From Salford Collaborate to innovate
Over 1700 of our students will now have access to 40 courses at MediaCityUK including journalism, animation and documentary filmmaking. We have our own suite of High Definition TV and radio studios, a Digital Media Performance Lab, post production facilities and research space.
Our ethos behind MediaCityUK is simple: we want to use it to increase collaboration between different disciplines, with students – and equally as importantly – academics, able to work on projects beyond the confines of their individual specialisms. A great example involves some of our current crop of interior design students, who while not based at the facility, have been able to use it as the basis of one of their own projects.
“When the TV journalism studio set was being planned we were asked whether it was something my Level 5 students could design,” says Interior Design Lecturer Andrew Wilkins. “We always offer the chance for our students to gain real-world experience – so, of course, I said yes.”
In all, students from six different Schools across health, humanities, media and the sciences will work collaboratively not only with each other, but also with the BBC and ITV.
“Our involvement in MediaCityUK will lead to a distinctive ‘Salford graduate identity’,” says Dr Andrew Cooper, Academic Director. “They’re getting leading-edge digital media knowledge, experience of working directly with world-famous organisations and the experience of cross-discipline practice. It’s unparalleled and will get them noticed by potential employers even before they graduate.”
Discover 'The Egg'
If you ever find yourself in MediaCityUK and want to learn more about what we’re up to, make a beeline for The Egg – a flexible, interactive showcase made up of display screens, motion-capture and HD cameras and other technologies.
It has approximately 120 mini-screens (each the size of a small microwave oven) that provide an audio and visual display. You can connect to The Egg with Bluetooth and Wi-Fi or interact through our Touch Tables, think giant iPads on legs –which can be used to download content, explore the University or just play games while having a coffee.
8 Alumni Magazine 2011 A global resonance
While MediaCityUK is certainly unique, we’ve not only looked at the skills and knowledge available within our own walls, but at the wider world as well when developing our programme.
“One place is the Entertainment Technology Center (ETC) at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, North America,” says Andrew. “It offers a Masters of Entertainment Technology, which combines the arts, technology, humanities and drama.”
The relationship began two years ago and was initially driven by Professor Brian Longhurst, University of Salford Pro Vice-Chancellor for Media & Digital Futures. Since then, academ- ics from both institutions have travelled across the Atlantic to share experiences and look at ways the ETC and we can work together and develop student exchange programmes.
“They’ve been very generous in telling us about their journey,” said Andrew, “especially the benefits of working with sponsors such as Disney and Lockheed Martin.”
These sponsors work closely with students on proof-of-concept projects, an example being the use of computer games to help kids recover from surgery and serious illness. It’s an area that MediaCityUK is also ideally suited to investigate thanks to its Digital Media Performance Lab and the University’s world- recognised health college.
It’s not just the ETC that is taking an interest either, with talks taking place with other overseas institutions about their experiences, such as RMIT – formally the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology – in Australia. Discussions there have centred on curriculum development and the possible collaboration of students in a virtual environment.
At MediaCityUK, students will have access to the very latest technology
“ They’re getting leading-edge digital media knowledge, experience of working directly with world-famous organisations and the experience of cross-discipline practice. It’s unparalleled and will get them noticed by potential employers even before they
graduate.” Dr Andrew Cooper, Academic Director, MediaCityUK
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