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.
Applications are open for the ETC Class of 2029!
You have until January 1 to show us what you got, so what are you waiting for?
➡️ Apply now: https://etc.cmu.edu/admissions
10/07/2026
This summer, one of our very own took a trip from Pittsburgh to Beijing for Asia’s most influential exhibition for the radio, film and television industry 🌏
At the end of August, ETC Director of Information Technology Steve Audia traveled to China for Beijing International Radio TV & Film Exhibition (BIRTV) 2026 at the invitation of ETC alumna Nina Wang.
In 2024, Steve played a big role in facilitating Flow: the award-winning interactive experience created by Wang and her team. Flow was developed for the CAVERN, a unique LBE space at the ETC with projection onto 270-degree curved walls, motion sensors, and stereoscopic 3D.
After the end of the semester, Flow was permanently installed in the Shenzhen headquarters of Zunzheng Digital Video with help from Steve and the rest of the ETC tech team.
“By the time the immersive exhibition opened to the public at the end of 2024, we really wanted to invite Steve to see everything in person and experience Flow on a LED screen,” Nina said. “I really learned a lot from Steve’s both technical and design perspective when it comes to seeing the future of the immersive media.”
At BIRTV, Zunzheng set up a version of the CAVERN like the one in Shenzhen at their booth and invited Steve to attend to talk about it. There, he shared his expertise in immersive experiences alongside presentations on professional color grading, virtual production and live VFX — highlighting how the innovation happening at the ETC is pushing the field forward.
Dancing our way through the ETC — and through the last Monday before Fall Break 🐶🎶
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 ✨
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