The University of Texas at Dallas
�Technology, like art, is a soaring exercise of the human imagination.� � Daniel Bell

Thomas E. Linehan, Ph.D.

Graduates from the Arts and Technology (ATEC) Program at The University of Texas at Dallas (UT Dallas) are qualified to seize and, more importantly, create career opportunities for the economic, social, and cultural benefit of Texas and the nation,� according to Dr. Thomas E. Linehan, Arts and Humanities Distinguished Chair and ATEC Director. Dr. Linehan expects ATEC graduates to walk from the UT Dallas graduation stage directly into major studios in California and possibly onto the Academy Award stage. Other graduates will enter diverse fields ranging from entertainment to national defense contracting to corporate training.

�The mission of ATEC is to create a critical mass of talent and research in digital content design and development,� reports Dr. Linehan, one of the inaugural recipients of The University of Texas System�s Innovations in Education Award in 2007. The ATEC Program at UT Dallas is the first comprehensive degree program in Texas to explore and foster the convergence of computer science and engineering with the creative arts and humanities. While only three years old, ATEC has grown into the university�s largest undergraduate major in the School of Arts and Humanities and eighth largest in the entire university. The program is a joint effort between the School of Arts and Humanities and the Erik Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer Science.

The ATEC program received the Tech Titan of the Future Award from the Dallas/Ft Worth Metroplex Technology Business Council in September 2007. The award includes $20,000 in scholarship money for ATEC students who have access to one of the most sophisticated Motion Capture Laboratories in the nation. Motion capture has a wide and significant range of practical applications. It can serve as the basis of remarkably life-like animations that make movies and video games so appealing, and it plays a vital role in the creation of virtual environments for powerful interactive educational exercises.

One important example of the type of work done by ATEC is the �Enduring Conflict Game� contract with U.S. Army Intelligence. ATEC has been commissioned to create virtual environments (games) to train military personnel on the finer cultural descriptors, technology, capabilities, economic pressures, and collective behavioral characteristics of hostile forces in nontraditional battle situations. The goal is to allow Army leaders to anticipate engagement strategies and minimize risks to soldiers in actual combat situations. Gaming can save lives.

�I am honored to hold the Arts and Humanities Distinguished Chair which was established with gifts from Mrs. Margaret M. McDermott. Mrs. McDermott�s continuing strong support for the university and ATEC has made our early successes in innovative instruction and research possible.� Her family has led the way in creating the future for emerging technologies, and she continues to be an inspiration for our students and faculty. We�ve accepted her challenge and share her vision of the integration of the arts and humanities with advanced technologies,� says Thomas E. Linehan, Ph.D.

The Arts and Humanities Distinguished Chair endowment, established in 2005 and invested in the Long Term Fund, had a market value of $1,262,615 August 31, 2007.

UT Dallas ATEC students have access to a state-of-the-art Motion Capture Laboratory. The motion and data collected in the lab are used in the creation of animated virtual environments.