David Schwartz Headshot

David Schwartz

Director of the School of Interactive Games and Media

School of Interactive Games and Media
Golisano College of Computing and Information Sciences

Office Hours
Please contact me via email to set an appointment.
Office Location
Office Mailing Address
School of Interactive Games and Media, GCCIS, GOL 2145, 152 Lomb Memorial Drive, Rochester NY 14623

David Schwartz

Director of the School of Interactive Games and Media

School of Interactive Games and Media
Golisano College of Computing and Information Sciences

Education

BS, MS, Ph.D., University at Buffalo

Bio

David I. Schwartz, Ph.D. (he/him/his) has worked in the academic field of game design and development since 2001 since founding the Game Design Initiative at Cornell University. In 2007, Schwartz moved to the Rochester Institute of Technology as part of the game design and development faculty who formed the School of Interactive Games and Media (IGM) in 2011. After receiving tenure in 2011, he became IGM's Director in 2015. His current research focuses on gamification of cybersecurity, resilience games, geogames, digital twins, and physically-based animation.


Areas of Expertise

Select Scholarship

Published Conference Proceedings
Schwartz, David I. "Making Games to Teach Physics and Mechanics." Proceedings of the Middle Atlantic ASEE Section Spring 2021 Conference. Ed. Pritpal Singh. Villanova, PA: ASEE, 2021. Web.
Peng, Chao, et al. "Visualization for Spectators in Cybersecurity Competitions." Proceedings of the VizSec 2020, 17th IEEE Symposium on Visualization for Cyber Security. Ed. Rosa Romero Gómez. https://vizsec.org/vizsec2020/, US: IEEE, 2020. Web.
Tomaszewski, Brian and David I. Schwartz. "Critical Spatial Thinking and Serious Geogames: A Position." Proceedings of the AGILE 2017 Workshop on Geogames and Geoplay. Ed. Christoph Schlieder. Wageningen, Netherlands: GEO-C, 2017. Web.
Pan, Yin, Sumita Mishra, and David I. Schwartz. "Gamifying Cybersecurity Course Content for Entry Level Students." Proceedings of the Proceedings of the 2017 ACM SIGCSE Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education. Ed. Michael E Caspersen, et al. Seattle, WA: ACM, 2017. Web.
Tomaszewski, Brian, David I. Schwartz, and Jorg Szarzynski. "Crisis Response Serious Spatial Thinking Games: Spatial Think Aloud Study Results." Proceedings of the ISCRAM 2016 Conference Proceedings — 13th International Conference on Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management. Ed. A. Tapia, et al. Rio de Janeiro, Brasil: ISCRAM, 2016. Print.
Pan, Yin, Schwartz, David I., and Mishra, Sumita. "Gamified Digital Forensic Course Modules for Undergraduates." Proceedings of the Proc. of the 5th IEEE Integrated STEM Education Conference. Ed. Susan Donohue and Ashutosh Dutta. Princeton, NJ: n.p., 2015. Web.
Critelli, Matt, David I. Schwartz, and Steven Gold. "Serious Social Games: Designing a Business Simulation Game." Proceedings of the Games Innovation Conference (IGIC). Ed. Al Biles. Rochester, NY: IEEE, 2012. Web.
Pan, Yin, et al. "Game-based Forensics Course For First Year Students." Proceedings of the SIGITE 12, Proceedings of the 13th annual conference on David I. Schwartz Curriculum Vitae p. 3 of 20 Information technology education. Ed. ACM. NY, NY: ACM, 2012. Web.
Book Chapter
Tomaszewski, Brian, et al. "GIS and Serious Games." Comprehensive Geographic Information Systems. Ed. T.J. Cova and M.-H. Tsou. Atlanta, GA: Elsevier, 2018. 369-383. Print.
Selinger, Evan, et al. "Using Sustainability Games to Elicit Moral Hypotheses From Scientists and Engineers." Rethinking Climate Change Research: Clean-Technology, Culture, and Communication. Ed. Jespersen Per Homann, Soren Riis, and Pernille Almlund. London, UK: Ashgate, 2012. 117-139. Print.
Schwartz, David I. and Jessica Bayliss. "The Ethics of Reverse Engineering of Game Technology." Designing Games for Ethics: Models, Techniques and Frameworks. Ed. Karen Schrier. : IGI Global, 2011. 110-127. Print.
Schwartz, David I. and Jessica Bayliss. "Unifying Instructional and Game Design." Handbook of Research on Improving Learning and Motivation through Educational Games. Ed. Patrick Felicia. Hershey, PA: IGI Global, 2011. 192-214. Print.
Published Game, Application or Software
Schwartz, David I., Yin Pan, and Sumita Mishra. IPAR. Game. RIT and NSF. 2017.
Schwartz, David I., et al. StoreWorld. Game. Facebook. 2012.
Invited Article/Publication
Pan, Yin, et al. "Gamifying Cybersecurity Modules for Entry Level Students." CISSE 21st Colloquium. (2016). Web.
Invited Keynote/Presentation
Schwartz, David I. "Marketing Your Games." Rochester Sci-Fi Convention. Rochester Sci-Fi Convention. Rochester, NY. 22 Sep. 2012. Guest Lecture.
Schwartz, David I. "Breaking Into The Game Industry." Videogame Mania. The National Museum of Play. The National Museum of Play, Rochester, NY. 5 Nov. 2011. Lecture.
Schwartz, David I. "Breaking Into The Game Industry." Rochester Sci-Fi/Anime Convention. Rochester Sci-Fi/Anime Convention. Rochester Sci-Fi/Anime Convention, Rochester, NY. 25 Sep. 2011. Guest Lecture.
Journal Paper
Schwartz, David I. "Teaching Students to Make Alternative Game Controllers." Journal of Game Design and Development Education. (2011): 18-24. Web.
Published Article
Ey, M., J. Pietruch, and D. I. Schwartz. “Oh-No! Banjo.” A Case Study in Alternative Game Controllers, Proceedings of Future Play 2010, 2010. 215-218. Print. É  *

Currently Teaching

IGME-750
3 Credits
This course will provide students with theory and practical skills in game engine design topic areas such as understanding the graphics pipeline as it influences engine design, hardware principles and the relationship to game engine construction, mathematical principles involved in game engine design, scene graph construction and maintenance, texture and materials management, collision systems, physics systems, particle systems, and control systems. Furthermore, this course will examine software and toolsets that assist game engine designers in their tasks. Students will be expected to design and implement a game engine in teams as well as properly document their design and development strategy.
IGME-797
3 Credits
This course examines current topics in Game Development. Specific course details (such as prerequisites, course topics, format, learning outcomes, assessment methods, and resource needs) will be determined by the faculty member(s) who propose a specific topics course in this area.
IGME-799
1 - 6 Credits
The student will work independently under the supervision of a faculty adviser on a topic not covered in other courses.

In the News

  • February 14, 2023

    college student wearing a virtual reality headset.

    RIT named among top 5 game design schools in the country

    RIT has again been ranked as one of the top game design universities in the nation. RIT was named No. 5 on the Animation Career Review list of Top 50 Game Design Schools and Colleges in the U.S. and No. 2 in New York state.

  • March 12, 2019

    Computer mouse, Xbox controller and headphones.

    RIT video game design programs again ranked among the best

    RIT again boasts some of the top programs in the world to study game design, according to the latest international rankings from The Princeton Review. RIT’s game design and development program was ranked eighth at the undergraduate level and seventh at the graduate level on the 2019 list.