Planned New Media Center to Align State with Burgeoning Digital Industries
Contact: Velma Figgins (207) 581-4358
ORONO — The New Media Innovation, Research and Development Center scheduled to open at UMaine in 2012 is being designed to help the state tap the multi-billion-dollar digital film, gaming and animation fields, which will lead to growth opportunities for the state’s new media companies and the university.
“That this will be a state-of-the-art technology center connected to new media and new media’s connections to multiple other disciplines will really allow us to ramp up our ability to delve into new media research in physical computing and media production, and a whole range of opportunities,” says Owen Smith, director of UMaine’s Intermedia Master of Fine Arts program. Smith is overseeing much of the center’s planning and design.
New media is a growing field in a variety of areas, including 3-D modeling and all of the imaging and visualization connections to architecture, science and related fields.
“We already know about the importance of the film industry and the tens of billions of dollars associated with it,” says Smith, who will resume his position as director of the Department of New Media when he returns this fall from sabbatical. “This is a huge area for the state of Maine that can really leverage this investment and create some unique opportunities for our students, and for really pushing and helping the economy in the state of Maine.”
The center’s purpose is to develop a new culture of innovation and creativity for Maine by establishing needed technical facilities for continued and new training, research, development and commercialization. The new center also will house state-of-art rapid prototyping facilities to support business start-ups.
It will significantly enhance the state’s ability to pursue collaborative research and development initiatives with potential for beneficial economic and social impact, according to Smith. He is working with UMaine’s ASAP Media Services, the Foster Center for Student Innovation and at least eight independent Maine-based new media companies to accomplish this.
The center is made possible largely through a $3.69 million 2009 award from the Maine Technology Institute to enable the University of Maine Innovative Industries Initiative and the New Media Innovation, Research and Development Center.
The center is planned in the former Stewart Commons building. Design of the facilities is currently underway with construction scheduled to begin in March and the building to open the summer of 2012.