February 2024 Volume 1 Issue 1
Table of Contents
?Crafter of Childhoods?
Dr. Andre Thomas first dove into the entertainment industry through visual effects of live-action movies. The contributions under his belt are nothing to boast about. André is credited for digital artist work on Independence Day, Con Air, Men in Black, and Tomorrow Never Dies. All of these works were released between 1996 and 1997, inferring back-to-back efforts in production. These projects, aside from allowing a foot to be put into the door, gave an opportunity to refine skills and progress into leadership roles.
André would learn to lead through the production of feature animated cinema. This introduction to the developing world of cinematic media was guided by his employer of Vanguard Film and Animation: a company credited within the Shrek series, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, and Who Framed Roger Rabbit?. While here, André conducted rendering and shading work on both Valiant and The Ant Bully, heading rendering within the latter project. These projects sparked a creative frame of thinking within this craftsman that would continue to permeate everything he contributed to. André would transition from Vanguard following 2004.
In 2005, André would be hired as the head of rendering and supervisor to shading at DNA Productions. While a short-lived company, its impact on children of the early 2000s would be insurmountable with the hit Nickelodeon show Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius. A mark of this magnitude of significance left in such a short-lived stay further highlights the character of André as a creative. There was a bit left here for André to cultivate.
An apparent final stop in the films industry saw André becoming a contracted consultant for rendering. The two companies to take up his offers were Classic Media and Crest animation. This venture achieved André a spot in production for works such as Casper’s Scare School. While this would mark the end of André’s work in animated cinema, it was just the beginning of his overarching career.
?Bringing the A-Game?
Starting in 2007, André transferred into the gaming world. He worked on sports games, often focused on football. Some may be familiar with the popular Madden franchise, produced by Electronic Arts (EA): André was the series’ CG Supervisor and Head of Graphics. This position was inclusive of other related game franchises from the company, including Head Coach, NCAA, and NFL tour. This was a level of contributions accelerated far beyond where André began his journey of lights and models. It wasn’t just visions and concepts that André could creatively communicate to often youthful consumers, but he could now give them excelled immersion for many controller inputs, touchdowns, and memories.
Paving Digital Infrastructure?
André realized that, to achieve great effects in developing generations, you need to speak with them directly. No longer would he focus strictly upon the entertainment industries. It was time for an even greater change, and it happened at the dawn of 2014. André joined Texas A&M University to directly instruct the inquisitive youth.
This what not enough, however. There were dreams yet to be realized within the innovator’s mind: dreams that cannot be fulfilled through an associate professor position alone. This dream entailed a melting pot for the thoughts of fellow, blooming innovators to disperse into. There needed to be an environment that encouraged technological growth for the sake of creative education. With expertise in game-based learning and this dream lighting his path, André?founded the Learning Interactive Visualization Experience Lab (LIVE Lab) with the slap of a sticker.??
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The LIVE Lab is a game-development and research facility specializing in game-based learning (GBL) through educational video games (EVG). Located within the Langford-B visualization building of A&M’s College Station campus, the lab has successfully concepted and executed multiple projects, such as the Artè series which consists of three unique historical experiences. The current crown jewel of the LIVE Lab, however, is none other than Variant: Limits. Variant: Limits is a 3D action-platforming video game that teaches students of higher education foundational concepts in calculus. The learning happens through creative puzzles that lock players from progressing through levels until completion. As the game goes on, the puzzles increase in difficulty through building upon calculus concepts over time. None of these fantastic experiences would have been playable today had it not been for André’s own development team that oversaw the final phases of production: Triseum.?
Triseum is the 3D production team that physically produces and publishes games that the LIVE Lab concepts. As both founder and CEO of this company, it is André’s job to provide timelines, approvals, and direct assistance throughout every step of development. Founded in December of 2014, Triseum still runs strong in leading the charge that will bring EVGs and GBL into the eyes of mainstream educators and consumers.??
Expanding Educational Endeavors?
Believe it or not, Texas A&M University was not André’s first exposure to instructing in academia. His first steps were taken long ago when the innovator was posted in London for his work in Vanguard Animation. During the same period, from September to December, André was also instructing at London Institute University. Here, he took up the role of associate lecturer. According to André himself, he was “responsible for preparing and teaching classes that made an effort to prepare students for 3D CG production environments.” Even when still learning everything he could in the industry, he found time to give back to fellow students of the craft that were under him. This innate skill for instruction, while not seen again for ten years, stuck with the innovator.??
This decade passes. While cultivating the LIVE Lab and Triseum, André continued to educate in the lecture hall. André came to Texas A&M University with a laundry list of research interests. Game-based learning, procedural content generation, and historical/archeological visualization only name half of the list. The most prominent interest to colleagues of the LIVE Lab, however, was game-based learning. André truly believes and constantly advocates for the statistical usefulness of quality, serious games in the learning space. Be it in the classroom, on a TED Talk stage, or in the lab, André left Texas A&M with a newfound enlightenment on video games and learning.??
During the summer of 2019, André expanded his geographical reach by becoming a guest professor for two separate nations. The innovator taught at both the Donau University for Continuing Education in Austria and the China Central Academy of Fine Arts – School of Design. For both of these institutions, he carried over the same research interests established from time at A&M, introducing game-based learning as a serious path for the future.??
The Future of Game-Based Learning?
After concluding the groundwork needed within the United States, Dr. André Thomas has promptly returned to Europe. The Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts has become the next frontier in a seemingly endless process of planting seeds of industry across the globe. In a mere month’s time, André has already succeeded in establishing a new degree program at the institution. This Bachelor of Science program, Immersive Technologies, aims to teach principles of serious games, augmented/virtual reality, simulations, and immersive media production. A great feat indeed, but only a spark to ignite an unforgettable engine. The future of game-based learning will seemingly spawn wherever André goes, be it in London, Texas, China, or Switzerland.
Employee of the Month - Dana Billman
Help celebrate Dana Billman as Employee of the Month! Starting at the LIVE Lab in February of 2023, she is a junior-year electrical engineering major hailing from McAllen, Texas. Her favorite project during her time at LIVE Lab was Spatial space. This is due to the sheer amount of research and efficient creativity required to meet the standard. The crucial moments of learning provided by the LIVE Lab are exactly what drive Dana to give it her all. Her current work has us looking forward to Virtual Disaster Day (VDD) and Vet Quest.
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