There’s no secret train platform to get there; in fact, a sign off of Highway 237 tells you exactly where to find it. Because, it seems, Cogswell Polytechnical College really is the “digital Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.” But in the place of wands, students become masters of the computer.
Marking its 125th anniversary this year, one of Sunnyvale’s best-kept secrets is really just starting to shine.
Over the span of more than a century, the college has evolved into a four-year bachelor of arts and science undergraduate institution in digital arts, digital content, digital entertainment engineering and entrepreneurial fields and fire science.
While the name may sound like something out of The Jetsons, it actually belongs to the founder, Dr. Henry D. Cogswell, who founded the college in 1887 as a coeducational vocational high school in San Francisco.
The school became a four-year college in the 1970s and moved to Cupertino in 1985, before settling into its current location in Sunnyvale in 1995.
The college is constantly evolving, not unlike the degrees in which it now specializes. Visitors who enter the campus’ main lobby will be greeted by lifelike sculptures of imagined video game characters. A signed Halo poster hangs next to Pixar posters, not to mention posters of the films the students have made.
Students can choose to hang out in the campus cafe or video game lounge that boasts various game consoles. In the Dragon’s Den, students host gaming tournaments or film screenings and occasionally will have jam sessions inside the campus’ recording studios for fun. The Game Club offers such challenges as make a game in a month or in a day.
This, of course, is all taking place in between the normal curriculum, taught by instructors coming directly from the industry.
Assistant professor Albert Chen spent 12 years in the professional video game development scene before coming to Cogswell. He has worked for Electronic Arts, LucasArts and Factor Five.
“We are really preparing students to understand the changing landscape that is the hallmark of the game industry and really identify opportunities not only locally, nationally but also globally,” Chen said. “One option is to be an employee; another option is to strike it on their own and really see what they can come up with, especially since we’re living in the heart of Silicon Valley. It just makes sense. Startup is in the water, really.”
A mutual energy between the instructors and students is very apparent as one walks through the halls.
Entrepreneurship professor Bret Sweet said one of the things he enjoys most and one of the things that really sets the school apart is the passion both teachers and students have for the subject matter. For example, instead of sporting school colors at a rally, students dress up as the Avengers the week the movie comes out or will don a Superman shirt under their graduation robes.
“Not a lot of places have that,” Sweet said. “In a lot of ways, I refer to this school as the ‘digital Hogwarts.’ Our students naturally come with a curiosity. They’re quiet but they wear their hearts on their sleeves, and we as teachers really want to work with that. They’re extremely passionate.”
“Here, students know why they’re here,” added chancellor Chuck House.
For House, what really sets the school apart is the focus on the fundamentals. Before students dive into the digital arts classes, they first work on drawing the images and sculpting characters out of molding clay. While students eventually get to use the same computer programs that can be found at Pixar or DreamWorks, House said it’s the math behind those programs that is vital to understand.
“The assertion is it’s a lot easier to teach math to an artist than art to a mathematician,” House said. “A lot of schools will focus on the specific tool and say that’s important. But if students want to change companies, they need to know the principles behind it.”
With a student to faculty ratio of 7 to 1, students are able to do just that.
“We’ll never be a 400-seat lecture hall,” said Bonnie Phelps, dean of institutional advancement. “The focus here is practical, hands-on education. You’re going to be doing lots of projects while you’re here.”
Even the general education courses cater to the students’ needs. An English class may focus on how to write a script or screenplay to help with the student’s storyboard for a movie. History is actually history of animation, in which students analyze the civilizations in Battlestar Galactica.
Programs like Project X, which is only available at Cogswell, take students as close to the industry experience as possible.
Placed in a studio environment, participants have the opportunity to integrate all the disciplines of computer graphics production, including animation, modeling, texturing, effects, rigging, lighting, rendering, compositing and production management.
“It is a lot more like an industry internship for the students while they’re still here,” said Dave Perry, a digital arts professor. “They’re putting in 30 hours or more a week on the project doing industry-quality work. Cogswell also has the longest-running computer graphics degree program in the Bay Area.”
An estimated 93 percent of participants of Project X get a job in the industry, but entry is by invitation only.
“The hours are grueling, aesthetics standards are very demanding and we treat the artists like professionals and not students,” said Michael Huber, director of the Project X course. “This total immersion creates an environment conducive to quality, camaraderie and the highest production value. We believe it’s the best way to learn.”
Students have made two films since the program was founded. The latest, Worlds Apart, is about a young family living on a farm in Central California. Their story is set against the backdrop of a possible environmental disaster. The eight-minute film has been out a year and has already scooped up 23 awards throughout the country.
Cogswell alumni have gone on to work at Adobe, Apple, Cisco, Disney, DreamWorks, Electronic Arts, Google, Hewlett-Packard, LucasArts/Lucasfilm, Microsoft and Sony, just to name a few. Not to mention several alumni who have started their own businesses, such as Tobiah Marks, the 25-year-old co-founder of the game design company Yonbonja!
Marks helped create Blast Monkeys, which 15 months later has more than 10 million downloads. Over the summer of 2011 it was named the No. 1 free Android game.
“My experiences at Cogswell really helped me learn how to create/manage a project, stay within scope and manage my time,” Marks said in a statement. “All sorts of things that are so hard to learn from just reading a book and lectures really prepared me for my career.”
Aaron Miner of Sunnyvale agreed. Currently in his second year, the 26-year-old already has his own game design business, Studio Kenaz, and is working with his first client this year. He attributes it to the entrepreneurship courses he took at the college.
“The combination of animation and business was a huge gap in my knowledge, so I decided to take the plunge and sign up,” Miner said. “I don’t think I would have gotten my studio up and running as quickly or as well if not for entrepreneurship courses. They gave me a lot of resources all in one place.”
The college is planning to take the entrepreneurship bachelor’s program to the next level this fall by being the first college to offer a master’s program that combines creative and business fields.
“We’re very proud of what Aaron is doing, and we hope that the number of students doing this grows as the program grows,” said Debby Hindus, executive director of entrepreneur programs. “We believe in learning by doing.”
Davain Martinez, 19, of San Jose said the high expectations and vast experience of the instructors is what pushes students to bring their best to the table.
“My mentors here at this school have opened my eyes to how I should be looking at game design,” Martinez said. “They push you to give 120 percent each day. You have to give your best, otherwise you get behind, because this is a very, very competitive industry.”
Cogswell Polytechnical College will host an open house on June 16 at its campus, 1175 Bordeaux Drive, in Sunnyvale. For more information visit www.cogswell.edu/index.php or call 800.264.7955.
