Media Advisory: Students will create virtual UB campus at Minecraft build-a-thon on Saturday

BUFFALO, N.Y. – To say the University at Buffalo’s North Campus is big might be an understatement. With 128 buildings on 1,192 acres, some think it’s huge.

Its size and complexity, while daunting to some newcomers, makes it the type of environment that fans of the popular video game, Minecraft, yearn for. And that’s why UB students, faculty and staff, along with support from M&T Bank, will host a Minecraft build-a-thon on Saturday, April 23.

“The concept began during a discussion with a group of forward-thinking faculty and IT staff,” says J. Brice Bible, vice president and chief information officer at UB. “They wanted to give our students an opportunity to be innovative and creative. The Minecraft build-a-thon is a major step in the use of serious gaming at our university.”

News media are invited to check out the fun. Here are the details:

Who: About 100 UB students, and 15 or so Buffalo Public Schools students.

When: 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Saturday, April 23.

Where: UB Student Union lobby (building No. 29 on this map: http://bit.ly/1DTCNEV.)

What’s Minecraft? Minecraft is a popular video game that enables players to construct buildings brick-by-brick in a 3-D world. Since its launch in 2011, Minecraft has developed a strong following by fans who have designed and shared their creations through gaming. On Saturday, students will build virtual versions of a handful of North Campus buildings. The idea is to eventually recreate the entire North Campus.

Why: “The main idea of this event is to invoke creativity in students from different age groups and majors through the Minecraft world,” says Achintya Pillai, a junior computer science major. “It allows for a lot of flexibility for students to show and create what they see and what they would like to see on campus.”

M&T Bank is the build-a-thon’s chief sponsor.

UB sponsors include the Office of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion, School of Social Work, The Office of the Vice President and Chief Information Officer, University Facilities capital and space planning groups, and the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences.