SAN MARCOS, Texas (December 9, 2022) – Texas State’s University Libraries (UL) is pleased to announce the recipient of its first Unity Technologies Scholar is José Chavez, who earned a Master of Science in computer science in December 2022. The Unity Educator in Immersive Technology program is a part of a co-curricular learning opportunity offered by the UL’s Alkek One technology engagement division as part of its micro-credentialing program. Chavez was selected for the award after having completed UL’s seven-week Unity XR Development course and winning a project competition that demonstrated his mastery of creating in the virtual reality (VR) environment using Unity technology.
“I’d always been skeptical about virtual reality, but I did some research and at the end of the day, I enjoyed what I discovered about it, so I signed up to take the course,” said Chavez, who learned of the program through an email from his graduate advisor. “I didn’t know that an opportunity like that was available to students for free. At first, I didn’t believe it. I thought there was a catch, so I re-read the email a couple of times, but then I signed up and I’m glad I did.”
The program is funded by a $125,000 Unity Social Impact grant from Unity Technologies, a pre-eminent company for XR development. The award created the Alkek One Unity Technologies Scholarship at Texas State. These Unity grants are designed to foster a diverse population of creators that are empowered to develop VR products that have positive and meaningful impacts on their communities and the planet.
The course is taught by the library’s Emerging Technologies Supervisor, Dr. Khoi Nguyen. The selected student agrees to help teach the next group of students so they not only learn the skill, they also learn how to inspire and teach it to others.
“From the beginning, I was impressed by José’s dedication and commitment to learning this technology,” said Nguyen. “His project was created from scratch and was impressively sophisticated for someone who had just learned how to develop programs using this technology.”
A devoted gamer, Chavez created a multi-level shooting range immersive VR experience that responds to sound and motion with targets and audio feedback.
Chavez currently works for a charter school in Austin and will be moving into a new position in January as a data analyst. He believes his career will evolve and that VR development is in his future.
“I’m definitely going to continue gaining more skills in this,” Chavez said. I’m hoping it can go from a hobby to a career.”
A first-gen student, Chavez is proud to be a strong advocate for computer science study among the mostly Hispanic students at his charter school. He is also excited to donate his time next semester to instruction of undergraduates in this same Unity XR micro-credentialing course with an emphasis on creating immersive stories about first generation Latinx student experiences at Texas State University.
“One of the aims of these social impact grants is to attract underrepresented populations to the computer science field,” said Nguyen. “As a Hispanic student, José can inspire others and show them that there are opportunities in VR development that are worth exploring.”
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This article was contributed by Debbie Pitts, University Libraries Marketing and Communications Coordinator