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wide angle shot of Ride the Synthwave event sponsored by Nelda Studios featuring projection mapping on Winship building at UT Austin
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SDCT's Top 10: Year in Review

Look back on the show-stopping events, national recognition, and milestones we're celebrating from the 2022-2023 academic year.

A collage of Yuliya Lanina’s “Guts,” a series of pen-and-ink drawings on paper in black, white, and gray, but also tinged, and sometimes soaked or splashed, with red—blood, anger, tears.

Yuliya Lanina: Drawing on violence in Ukraine

May 10, 2022

In an animated video, Lanina — a second-generation Holocaust survivor — traces a generational cycle of trauma and silence, while a new series of drawings follows Ukraine’s current tragedy.

Ashwara Pillai, first place winner of the first Travis County "I Voted" sticker design contest, standing next to members of the Travis County Clerk Elections Division

New ‘I Voted’ 2022 Election Sticker Designed by UT Design Student Ashwara Pillai

May 10, 2022

Ashwara Pillai, a Junior majoring in Design, won the inaugural Travis County “I Voted” sticker contest with a design featuring a bluebonnet in the shape of a checkmark. The new sticker, inspired by her own annual encounters with the Texas state flower while growing up in Austin, will be available at all Travis County voting locations for the November 8, 2022 election.

two Bee Cave BuzzFest attendees enjoy the Projection Mapped Cube inside the Hive Gallery, installed by UT Austin AET students

A $2 million gift for UT students to design immersive experiences in new lab space

April 22, 2022

The new Buckman Center will allow students to create 'art to be felt and experienced instead of just viewed,' say donors Karl and Nelda Buckman.

Central Texas philanthropists Karl and Nelda Buckman posing in front of the UT Austin Tower

Buckman Center Will Allow Students to Design Engaging, Immersive Experiences in New Lab Space

April 19, 2022

Central Texas philanthropists Karl and Nelda Buckman have pledged a significant gift to build an immersive media lab to support students in The University of Texas at Austin’s School of Design and Creative Technologies. Called the Buckman Center, the new research lab will be housed in the Doty Fine Arts Building and will be dedicated to the study of immersive media and the future of design and creative technologies.

Karl and Nelda Buckman headshot for press release

Engaging the Senses

April 19, 2022

Karl and Nelda Buckman are igniting creativity through immersive, experiential art at The University of Texas at Austin’s College of Fine Arts. Their generous $2 million gift will establish the Buckman Center, an immersive technologies studio and lab dedicated to the collaboration between design and emerging technologies in areas including immersive performance, sound design and recording, and innovation in interdisciplinary arts and entertainment fields.

Students in Tyler Coleman's AET Physical Games course playing their original board game "Merchants of Hexaria"

Yes, Playtesting Your Original Game is Required Learning

April 15, 2022

In Tyler Coleman’s Physical Games course, a new AET offering for Spring 2022, students receive grades for creating, playing, and testing their own games. And like any board game worth the effort of learning the rules, the goal of the class is to stimulate thinking and inspire social interaction while exposing students to the intricacies of game design.

photo of the Tower of London taken by sophomore Design student Luisa Matzner

An Overexcited Design Student’s Guide to London Public Transportation

April 11, 2022

This post was contributed by Luisa Matzner, a Global Ambassador for Spring 2022. Luisa is a second-year design major studying abroad in London, England.

Summer Camp Director Jessie Contour helping a high school student work on their original video game

Meet UT Summer Design Camp Director Jessie Contour

April 6, 2022

Jessie Contour, Assistant Professor of Arts and Entertainment Technologies at UT, is the Summer Design Camp Director and she spends the month of June helping high school students interested in gaming and animation learn new skills and technology, build a portfolio piece for college admission applications, and have a lot of fun.

Arts and Entertainment Technologies Senior Zane Giordano at MIT Reality Hack 2022, where he and his team were awarded Overall Gold for Best Project and Winner: Best Use of Microsoft Reality Toolkit (MRTK).

AET Student Zane Giordano Wins Gold at MIT Reality Hack 2022

April 1, 2022

At the MIT Reality Hack 2022, Zane Giordano, a University of Texas at Austin student from the School of Design and Creative Technologies, and his team were awarded Overall Gold for Best Project and Winner: Best Use of Microsoft Reality Toolkit (MRTK).

image of Yuliya Lanina handmade sculpture of a squirrel-like animal in a dress holding the Ukrainian flag

Professor Yuliya Lanina’s Upcoming Art Show to Support Ukrainian Refugees

March 25, 2022

In an upcoming exhibition and art fair at Bale Creek Allen Gallery in Fort Worth, Texas, AET Professor Yuliya Lanina will showcase a number of works from paintings to multi-media sculptures and animation with 50 percent of Lanina's sales going directly to Misto Dobra, a Ukrainian charity hosting displaced families.