New K-State Salina immersive systems design degree to feature projects with entertainment leader

K-State Salina now offers a one-of-a-kind bachelor's degree in immersive systems design that allows students to revolutionize how we experience the world around us and learn how to use data to simulate real-world environments. | Download this photo.

By K‑State Salina Marketing

 

Friday, Feb. 28, 2025

 

SALINA — As a leader in the evolving world of technology, Kansas State University Salina is ushering in a new cutting-edge bachelor's degree program in immersive systems design, where students will work side-by-side with professionals from Pure Imagination Labs.

The new immersive systems design degree combines the technology of digital design, human-computer interaction, virtual and augmented reality, 3D, and other intelligent computing systems technologies, allowing students to revolutionize how people experience the world and collaborate with others through interactions with technology.

Courses will be taught in a hyflex model, meaning students can attend class at the K-State Salina campus or online through a cyber classroom kit, where learning can happen anywhere in the world with a high-speed internet connection.

This degree will provide students with the skills needed to craft mesmerizing 3D virtual worlds, bring together the digital and physical worlds seamlessly with cyber-physical systems, and build immersive apps and design systems that use data to simulate real-world environments. This technology will influence most industries and professionals in areas such as aerospace, education, health care, advanced manufacturing and entertainment as they revolutionize how tasks and jobs are performed.

The immersive systems design bachelor's degree will also feature a unique partnership offered only through K-State Salina. Pure Imagination Studios, an award-winning independent entertainment studio with work-for-hire clients including DreamWorks, FOX, Marvel Entertainment and more, is co-locating to Salina, Kansas.

A subsidiary of Pure Imagination Studios, Pure Imagination Labs will be housed at the new K-AIRES Center, which broke ground last year on the K-State Salina campus. With the co-location of this technology entertainment giant, K-State Salina students in the immersive systems design degree will exclusively work alongside Pure Imagination employees, and together, they will embark on creating original works in the realms of gaming, media and interactive experience, turning imagination into reality.

"Students who study the new immersive systems design bachelor's degree will really have an advantage when it comes time to building a career," said Michael Oetken, assistant professor and graduate faculty in immersive systems design and director of K-AIRES. "Not only will students learn how to design amazing virtual and augmented reality experiences, but they will also work alongside Pure Imagination Labs' creative professionals providing an opportunity to network and showcase their skills. This collaboration is one-of-a-kind, found nowhere else in the country when it comes to the entertainment technology industry."

Graduates of the immersive systems design bachelor's degree will learn skills applicable to diverse industries, setting them up for success in careers such as lead gameplay engineer, animator or director, 3D effects artist, immersive content creator and more.

"As the most technically progressive campus at K-State, K-State Salina is a unique destination campus, offering a truly unique learning experience through the latest technologies," said Alysia Starkey, K-State Salina CEO and dean. "The new bachelor's degree in immersive systems design shows that our campus is not only in tune with where technology is headed but also how our connections to industry are guiding where the skills are needed to advance the next generation. Our graduates of this degree will enter an in-demand career field that is ushering forward the latest and greatest in technology advancements."

Learn more about this degree at the immersive systems design website. K-State Salina is now accepting applications for the immersive systems design degree, and the first classes begin in the fall of 2025.

 

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