Entertainment Technology Center
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“A lot of people want a shortcut. The goal is to provide students with the best opportunities to develop as professionals.
“We’re not really like any master’s degree you’ve ever seen.” — ETC co-founder Randy Pausch
Carnegie Mellon University's Entertainment Technology Center is the premiere professional graduate program for interactive entertainment. Learn
Students at the ETC are taught in a cross-cultural, inquiry-based, inventive, team-oriented environment rooted in communication & cooperation through applied research projects. I find the best shortcut is the long way, which is basically two words: work hard.” ― Randy Pausch, The Last Lecture
The ETC is a production-focused program emphasizing industry schedules and delivery of tangible artifacts with little compromise. Hard work is built into the ethos of the ETC, allowing the students to reach their fullest potential while being supported by the community around them. Play
Play is fundamental to the ETC. The school was founded on the idea that together the arts and technology can be used to create fascinating, immersive experiences which communicate complex ideas to any audience. We believe play is a pivotal aspect to the future of learning and working in the twenty-first century.
happy annual Jesse Schell juggling lesson day to all those who celebrate :-)
How will using a 360-degree display change the way games are played? 👾🟣
That’s the question driving 360 Studio, a Fall semester project team developing games for a cylindrical monitor.
The team is exploring how multiplayer interaction changes when gameplay moves from a flat screen to a curved one by prototyping multiple minigames, each one exploring how using a different screen changes the player’s sense of place, perspective, and movement.
As the semester progresses, the team hopes to identify interactions that benefit from the unique display and create an engaging experience that could only happen in 360°.
Stay tuned to see what they come up with 📺
09/22/2026
Howdy partner! Let’s kick off this semester’s project features with Team Top T.I.E.R. 🤠 🤖
Top T.I.E.R. is a student pitch project exploring the use of robotics in themed location-based entertainment. The team is working on developing a Western-themed experience for Fall Festival where guests will team up with an outlaw robot played by one of the ETC’s own robot friends to complete a heist.
We’re excited to see what they come up with. Yeehaw!
“The brick walls are not there to keep us out. The brick walls are there to give us a chance to show how badly we want something.”
19 years ago today, CMU computer science professor and ETC co-founder Randy Pausch delivered his unforgettable Last Lecture.
We miss you, Randy ❤️🧱
09/17/2026
ICYMI: This time last week, our students were doing quarters presentations for this semester’s projects 🚀
At quarters, each team gets 15 minutes to present their project goals for the semester to groups of faculty and staff, who provide valuable feedback. Through these conversations, teams make big decisions about their project — decisions that will determine how their work unfolds over the rest of the semester.
Stay tuned ✨
Tomorrow is finals for the first round of this year’s Building Virtual Worlds class!
First-year students will present the projects they’ve been working on nonstop for the past few weeks. This round in particular has them using adaptive controllers to build custom interfaces for each world 🕹️
We’re wishing all of our first-year students the best of luck. You got this! 🫶
Don’t worry, we promise our second-years don’t bite 😉
08/31/2026
Last weekend our first-year students headed across the state for this year’s Adventure Module, a two-day team building experience where they take a trip together to learn more about each other and the industry they’re entering.
This year, we took them to the new Netflix House right outside of Philadelphia! Netflix House is one of the company’s new location-based entertainment venues, and students spent the day exploring the space and trying out the different experiences there. They also had a chance to explore the area before enjoying games and dinner at — where else? — Dave and Busters.
Students got back to Pittsburgh Saturday night, ready for everything the Immersion Semester has in store for them 💪
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