It is time for students to roll up their sleeves and get ready for an exciting day, as AnimationXpress brings its second edition of Eduspark Summit and Awards.
This education-based summit which is targeted at education institutes, creative industry and students looking to make a career in this industry, will be held on-ground at Sheila Gopal Raheja Auditorium in Bandra, Mumbai on 24 June. With this year’s theme “Education: Entering a Golden Age,” the summit aims to understand the changing educational scenario with the new education policy, advent of AI, other technological innovations, evolved mindsets and acceptance of new career options in the world. Convened to bridge the gap between the education sector and the creative industry, the summit aims to bring the stalwarts of both these industries under one roof, and generate ideas for the paths ahead.
The summit aims to be the largest gathering of the creative education ecosystem under one roof. A promising line-up of speakers and delegates interspersed with an interesting mix of sessions brings in the prospect of excellent knowledge sharing that you would not want to miss out on.
EduSpark 2023 is convened with the valuable insights of a fabulous advisory board consisting of eminent industry leaders: FICCI AVGC Forum chairman and Punnaryug Artvision founder Ashish Kulkarni; Adjunct Professor- IDC school of Design, IIT Bombay & Immersive Learning Chair- Srishti Manipal Institute of Art Design and Technology Nina Sabnani; Whistling Woods International vice president & business head and chief technology officer & head of emerging media Chaitanya Chinchlikar; Toonz Media Group CEO P Jayakumar; Strategic Adviser & Professor- Daffodil International University, Dhaka, Executive Director- International Online University Dubai Secretary- Global Media Education Council Prof Ujjwal K Chowdhury; Sharda University, Greater Noida School of Media, Film & Entertainment dean Ritu S. Sood; Asian Institute of Design, Bangalore director of academics Bhaskar Nagendra; Arumugam & Consultants Founder Punitha Arumugam and Asifa India president, Arena Animation – Geeta Bhawan partner & Horizon Institute of Design founder Sanjay Khimesara.
The keynote address will be delivered by National Educational Technology Forum (NETF) chairman Dr Anil Sahasrabudhe. It would be followed by a conversation between Dr Sahasrabudhe, Punnaryug Artvision founder and AVGC Forum, FICCI chairman Ashish Kulkarni and Whistling Woods International (WWI) vice president & business head, CTO & emerging media head Chaitanya Chinchlikar. Check the agenda of the day here: https://www.animationxpress.com/eduspark/images/agenda.pdf
The summit has an exciting line-up of speakers from renowned institutions like MIT Institute of Design, Aptech, FTII, Symbiosis, Whistling Woods International, Hero Vired, Silica Institute and Edge Metaversity. Some prolific speakers for this edition include 88 Pictures’ Aby John, Vaanarsena Studios’ Vivek Ram, Amar Chitra Katha’s Priti Vyas, phantomFX’s Bejoy Arputharaj, Inteltie Technologies’ Utpal Chakraborty; Delhi Board Of School Education CEO and Directorate Of Education Govt Of NCT of Delhi regional director K.S. Upadhyay; and others.
Check all the speakers here: https://www.animationxpress.com/eduspark/index.html#speakers
EduSpark runs in two different tracks this year – the Academia track and the Pro track.
The Eduspark Academia is aimed at industry and institution leaders and will feature panels on topics such as “M&E Education in the Era of AI,” “Nurturing Artistic Talent” and “Building Blocks of Getting it Right at Primary and Secondary Levels.” These sessions will bring top institute heads and industry leaders together on a platform to discuss the future of education, vocational training, importance of creativity and ways to make budding artists industry ready.
The Eduspark Pro is aimed at students and will feature panels on “New Avenues for the Artistic Community,” “Getting the Ideal Mix of Creative and Business” and a session on “Rise of Open Source Culture.” The students will witness some enriching discussion and go home with valuable career tips.
To boost creativity and encourage healthy competition, EduSpark will see three contests during the day: Digital Painting, Flip Book Making and Mobile Filmmaking. Students need to pre-register for the competition here: https://animationxpress.com/eduspark/competition/registration.php
One of the exciting highlights of this year’s summit is the Live Student Showreel Review by Industry Professionals. During this segment, two selected student showreels from each of animation, VFX and game design categories will be showcased and reviewed live by industry experts in front of the audience. This unique opportunity will provide valuable insights to the students regarding how their work is evaluated when they apply for jobs in the animation, VFX, and gaming sectors.
The experts who will review the showreels include Vaibhav More Films founder & director Vaibhav More, 88 Pictures co-founder and chief operating officer Aby John, Framestore India CG supervisor for film and episodic Prashant Nair, philmCGI VFX compositing supervisor Om Kangone, Reliance Games senior vice president Ninad Chhaya, Storypix founder & CEO Vaibhav Chavan and GodSpeed Games lead game designer Ganesh Shukla.
The summit will be followed by the highly anticipated EduSpark Awards which will honour and recognise the changemakers who have contributed towards moulding the education system in the fields of animation, VFX, gaming, esports, Web3 and e-learning. The entries for the awards are judged by stalwarts like Ashish Kulkarni, Anil NM Wanvari, Sekhar Mukherjee, Sandeep Sharma, Nina Sabnani and Dhimant Vyas. Check the jury member details here: https://www.animationxpress.com/eduspark/awards/index.html
The associate partners for EduSpark 2023 are Wacom and ITM Institute of Design & Media; skill partners are MAAC and Arena Animation; career guidance partner is Creative Multimedia; gaming partner is Backstage Pass Institute of Gaming and Technology. The support partners are TCS iON, Toonz Media Group, Prime Focus Academy of Media and Entertainment Studies, P. A. Inamdar College of Visual Effects, Design & Art, Whistling Woods International, Starblast Animation, Huion; community connect partners are Media & Entertainment Skills Council, Asifa India and Women In Animation; and festival partner is DigiCon 6 Asia.
The second edition of EduSpark Summit & Awards welcomes creative professionals, industry leaders, educationists and aspiring artists to witness a day full of knowledge-sharing and conversations that would help shape the future of the education and creative industry.
Register for free here: https://animationxpress.com/eduspark/registration/registration.php
