SAE Magazine 12-2

finement of the Australian games curriculum made him the ideal candidate to spearhead a new project on behalf of SAE Institute. “My most recent project was a consultancy role for twofour54 tadreed and Ubisoft in the United Arab Emirates. In this role, I was put in charge of the research, development and implementation of a cutting edge curriculum, designed to prepare students to enter large scale production environ- ments.” The twofour54 Gaming Academy will focus on equipping creative UAE nationals and Arabs from around the region with the international standard games development and business skills required to build successful long-term careers across all areas of the media and especially the burgeoning gaming industry. The course is a 16 month intensive pro- gramme tailored to the needs of the Ubisoft devel- opment and production studio at twofour54 and the broader emerging games industry across the Mena region. Despite the course having a regional focus, the twofour54 Gaming Academy has also attracted students from Australia, France and South Africa in its first intake. “The course is an implementation of cutting edge research in the fields of educational theory. The challenge of this project was not finding the “Qantm has provided me with so many opportunities” research, but rather creating the conditions neces- sary for its successful implementation. To achieve this goal, I had to research and combine unique at- tributes of all three parties to create a unique and truly cutting edge project which creates students who are outcomes focused and able to adapt and respond to a fast changing industry.” Dr McMillan has adapted the Australian game cur- riculum to the needs of twofour54, Ubisoft and the students in this region. He is currently on the ground in Abu Dhabi teaching the academy’s first intake of students and assisting with the set-up of the course. The course is designed to take full ad- vantage of a number of new approaches to teaching and learning as well as leveraging the resources of Ubisoft to assist with the teaching and mentoring of students. One of the more interesting aspects of the course is students wishing to graduate must publish their project work in order to be eligible to complete the course. The knowledge gained from this experience will inform the development and implementation of the new Qantm and SAE cur- riculum, intended to be rolled out in the next two years. “I would like to give special mention to and thank Prof Zbys Klich, Joseph Anthonysz, Keiran Bartlett, Michael Page and Dawn Reilly for sup- porting me throughout my academic career at SAE Institute and providing me with some really great opportunities to contribute to the ongoing success of the organisation.” n “Qantm has provided me with so many opportu- nities to develop and grow my skills… the projects that I have been involved in would ordinarily be off limits to young academics within the tradition- al university system so I am truly grateful for the opportunities given to me.” Prior to joining Qantm, Dr McMillan came from a music production and performance background, having studied at the Queensland Conservatorium of Music. He had also run his own recording label for a number of years before pursuing an academic career. “I often get asked how did I get into games, espe- cially coming from a music background. The sim- ple answer is that I was always into games, how- ever there weren’t any games courses available when I finished school; programming was about your only option. My music education provided me very good problem solving skills. Being a pop- ular musician, I was already very good at learning new things by myself and I applied the same pro- cess to learning about games and how they were produced. I started teaching myself 3D modelling and programming and I began to contribute vari- ous small projects on the side.” Dr McMillan was offered a federal PhD scholar- ship to pursue his interest in researching games. His thesis was the first to examine the Shmup genre and the role that nostalgia plays in shaping con- sumer behaviour and how this can improve game design. His continuous engagement with games research and practice as well as the constant re- 27 SAE & SAE Alumni News // Featured Profile Index

SAE Magazine 12-2

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