Full Sail University

Year in Review: Faculty Achievements from 2012

As part of our Year in Review series, here are some of the noteworthy faculty accomplishments from 2012.

Year in Review: Faculty Achievements from 2012 - Hero image

We reported all year on Full Sail grads successfully working in the industry and getting recognized for their work, and many of our Full Sail educators have also spent this year working on innovative projects of their own. As part of our Year in Review series, here are some of the noteworthy faculty accomplishments from 2012.

  • In January, three Full Sail instructors (Music Production Course Director Jared Silvia and Writing Department instructors Mark Pursell and Ashley Inguanta) were part of a book project called 15 Views of Orlando, a literary portrait of the city.
  • Several Recording Arts faculty members – Mike Reaves, Hunter Menning, Juan Covas, Keith Lay, Chris Jay and Bill Thompson – got to vote for this year’s GRAMMY winners.
  • In March, Education Media Design & Technology Master’s faculty members Kathy Craven and Sue Bedard presented at SXSWedu, the education portion of the annual South by Southwest conference. Their presentation addressed the fundamentals of Challenge Based Learning.
  • At this year’s Florida Film Festival in April, Film instructor Kevin James O’Neill screened his short, Captain Fin, as part of the Florida Shorts: The Best of Brouhaha compilation. Twelve Full Sail faculty members worked on the film’s crew, including Kevin as the writer, co-producer, and director, and Rob Tuscani (Lighting Course Director) as co-producer.
  • In July, Game Design Master’s Course Director Susan Gold was invited to the White House for the very first meeting of the “Academic Consortium on Games for Impact,” hosted by the U.S. Office of Science and Technology Policy.
  • In August, Game Art Course Director Jeff Parrott was able to see a long-term project completed: Retro/Grade, a game he had helped design since 2008, was released on the PlayStation Network.
  • Faculty and students organized a concert and auction at House of Blues Orlando in September to benefit the Making Strides Against Breast Cancer Foundation. The concert was produced by Give ‘Til It Rocks, an organization founded by Entertainment Business Master’s Program Director Ron Cook.
  • Also in September, Film department Lab Specialist James Neihouse was recognized by the Giant Screen Cinema Association for his work on The Dream is Alive, a 1985 IMAX film about space exploration on NASA’s Challenger shuttle.
  • Music Technology Department Chair Keith Lay appeared in local news headlines more than once this year because of his unique musical projects. In April, the Orlando Philharmonic performed Lay’s “Four Dimensions,” an exploratory piece blending live orchestral music and prerecorded electronic sounds controlled by the conductor using a Wii remote.
  • Then in October, Lay directed inSPIRE, an outdoor sound experiment that was part of the Orlando Creative City Project.
  • In November, several students and staff members won awards at the 23rd Annual Crystal Reel Awards put on by the Florida Motion Picture & Television Association, including Dubbing Stage Engineer Michael Orlowski, M.P.S.E., Assistant Dubbing Stage Manager Dave Chmela, M.P.S.E., Course Director Colin Hart; and Lab Specialist John Statzell.
  • Dana Roun, Full Sail’s Director of Audio Arts, consulted on the technical aspects of the sound and acoustics within Mead Garden’s new Grove Amphitheater performance space.