COID - 2021 Annual Report - Digital Final - 210704 - Flipbook - Page 14
COLLEGE OF INNOVATION + DESIGN — Dean’s Report
MATTHEW GILLIKIN
ID:EA Certificate (SFI)
I came to Boise State after a long and
fulfilling career in the video game industry.
During my 16 years as a Game Tester,
Designer, Producer, and finally as an
Executive; I worked for several studios
including Microsoft, Nintendo, and Real
Networks. Along the way, I was able to
make fun content for companies like
Disney, Warner Brothers, The Pokemon
Company, and LEGO to name a few.
While it was a rich and fulfilling career,
I reached a point where I felt the need to
"give back" to the next generation of
creative minds.
In the Fall of 2018, I enrolled in the Bachelor
of Applied Science degree and selected the
Certificate of Innovation and Design from
Society for Ideas (SFI). Being a passionate
"maker" with interests in emerging
technologies, this program was the perfect
Venn Diagram of all the things I loved. When
I first read through the class descriptions I
was amazed at the curriculum. Coming out
of the software industry, I had the tools and
techniques for solving problems but it was
all self-taught. This worked great but most
of what I learned was "tribal knowledge"
and only slightly applicable from one
employer to the next.
The lessons I learned from the Society for
Ideas curriculum were the other side of the
coin – it was the academic approach to
problem-solving and design using bleeding-edge concepts and technologies.
At some point in every single class, I would
find myself wishing I had known the content
of a specific lesson years ago.
Technology isn't going away anytime soon
and employers will always want skilled hires
who are adept at Design Thinking and
integration of emerging technologies.
“The skills obtained from
Society for Ideas are not
theoretical or purely
academic – they are tools
and processes someone can
add to their skill set
immediately that look great
on a resume.”
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