The theme of Black & Gold Rush 2025 is “Generosity in Action.” Please join us March 5 – 6 by making a gift of any size to help fund students. Watch your generosity change lives!

With your Generosity in Action the INDS team are able to provide students with INDS Awards to attend events and conferences related to their degree, career, and educational path. We are also able to plan events and assist students in their research. 

The following are more specific opportunities to support our students:

The Bolton Family Scholarship: 
Awarded to students with an approved degree plan involving significant quantitative skills (preference given to students with course concentrations in mathematics or science)

The Cathy Hiebler '98 and Chip Hiebler Scholarship: 

A need-based scholarship for students who are facing a financial hardship or challenge that may prevent them from completing their degree

The Zainab Damji Memorial Scholarship:
Students who wishes to pursue a career in some form of education (this could include after school programs, adult learning, citizens science, etc.), and who has demonstrated leadership and service to an identified community. 

Check out our website to learn more about our program, our students, and our alumni. 

Please consider gifting to INDS! Thank you for all the support! 

The INDS Team

Madness: Race and Insanity in a Jim Crow Asylum

Check Out Joy's Experience in Panama City: 

Check Out Evan McRae's Experience from the GameSound Conference 2024: 

What happens a Gaming Sound Conference:
Sessions featured game audio professionals covering a range of beginner to advanced topics in game soundtrack design (unique compositional challenges for non-linear media, implementation details, dynamic mixing tools and techniques, impacts on gameplay experience, etc), including examples and demonstrations of the techniques in practice and how they are achieved.

What did you learn at the conference?

My particular focus was on Audiokinetic Wwise, a leading middleware solution in the game industry for integrating dynamic soundtracks into game engines, for which I watched the majority of my session replays. These conference resources have gone hand in hand with Audiokinetic’s online Wwise certification course series, which I have also individually pursued over the winter session. In addition, I have bookmarked sessions on other popular audio frameworks, such as Unreal Engine’s MetaSounds and FMod, which I intend to review on my own separate from my primary goals in Wwise.

My access to Game Sound Conference recordings has helped me achieve my learning objectives to become a more versatile and technically proficient soundtrack designer for video games.

How do you plan to use what you learned?
I intend to apply these skills towards my INDS Capstone Project, which will involve composing, producing, and implementing a dynamic soundtrack for a video game I have also helped develop in the UMBC Game Developers Club. In the future, I hope to attend Game Sound Conference events in person in order to take full advantage of the networking opportunities with industry professionals, but this was perfect timing for my current needs.

Thanks to INDS:
I am very grateful to the INDS department for funding my remote attendance of the 2024 Game Sound Conference. Though I did not have time to attend sessions live due to the conference dates overlapping with my busy Fall semester, I was fortunately able to watch through replays of several presentations during the winter session in order to gain an equivalent experience.

Thank Evan for you experience!