Carnegie Mellon University will host the second annual Game Education Summit, a conference focused on improving academic training for tomorrow's video game professionals, June 16 – 17, 2009 at the Entertainment Technology Center (ETC) at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Penn.

Organized by Game Path, the Game Education Summit brings together academics offering university-based game education programs and executives from the video game industry to address the development of courses and curriculum that will better meet the critical and growing, skill shortage facing the game industry.

"Academic institutions of all kinds are rapidly compiling courses offering a variety of qualifications to people looking to enter the industry," explains Don Marinelli, executive producer, ETC. "It is essential that course design, content and teaching methods are focused on the same goal – developing a pipeline of highly qualified and motivated young people who can immediately contribute to the creativity and growth of the Industry."

Conference sessions will cover best practices for core curriculum courses, panels by industry professionals discussing their human resource requirements, teaching methodologies that enhance student performance, opportunities for research collaboration, guidance on helping students manage the transition from college to working in a studio, starting a university game development program and how to increase class diversity.

The Game Education Summit is open to educators, students and industry professionals.

"Gaming is the pervasive entertainment, instructional and experiential medium of the 21st Century," says Game Path Director Mark Chuberka. "After kicking off the first Game Education Summit at SMU's Guildhall, we are delighted to be working with Carnegie Mellon on a compelling agenda for our second annual conference. We see this gathering as a critical element, fostering the development of university-trained game professionals."

Game Path is an independent conference and trade show management company focused exclusively on producing high quality, high value professional events for the video game industry. Game Path events deliver critical information that companies and professional need to succeed and grow and provide outstanding opportunities for development of technical and management skills, career development and networking.