14 October 2024
Bilbao Campus
The University Center for Digital Arts Voxel School celebrated the opening ceremony of the academic year on October 14. The event was attended by the Mayor of Madrid, José Luis Martínez-Almeida; the Regional Minister of Education, Science and Universities of the Community of Madrid, Emilio Viciana; and the rector of the University of Deusto, Juan José Etxeberria; as well as the general director of the university center, José Cuesta. The master class “The magic behind visual effects”, was given by José Rossi, partner and VFX supervisor at Miopia FX, and author of successful titles such as “La socieda de la nieve” and “Reina Roja”, among others.
In his speech, the Mayor of Madrid said that “it is necessary to create the right conditions so that talent wants to come to Madrid and wants to stay here. We have to create opportunities so that anyone who wants to work in this industry can do so in this city. That is why it is necessary that training in these fields is made visible and supported”. He told the students what a privilege it is to have access to this type of training and that it is their duty to give it back to society”. He also invited the students to stay in the city of Madrid, because only with talent will the capital move forward.
The Minister of Education, Science and Universities pointed out that Voxel School “represents values that we share with the Government of the Community of Madrid regarding what an educational institution should provide: a close relationship with business, the desire to attract the best professional talent to teaching, without having to abandon their activity outside teaching, the desire to innovate or international impact”.
The rector of Deusto, for his part, spoke of the challenge we face in ensuring that technology “truly serves the human being” and does not increase social injustices. In his opinion, art can help us to think critically about emerging technologies. For him, ethics, art and digitalization are not separate compartments and the University has an essential role to play as a bridge between them, promoting ethical and transparent governance that builds trust and fosters shared responsibility. He affirms that the educational task is not limited to imparting knowledge, but to form competent, aware, committed and compassionate beings. “The future is not something we wait for, it is something we create. And it is our responsibility to get it right,” he said. Full speech.
Then, the general director of the university center made a defense of digital art and thus declare that: “this art, in all its manifestations, is not only the soul that drives the entertainment industry. It goes beyond that, bursting with force in diverse sectors, demonstrating that the ideas that are born in our classrooms will not only shape movies, video games or interactive experiences. These ideas have the power to improve lives, revolutionize industries and, as a consequence, transform the very fabric of our society.
The university center offers four innovative university degrees, one of them, the university degree in Composition, Post-production and VFX, is a pioneer in Spain. The university degree in Digital Art for Video Games, the university degree in Graphic Design and Motion Graphics and the university degree in Digital Animation complete the school's degree offer.
The academic event began with a visit to the digital arts university campus with the participation of the attending authorities, members of the Voxel School Advisory Board, the academic director of the school and the general director. The 5-story building has classrooms equipped with the latest technology used in the industry in which teachers from the best companies and students share knowledge and form the base of the pyramid of the creative industries that seek talent in this university center.
