The team at Lighthouse spoke to John De Margheriti the founder and chairman of the Academy of Interactive Entertainment (AIE) to discover the inspiring story behind the AIE's accidental beginnings and how it has grown to become Australia's most awarded 3D animation, game design and visual FX educator.
The AIE was originally a for-profit business unit of a company called Micro Forté.
Micro Forté is a video games developer, formed in 1985 by a group of university students who came together to develop video games.
"My friend and I started making video games together as a hobby while at University," says John.
"We made games for ourselves, playing each other's games for fun as there was no market at the time to sell them."
"Then while studying at UNSW, I was working at a computer store and someone came into the store and asked whether I knew anyone who makes video games, and I said 'yes my friend and I do'."
"That led us to getting a contract to make a game as the official America's Cup sailing game".
Believing they were all going to become millionaires overnight, John decided to drop out of University.
"I dropped my engineering degree and decided to set up the company Micro Forté. My friends did the smart thing and finished their degrees, but once they were finished we got started on making the video game".
The group of friends didn't realise it at the time, but they were witnessing the birth of the video gaming industry. All of the larger companies around today were start-ups then, so they really got to see the American video game industry grow and the stages of development it went through. They later applied this to their own business.
Designed by Tucson Bagley, Advanced Diploma of Professional Game Development - specialising in Game Art
One problem they found in growing Micro Forté was a lack of talent.
"We decided to work with the Canberra Institute of Technology (CIT) on the basis that they would run a course trialling ten people and we would be able to access that talent. What happened though was the companies within the small gaming industry in Australia heard about the course and quickly hired the people before we could.
"Out of this experience, we decided to create an institution that was a not-for-profit and train more people not just for us but for others as well, and that's how the Academy got started".
According to John they weren't planning to become educators, it was something born out of necessity.
"Going down the not-for-profit path led us to other doors that needed to be opened; there was no industry conference or association so we created an association and conference and next thing we knew we had created the entire building blocks of the industry," says John.
"Having spent 14 years watching the building of the industry in America, it was very easy for us to recreate the same industry in Australia".
John points out that some tertiary education providers in Australia have adopted a 'pump and dump' approach. The focus is on taking in students, taking their money and pumping them out. He believes there should be greater focus on job creation and in helping to fund students to create their own start-ups businesses.
In contrast, when you compare the Australian model to the US model of tertiary education, it's very different.
John points out that in the US, you can't 
An video game environment created by Nicholas Williams, Advanced Diploma of Professional Game Development - specialising in Game Artjust pump students out. There are rules and regulations where you're measured as an institution by whether your students gain employment and if they don't, you will lose your licence. John says that while there are some educators who do exploit this model, fundamentally there is an obligation imposed on the education entity to get their students a job. This doesn't exist in Australia and he believes this is something we need to move towards.
"At AIE we fundamentally believe that education and job creation must be aligned."
"As a not-for-profit, we have a moral responsibility to utilise our surpluses to create jobs, and if we can't place new jobs, to help start new businesses. If we don't do this, where would our society go? We will see greater youth unemployment".
John points out the irony in the situation. AIE is a not-for-profit that's had very little financial support from the government– not because the government hasn't given it, they just haven't asked for it – and yet it's achieved all of these things for improving the video gaming industry and job creation. Then you have the larger institutions that are federally funded but some don't focus on this.
Maybe if they did change their approach, they could do what AIE does but only 100 times better - food for thought?
Take part in a 'Future of Work' Discussion!
If you want to see a video interview with John on the "Future of Work" and take part in a discussion about the role of education in job creation and the changing nature of business, Lighthouse will be hosting a peer discussion group on the Friday 27 February at 10:00am. Entry is free, but booking is essential.
Click here to register.
About Lighthouse Business Innovation Centre
Lighthouse has a strong track record of supporting entrepreneurs, researchers and inventers on the path from concept to commercialisation. Since July 2008, Lighthouse has worked with over 990 distinct enterprises and provided group and peer based services to over 3400 enterprises and individuals. For over five years Lighthouse has successfully delivered business advice, education, mentorship and networking opportunities to help these businesses commercialise their ideas and grow their companies. Lighthouse also delivers programs such as the ACT Microcredit Program for the ACT Government. Visit www.lighthouseinnovation.com.au for more information.
