Members of F.I.R.E. – the Full Sail Institute for Research in Entertainment – were in Pensacola, Florida last month to take part in the commissioning of Ambition, the simulated training aircraft carrier at the National Flight Academy. A team of Full Sail faculty members and students from F.I.R.E. spent the last year developing the digital and animated storytelling assets behind Ambition's flight simulation programs.

Housed inside the National Flight Academy, Ambition is a theme-park style "think tank" for students in grades 7-12. The landlocked aircraft carrier is full of interactive exhibits and simulation games aimed to increase science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) skills. Students can attend immersive three- or five-day AIR (Aviation in Residence) programs to learn communication and strategic thinking skills and participate in several simulated flight missions.

F.I.R.E. worked with other universities and members of the National Flight Academy to create the curriculum and storytelling assets for Ambition, with Full Sail taking the lead on the digital, animation, and technology aspects of the project. Faculty and Game Design and Game Art students handled the production duties involved in creating the simulation missions used in the Ambition flight carrier, which included concept design, graphics generation, audio storywriting, game design, mission scripting, testing, and validation.

"When students go into Ambition, they are the pilots flying an aircraft that's never existed before," says Roy Papp, a Game Design Course Director and member of F.I.R.E. "It's a mixture of entertainment and education where students get to go right in the cockpit and work in flight control on different missions."

Full Sail's Institute for Research in Entertainment was established in 2009 to give faculty members and students the opportunity to work collaboratively on research projects for outside companies. A dozen faculty members make up F.I.R.E, along with a rotating lineup of about 30 students, who are recommended for participation in F.I.R.E. by other faculty members.

"We used to be called Real World Education, which is exactly the goal of F.I.R.E.," says Shawn Stafford, a Course Director in the Game Design Master's Program and a member of F.I.R.E. "We make students directly deal with clients on a regular basis, and have them work with faculty on a number of research projects."

While the details and clients F.I.R.E works with are typically confidential, the institute has worked with all branches of the Armed Services and companies including Design Interactive, RSK Assessments, and TEQGames on projects ranging from technology simulation and cognitive battery development to mobile game development and usability testing on novel game concepts.

During the commissioning ceremony, which included appearances by astronauts Neil Armstrong, Eugene Cernan, and Mark Kelly, the National Flight Academy announced plans to distribute a $250,000 scholarship fund made possible by $125,000 matching donations from Full Sail University and the University of Florida, which will allow hundreds of students to attend educational programs aboard the Ambition. Meanwhile, F.I.R.E. will continue to work with the National Flight Academy on an ongoing basis to develop more content for Ambition.

"Essentially what we're doing is delivering simulated missions," says Roy. "Each mission is a component that plugs into Ambition's bigger picture."