Sheridan College has formed a $30-million partnership with major technological leaders Alias/Wavefront, ibm and Silicon Graphics to create the Sheridan Centre for Animation and Emerging Technologies.

Also involved in the project is the Government of Ontario, which announced in April 1997 that the province would give the college up to $12 million if the private sector could match the funding.

Alias/Wavefront will be contributing 100 seats of software, while sgi’s investment is a mix of both software and hardware. Sheridan students will have access to sgi’s research, development and marketing information. ibm is committed to developing shared-strategies relationships and resources with the school.

Aside from animation, the new facility will accommodate programs in telecommunications management, media arts, graphic design, computer graphics and journalism, including print, broadcast, new media and the Internet.

The new facility, which will be located on the Oakville, Ont. college’s Trafalgar Road campus, will open its doors in September 2000 and is expected to accommodate 1,600 students studying full-time over a 12-month period, along with associated full-time, part-time and visiting faculty.

Sheridan president Sheldon Levy has requested that the federal government recognize Sheridan College as the national school of animation.