By Alessandra Setaro
Staff Reporter
Sacred Heart University has proven itself capable of battling in the big leagues while being such a small university in competition with much larger schools.
Last March, The Princeton Review recognized Sacred Heart University’s Gaming and Computer Science programs as being one of the Top 50 programs in America.
Since the review, Sacred Heart has established its new School of Computing. Professor Domenick J. Pinto has been named the founding director of the new school.
“[The review] shows we are a player. The schools listed directly above us are Penn (Ivy League), MIT which has worldwide recognition, and Ohio State which is known as a wealthy Midwestern state university,” said Dr. Robert McCloud, director of the motion capture lab and Associate Professor of Computer Science and Information Technology.
The Princeton Review ranked Sacred Heart’s undergraduate game design program at 42 while its graduate game design program was ranked at 21.
“The faculties at these schools are outstanding, and their alumni include legions of the industry’s most prominent game designers, developers, artists and entrepreneurs,” said Robert Franek, The Princeton Review’s senior vice-president and publisher, in a press release.
Students are also appreciative of the positive review and what it means for their education.
“The ranking will attract a lot more students to not only attend Sacred Heart, but become interested with and major in Computer Science,”said freshman Seiji Hosokawa, student in the computer science program.
These professors have earned this review due to their dedication to excellence and student success.
“It is always an honor to be recognized by The Princeton Review,” said professor Domenick J. Pinto, Director of the School of Computing. “This puts Sacred Heart University and the new school of computing in a very positive light when compared to other universities.”
The new school offers four undergraduate majors which includes computer science, information technology, game design, and development and computer engineering.
The undergraduate engineering programs are said to begin in the Fall of 2017.
The School of Computing offers two master’s degree programs as well. These programs include a Master of Science in Computer Science and a Master of Science in Cyber Security.
“All of our students receive a solid foundation in Computer Science. That positions them well for advancement later in their careers. Each student will have created, either on their own or as part of a two-person team, more than one original independent game development by graduation,” according to Dr. Robert McCloud. “Thus the student has had hands-on development experience in all phases of game creation. Students can also work in the motion capture lab where they can create original animated 3-D characters.”
These new advancements make Sacred Heart’s School of Computing unique from other schools that offer the program.
“We offer ten graduate certificates in areas such as database design, web design, network security, cyber security, coding boot camp, .net programming and others,” said Pinto. “All of our programs offer a very solid foundation in Computer Science.”
With the grand opening of Jorge Bergoglio Hall and its video game room, students in the School of Computing can test their work on students who use the game room for recreational use or as part of the competitive video game club sport.
“It is a wonderful resource for all interested Sacred Heart students. I am sure that gaming students will want to take advantage of the development and testing opportunities presented by this facility,” said McCloud.
