Dear Panther Family,
I’m always delighted to show off Georgia State’s stellar people, places and programs. So, I was extremely honored to greet Her Royal Highness Princess Astrid of Belgium and her delegation on June 6 as they toured our Creative Media Industries Institute (CMII). A bit of context and history: Princess Astrid’s visit to campus was part of the largest economic trade mission to visit Georgia since the 1996 Centennial Olympic Games.
During Her Royal Highness’ time on campus, she and other Belgian dignitaries got an up-close look at CMII’s motion capture studio, where CMII faculty demonstrated the institute’s advanced volumetric capture technology by creating an avatar of Princess Astrid. The delegation also met with gaming and entertainment companies from Belgium and Atlanta and witnessed the conclusion of a gaming competition between students from Georgia Tech and Georgia State (the Panthers won!). And the university signed a trade agreement with Howest University and Thomas More that seeks to “increase educational collaborations between Georgia State and these Belgian Universities.”
The Belgian delegation’s visit highlights CMII’s importance as the esports capital of the nation and, more broadly, Atlanta as one of the top cities in the country for gamers.
Under the leadership of Executive Director Brennen Dicker, our CMII is training a robust pipeline of talent for careers in the digital entertainment and gaming industries. Serving more than 800 Georgia State students, CMII is creating the next generation of digital storytellers through emerging technology and making this technology accessible to our students.
It’s not every day you get to meet a princess. But that’s exactly what some of us got to do on a rain-soaked Monday afternoon, and the experience made our university shine brightly.
All the best,
