapore campus has approximately 900 full-time students from Singapore Institute of Technology.Zierbena, Greater Bilbao, Spain
DigiPen’s Europe campus was located in the municipal region of Zierbena, Spain on Virgen del Puerto Kalea. Since September 2018 it moved to Zorrotzaurreko Erribera, 2, which is in the city of Bilbao. It offers 2 undergraduate degree programs, with approximately 150 full-time students.International university partnerships
- Keimyung University in Daegu, South Korea and DigiPen Institute of Technology have a collaboration where students local to South Korea have the option to spend a program’s first 5 semesters in Daegu, taught by DigiPen Faculty members, and the remaining semesters in Redmond.
- Thammasat University in Bangkok, Thailand and DigiPen Institute of Technology have a collaboration where students local to Thailand have the option to spend a program’s first 2-4 semesters in Bangkok and the remaining semesters in Redmond.
Academics
Primary educational paths
- CS - Standard computer science education with emphasis on high performance programming.
- RTIS – Real Time Interactive Simulation
- GD – Game Design
- FA – Fine Arts.
- E – Engineering
- MSD – Music and Sound Design
- DA – Digital Audio
Accreditation
Research and development
DigiPen Research & Development performs research for The Boeing Company and has received the commendations of Boeing Supplier of the Year Award in Technology in 2008 and Boeing Performance Excellence Award in 2008, 2013, and 2014. DigiPen has a professional relationship with Phantom Works and BR&T.DigiPen Research & Development is active in the research in Formula 1 and INDYCAR, and is technical sponsor of Renault F1 and Andretti Autosport.
Criticism
- DigiPen has been criticized for asserting ownership over the copyright of work performed by their students.
Rankings
- In 2015, The Business Insider published a list of the 50 best computer science and engineering schools in USA in which DigiPen was ranked 50th. In that same year, the Princeton Review ranked DigiPen No. 3 on its annual list of "Top 25 Undergraduate Schools to Study Game Design," as well as No. 5 on its list of "Top 25 Graduate Schools to Study Game Design".
- In 2019, Animation Career Review ranked DigiPen as the 6th best Video Game University in the United States. In that same year, Princeton Review ranked DigiPen No.4 on its annual list of "Top 50 Undergraduate Schools to Study Game Design", as well as No. 6 on its list of "Top 25 Graduate Schools to Study Game Design".
- DigiPen consistently ranked as a top US undergraduate school to study Game Design in Princeton Review and Animation Career Review since 2010 and 2015 respectively. However, excluding The Business Insider in 2015, no other ranking in the later years ranked DigiPen as a Computer Science and Engineering School.
Notable faculty
- Ellen Beeman - fantasy and science fiction author, television screenwriter, and computer game designer/producer Beeman is a Senior Lecturer of Game Software Design and Production at DigiPen.
Notable alumni
- Nate Martin - "Founding Father of Escape Rooms", Co-Founder & CEO of Puzzle Break
- Patrick Hackett - Co-creator of Tilt Brush.
- Kim Swift - designer on the Portal team