VIZ overview

The advent of high technology information, imaging, and media systems has fostered a modern renaissance in visualization. During the European Renaissance, many of the period's great painters were not only artists, but also scientists, architects, and engineers.

Today's visualizers need skills spanning these older disciplines as well as several new ones, such as computer science, video technology, and psychology. In fact, the range of skills is so broad that no one person can truly master them all, and the solitary genius has been replaced by the collaborative team. Strong participants on such teams have both expertise in a specialty area and the broad background necessary for effective collaboration with other team members.

The Texas A&M University Visualization Laboratory was established in 1988. The academic program started one year later. The Visualization Laboratory and Visualization Sciences academic program were created in response to clear indications that digital visualization was going to play a highly important role in digital communication.

The Master of Science in Visualization Sciences and the Architecture Ph.D. programs are two of four graduate programs offered by the Texas A&M Department of Architecture. The Visualization Laboratory is one of seven laboratories and centers within the Texas A&M College of Architecture.

The Masters of Science in Visualization Sciences is designed to prepare students for a range of long-term careers in visualization. The program helps students develop the focused expertise and broad foundation knowledge needed in this rapidly developing field. The program's core curriculum is designed to give all students a basic grasp of the artistic, scientific, cognitive, and technical foundations of the discipline. Beyond this broad training, the program requires students to develop a strong focus area of advanced expertise, and to complete a research thesis in this focus area.

The doctoral program in Architecture focuses primarily on research and the development and dissemination of new knowledge. The Ph.D. program aims to create new knowledge and advance the state of the art in specific fields, including visualization, and to prepare students for careers in research and teaching.

Visualization Sciences inquiries should be directed to:

Prof. Frederic I. Parke,
Visualization Sciences Program Coordinator
College of Architecture
3137 TAMU
Texas A&M University
College Station, Texas 77843-3137
tel. 979.845.3465