{"id":8434,"date":"2024-08-16T05:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-08-16T09:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/newsroom\/?p=8434"},"modified":"2024-08-16T11:05:15","modified_gmt":"2024-08-16T15:05:15","slug":"purdue-dell-technologies-celebrate-opening-of-alienware-purdue-gaming-lounge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/newsroom\/2024\/Q3\/purdue-dell-technologies-celebrate-opening-of-alienware-purdue-gaming-lounge","title":{"rendered":"Purdue, Dell Technologies celebrate opening of Alienware Purdue Gaming Lounge"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>High-tech venue elevates esports experience for gamers and innovators<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. \u2014 Purdue University on Thursday (Aug. 15) officially opened its new esports facility, the Alienware Purdue Gaming Lounge, amid pomp, pageantry and high-tech gadgetry. Housed within the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/recwell\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">France A. C\u00f3rdova Recreational Sports Center<\/a>, the 2,000-square-foot esports space is outfitted with Alienware, Dell Technologies\u2019 iconic gaming brand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In June, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/newsroom\/releases\/2024\/Q2\/purdue-and-dell-technologies-unite-to-establish-gaming-lounge-featuring-alienware-technology.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Dell Technologies and Purdue announced an agreement to establish the APGL<\/a>, one of the largest dedicated collegiate gaming facilities in the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In addition to casual gaming use, the lounge will provide an elite gaming space for students to train and compete in esports. There are several esports and gaming organizations at Purdue. This offering also serves as a unique attraction for prospective incoming students.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe esports ecosystem at Purdue is thriving, with thousands of students actively participating,\u201d said Mike Warren, senior director of Recreation &amp; Wellness at Purdue. \u201cWhether students are looking to get casually involved or compete at higher levels, we are excited to support gaming here at Purdue RecWell, showcasing the latest technology.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Purdue had a soft opening of the APGL in June, which provided students the opportunity to utilize the technology during the summer semester while giving staff time to tweak systems to their highest performance levels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWatching the students walk into this beautiful facility and hearing their enthusiastic feedback over the Alienware technology has been rewarding to witness,\u201d said Beth McCuskey, Purdue University\u2019s vice provost for student life. \u201cIt validates Purdue\u2019s investment in the space and our strategic partnership with Dell Technologies to embolden Boilermaker gamers \u2014 from novices to varsity-level players \u2014 to engage at the highest levels of esport competition.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The APGL offers Purdue staff, faculty, students, esports clubs and visitors a unique gaming experience. Gamers who visit the venue will be able to enjoy some of the current and most popular titles, including Counter-Strike, League of Legends, Rocket League and Valorant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The gaming lounge is equipped with 22 gaming desktops and three gaming laptops, as well as a Nintendo Switch and a PlayStation 5.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Alienware-powered system, in the varsity and training rooms, includes:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Processor: Intel\u00ae Core\u2122 i9 14900F (24-Core, 68MB Total Cache, 2.0GHz to 5.8GHz w\/Turbo Boost Max 3.0)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>GPU: NVIDIA(R) GeForce RTX\u2122 4080 SUPER 16GB GDDR6X<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>RAM: 64GB, 2x32GB, DDR5, 5200MHz<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Storage: 1TB NVMe M.2 PCIe SSD<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Matt McGowan, general manager of Alienware, highlighted Dell&#8217;s significant commitment to esports and explained how its technology fosters the educational community among students and universities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cEsports gaming technology is not just about bolstering the next generation of gamers competing to their best abilities; it\u2019s about inspiring the future of discovery,\u201d McGowan said. \u201cThis partnership between Alienware and Purdue will empower players and support those gamers in becoming the next generation of innovators, engineers and researchers that Purdue has built its academic reputation on.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The France A. C\u00f3rdova Recreational Sports Center (Co-Rec) is a multifaceted fitness and wellness facility that offers a wide range of recreational activities aimed at promoting the holistic well-being of students, faculty and staff. It includes sports courts, swimming pools, fitness classes and exercise equipment. Now, thanks to the APGL, well-being evolves to cognitive skills.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThese students are learning in environments that you wouldn\u2019t find in any other type of setting like this,\u201d McCuskey said. \u201cThey\u2019re gaming together. They\u2019re strategizing. They\u2019re communicating. They\u2019re problem-solving. And they\u2019re learning soft skills that will help them stand out in the job market.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The venue includes a broadcast studio that will allow students to produce video content and stream matches to general audiences. It also includes training and review space for the high-level teams to review their performance and improve.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThis space is about more than gaming; it\u2019s about developing social connections, finding a community and creating a sense of belonging,\u201d Warren added. \u201cWe believe it will attract students to RecWell who may have never set one foot inside the facility. Once here, the students will see the entire intersection of diverse offerings for holistic well-being.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As part of the agreement, Dell\/Alienware will provide annual scholarship funding during the term of the collaboration, reflecting Dell\u2019s commitment to leveraging the positive impacts of esports to bolster education.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">APGL will be open weekday afternoons until the Co-Rec closes and throughout building hours on the weekend. Hours and events can be found on the <a href=\"https:\/\/esports.purdue.edu\/venues\/index.php\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">APGL website.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>About Purdue University<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Purdue University is a public research institution demonstrating excellence at scale. Ranked among top 10 public universities and with two colleges in the top four in the United States, Purdue discovers and disseminates knowledge with a quality and at a scale second to none. More than 105,000 students study at Purdue across modalities and locations, including nearly 50,000 in person on the West Lafayette campus. Committed to affordability and accessibility, Purdue\u2019s main campus has frozen tuition 13 years in a row. See how Purdue never stops in the persistent pursuit of the next giant leap \u2014 including its first comprehensive urban campus in Indianapolis, the Mitch Daniels School of Business, Purdue Computes and the One Health initiative \u2014 at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/president\/strategic-initiatives\">https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/president\/strategic-initiatives<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n<div id=\"note\" class=\"post-content__attribution \">\n    <div class=\"columns\"> \n                    <div class=\"column\"> \n                <p class=\"post-content__source\">\n                    <strong>Writer\/Media contact:<\/strong> Wes Mills, <a href=\"mailto:wemills@purdue.edu\">wemills@purdue.edu<\/a>;<br><strong>Dell<\/strong>: Media_Relations@Dell.com<br>\u00a0<br><strong>Sources:<\/strong> Mike Warren, Beth McCuskey                <\/p>\n            <\/div>\n                            <div class=\"column is-narrow\">                 \n                <div class=\"post-content__editor-note\">\n                    <p class=\"post-content__editor-note--header\">Note to journalists:<\/p>\n                    <p>    \n                        Photo, b-roll and sound bites from this event are available for media use on <a href=\"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/drive\/folders\/1slrC8p8XgpnWcWgOqYAh_cE5hkzdvL0n\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Google Drive<\/a>.                    <\/p>\n                <\/div>\n            <\/div>\n            <\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>High-tech venue elevates esports experience for gamers and innovators WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. \u2014 Purdue University on Thursday (Aug. 15) officially opened its new esports facility, the Alienware Purdue Gaming Lounge, amid pomp, pageantry and high-tech gadgetry. Housed within the France<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":8437,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"department":[],"source":[29],"purdue_today_topic":[],"coauthors":[41],"class_list":["post-8434","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general","source-purdue-news"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8434","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/25"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8434"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8434\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8480,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8434\/revisions\/8480"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8437"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8434"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8434"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8434"},{"taxonomy":"department","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/department?post=8434"},{"taxonomy":"source","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/source?post=8434"},{"taxonomy":"purdue_today_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/purdue_today_topic?post=8434"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=8434"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}