Aggies working at Pixar help star students enrolled in Texas A&M’s visualization program to complete their degrees and move on to rewarding careers.
By Alice Bassett, Texas A&M Foundation
At the Texas A&M Visualization Laboratory, commonly referred to as the VizLab, students are on the cutting edge of graphic design and animation. Major corporations such as Sony, Industrial Light & Magic, and Pixar invest heavily in this program, offering scholarships and jobs to successful students. "We recruit there sometimes twice a year," says Pixar recruiter Tricia Green. "They have their demo reels [videos of their student work] really well put together when they apply, and they already know a lot of the tools, so there is a small ramp-up time."
Rodrigo Huerta ’08in the VizLab at
Texas A&M
More than 30 graduates of the A&M VizLab work in the technical-arts departments at Pixar that create the studio's films. Each year, two VizLab graduate students receive Pixar Aggie Scholarships based on their creative work. The Pixar Aggie Scholarship was established by Aggie Pixar employees who funded it by pooling donations and taking advantage of Pixar’s corporate matching.
A Pixar Aggie Scholarship made a big difference to Rodrigo Huerta ’08, a visualization science graduate student in the College of Architecture. "My scholarships have been extremely beneficial for me because my family is low-income. While they give me their love and support, the latter usually means of couple of homemade sandwiches for the road." Huerta also received the Sony Imagework’s IPAX Scholarship and is on a Graduate Diversity Fellowship.
Many corporations and foundations have invested in the next generation of employees by funding scholarships and graduate fellowships at Texas A&M.These gifts often benefit students planning careers in their industry. If you want to create a scholarship through your corporation or foundation, contact Al Pulliam ’87 at (800)392-3310 or
fund-a-scholarship@tamu.edu.
Former students of the A&M visualization department receive a plaque in recognition of their contribution to the Pixar Aggie Scholarship at Pixar Animation Studios in Emeryville, California in 2005.