About
The Massachusetts Digital Games Institute (MassDigi) is the center for entrepreneurship, academic cooperation and economic development across the Massachusetts games ecosystem.
MassDigi was conceptualized in 2010 and established at Becker College in 2011 after a rigorous planning process. Based at WPI since 2021, MassDigi is the result of creative collaboration among academia, state government and industry, aimed at fostering the growth of the innovation economy in Massachusetts.
Since starting up, MassDigi has launched several initiatives that support entrepreneurship and strengthen the talent pipeline between higher education and the game industry. Specific initiatives include the Summer Innovation Program and the Game Challenge – both of which bring student teams and industry professionals from across the region together to work on creative projects in a real game development environment. Numerous other initiatives have also been created including DigiStudio and Mentoring on Demand. From 2011 to 2021, MassDigi was a US Department of Commerce Economic Development Administration (EDA) University Center.
Timothy Loew is Executive Director of MassDigi at WPI. Prior to cofounding and starting up MassDigi, Loew, an experienced administrator, held senior positions in business, development and academic planning at Becker College. Before Becker, he worked in financial services and as an independent management consultant to clients in the technology sector. He serves on various boards including New England Public Media, Worcester Cultural Coalition and the National Esports Collegiate Conference and is a past appointed member of the MA Creative Economy Council. He is also a founding member of Wire Group. Find him on: LinkedIn, Twitter
Monty Sharma is Managing Director of MassDigi at WPI. Prior to joining MassDigi, Sharma, a game industry and technology professional, was co-founder and general manager of Vivox, a voice chat service for games with key relationships to EA, Sony, Ubisoft, Nexon, Bigpoint and many others. Vivox was acquired by Unity in 2019. Before Vivox, he held senior positions at Jamcracker, Novell and MT&T. He advises a number of companies and is a veteran MassChallenge and MIT Sandbox mentor. Find him on: LinkedIn, Twitter
Walt Yarbrough is the Producer of MassDigi’s Summer Innovation Program. Yarbrough, a professor of practice at WPI and a past digital fellow at Becker College, has worked at Mythic Entertainment, EA, Turbine and Quick Hit. Find him on: LinkedIn
MassDiGI Advisory Board Members include: Jeff Goodsill, consultant, OtherSide Entertainment; Craig Alexander, SVP of Production & Digital Studio for Global Product, Pearson; Dave McCool, President & CEO, Muzzy Lane Software; Helena Fruscio Altsman, Assistant Secretary, MA EOHED; Pat Larkin, Director, The Innovation Institute at MassTech Collaborative; President Robert Johnson, PhD, WNEU; Michael Cavaretta, Attorney, MBBP; Peter Blacklow, Partner, Boston Seed Capital; Jen MacLean, GM, Creator Partnerships, Xbox and former Executive Director, IGDA; Ryan Canuel, Founder & CEO, Petricore; Nikita Virani, former CEO, Wizdy; Sarah Zaidan, PhD, Assistant Professor, Emerson College; Jean King, PhD, Dean, WPI; Walter Somol, Business Development, Epic Games and Gordon Bellamy, Visiting Scholar, USC. Timothy Loew, Executive Director, MassDiGI and Monty Sharma, Managing Director, MassDigi are ex-officio Advisory Board members.
- Click here to download and read “Getting in the Game: A Plan to Establish the Massachusetts Digital Games Institute” as presented on Apr. 26, 2011.
- Click here to download and read MassDigi’s “2012 Annual Report” as presented on Sept. 13, 2012.
- Click here to download and read MassDigi’s “2013 Annual Report” as presented on Sept. 12, 2013.
- Click here to download and read MassDigi’s “2014 Annual Report” as presented on Sept. 30, 2014.
- Click here to download and read MassDigi’s “2015 Annual Report” as presented on Oct. 5, 2015.
- Click here to download and read MassDigi’s “2016 Annual Report” as presented on Oct. 28, 2016.
- Click here to download and read MassDigi’s “2017 Annual Report” as presented on Oct. 30, 2017.
- Click here to download and read MassDigi’s “2018 Annual Report” as presented on Oct. 31, 2018.
- Beginning in 2019, a brief annual statement can be requested by email.
