Press Release

February 2003

Puget Sound Center's Munkres Joins Discreet™ Elite
BOTHELL, WA - Puget Sound Center for Teaching, Learning and Technology (PSCTLT) has announced that Ben Munkres, Lead Instructor for Discreet software training, has been named one of only seven certified Training Specialists in the world for Discreet's combustion‚ software.

While most tools in visual effects and animation focus on creating the pieces of a final effect, combustion provides an intuitive interface for manipulating these pieces, enhancing and adding to them, and layering them together to create visually stunning effects using a desktop computer. combustion is commonly used in applications such as the production of television commercials, corporate training videos, and graphics for TV news programming. As a Discreet Training Specialist for combustion, Munkres has joined an elite group considered the very best in the industry. He will be closely involved in internal and end-user training, product testing and development, and writing Discreet Training Courseware.

Munkres' passion for visual communication began as a child when he was constantly drawing. In fact, he designed and laid out his first newsletter at age eight. "I think I really got hooked on the capabilities of computers to create art when my dad took me to a computer graphics conference when I was 13. Since then, I have been totally obsessed with the design and application of tools that push the envelope in animation and visual effects," Munkres said.

Prior to joining Puget Sound Center, Munkres was instrumental in the creation of Oregon3d Inc. in Portland where he was Director of Education and, later, Managing Director. He was deeply involved in the planning and development of Discreet training programs at that organization, as he has been at PSCTLT.

Discreet is the world leader in 3D animation, modeling and rendering products and the recognized pioneer in digital content creation, effects, editing and 3D applications for video, film, broadcast, games, animation and the Web. This is the eighth straight year that Academy Award contending films have been touched by Discreet tools, including all three of this year's Visual Effects Oscar‚ nomineesæ"Spider-Man," "The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers," and "Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones."

Puget Sound Center, a private, non-profit information and communications technology training organization, is one of only three certified Discreet Training Centers in the Pacific Northwest. The Center also offers a range of courses designed to help corporations meet their specialized training needs.