IMD Professors

Adam Jarvis, Project Management Skills

How long have you been with Algonquin College and IMD?
I started as a PA in September of 2008 with IMD (and also my first position at Algonquin), then began teaching in January of 2009, in IMD but also in Journalism. I taught at Algonquin until the winter semester of 2016, then took a break and explored other things for a few years, and finally returned to teaching in this semester.

What courses do you teach? What has been your favourite or preferred?
I have taught many courses across many different programs (including IMD, IMM - the one year program, Journalism, and others). Typically I teach in courses that have some sort of coding element, but not always. My favourites have definitely been the HTML and Javascript courses. I enjoy coding and find teaching it to be quite fun as well.

What is your background in related schooling and industry? Are you currently employed in it?
I have a bachelor's from Carleton in Film Studies (which is sort of related), and took IMD from 2005-2007. As of this December I will also have a master's in education from UOIT. I have been employed in the industry at various points in time, though my last job (the one I just left) was only sort of related. I am currently pursuing a nearly completely unrelated opportunity and am not employed in the industry. My last directly related job was as the chief creative officer of a start-up from September of 2015 to September of 2016.

Why did you come to Algonquin?
Because I needed a job? Actually, the company that I first worked at after graduating from IMD (I was doing 3D digital architecture, and was also the webmaster for a bit - it was a small company) was collapsing due to mismanagement and I happened to have a friend teaching in IMD who told me they might have an opening. I honestly could not have said before I started that I could see myself becoming a teacher. But, now that I am, I do quite enjoy it.

Do you have some advice for prospective IMD students?
IMD is a tough program, but you get out of it what you put into it. Work hard, stay on top of assignments, and above all, make sure you enjoy the work that you do.

What is your course (Project Management Skills) about?
This course is designed to run in parallel with the Applied Projects course. We teach skills necessary for running a successful multimedia project, then students apply them in the projects they do for the applied projects course. There is definitely some overlap between the two courses in terms of material covered.

How much time per week should one devote to this course?
Expect, on average, to have a two-hour class and a couple of hours of homework each week.

What skillset and equipment should students have before taking this course?
You need a pen. It sounds odd, but we do a lot of brainstorming and sketching activities. It's good to have a general knowledge of multimedia skills and be aware of how a multimedia project would proceed, which is why this course is run after students have a year experience in the program.

What are the future benefits of taking this course?
Project Management is a key skillset that most, if not all, employers are looking for. It is absolutely necessary if you want to advance in this industry, and vital for doing any kind of freelance work. Getting used to the process now makes it that much easier when you have to do it in the real world.

Why do you personally like this course?
I like the survey nature of the course, that we cover a lot of material without digging too much in depth into any one area. This gives students a strong base they can build from. I also like the parallel nature of this course to Applied Projects.

Adam Jarvis, Project Management Skills

How long have you been with Algonquin College and IMD?
I started as a PA in September of 2008 with IMD (and also my first position at Algonquin), then began teaching in January of 2009, in IMD but also in Journalism. I taught at Algonquin until the winter semester of 2016, then took a break and explored other things for a few years, and finally returned to teaching in this semester.

What courses do you teach? What has been your favourite or preferred?
I have taught many courses across many different programs (including IMD, IMM - the one year program, Journalism, and others). Typically I teach in courses that have some sort of coding element, but not always. My favourites have definitely been the HTML and Javascript courses. I enjoy coding and find teaching it to be quite fun as well.

What is your background in related schooling and industry? Are you currently employed in it?
I have a bachelor's from Carleton in Film Studies (which is sort of related), and took IMD from 2005-2007. As of this December I will also have a master's in education from UOIT. I have been employed in the industry at various points in time, though my last job (the one I just left) was only sort of related. I am currently pursuing a nearly completely unrelated opportunity and am not employed in the industry. My last directly related job was as the chief creative officer of a start-up from September of 2015 to September of 2016.

Why did you come to Algonquin?
Because I needed a job? Actually, the company that I first worked at after graduating from IMD (I was doing 3D digital architecture, and was also the webmaster for a bit - it was a small company) was collapsing due to mismanagement and I happened to have a friend teaching in IMD who told me they might have an opening. I honestly could not have said before I started that I could see myself becoming a teacher. But, now that I am, I do quite enjoy it.

Do you have some advice for prospective IMD students?
IMD is a tough program, but you get out of it what you put into it. Work hard, stay on top of assignments, and above all, make sure you enjoy the work that you do.

What is your course (Project Management Skills) about?
This course is designed to run in parallel with the Applied Projects course. We teach skills necessary for running a successful multimedia project, then students apply them in the projects they do for the applied projects course. There is definitely some overlap between the two courses in terms of material covered.

How much time per week should one devote to this course?
Expect, on average, to have a two-hour class and a couple of hours of homework each week.

What skillset and equipment should students have before taking this course?
You need a pen. It sounds odd, but we do a lot of brainstorming and sketching activities. It's good to have a general knowledge of multimedia skills and be aware of how a multimedia project would proceed, which is why this course is run after students have a year experience in the program.

What are the future benefits of taking this course?
Project Management is a key skillset that most, if not all, employers are looking for. It is absolutely necessary if you want to advance in this industry, and vital for doing any kind of freelance work. Getting used to the process now makes it that much easier when you have to do it in the real world.

Why do you personally like this course?
I like the survey nature of the course, that we cover a lot of material without digging too much in depth into any one area. This gives students a strong base they can build from. I also like the parallel nature of this course to Applied Projects.

Hussein Tayrani

How long have you been with Algonquin College and IMD?
Probably nine years.

What courses do you teach? What has been your favourite or preferred?
My most favorite one was motion graphics project lab because it’s a very big course and there’s a lot of one-on-one, and results towards the end are very good, unfortunately we do not offer this course anymore but it was my ultimate favorite one. I teach motion graphics at varying levels, content management systems, design, video, project management, digital publishing, multimedia, web and applied projects.

What is your background in related schooling and industry? Are you currently employed in it?
Well, I’ve been working since I was 15 in my field. I worked in media in the middle-east. The company I worked at was multi-national and I was in a technical support team as supervisor. I’ve also been doing freelancing since 2008. I worked for a company called Winden Media, but now I’m on contract with them. I did digital signage. I’ve been teaching for 8 or 9 years now. I also started my business about a year ago, in automotive.

Why did you come to Algonquin?
It’s actually interesting – I came to Canada to visit my brother, who was taking an advanced diploma in electrical engineering. He asked if I wanted to see where he went to school, I came here, I liked everything, and decided to take a different path. That’s why I took the IMD program, and I had the chance to become an assistant and teacher.

Do you have some advice for prospective IMD students?
Niche. Learn everything then find your niche. You can’t promote yourself as a master of everything. You still need to know about multiple areas; if you’re a graphic designer you still need to have some skills in video and photography and other things, but you really need your niche to say that you can do one, two, three.

What is your course (Motion Graphics) about?
Well motion graphics, it hits a very booming area which is motion design. It is everywhere. It didn’t used to be, but now it is. I’m talking about tv, about web, about things you see on your phone. It is everywhere. You go to the restaurant, there are screens with motion graphics. The doctor’s office, the airport, everywhere you go, you see motion design, and it has a strong connection to digital signage which is everywhere now, so by acquiring these skills needed in the motion design world, you’ll be able to tackle a lot of different projects.

How much time per week should one devote to this course?
This is my ultimate rule: the way I see it always is three hours here, three hours at home, two hours here, two hours at home, every week. That’s the way it should be because one, you will basically go over all you had in the week and you will have no questions, and two, you will prepare for the next week so it isn’t fresh information for you.

What skillset and equipment should students have before taking this course?
A little bit of knowledge about Adobe, because this is Aftereffects. Some computer skills, organizing things, because you will really be importing a lot of files. If you don’t organize them the right way, it won’t be good. One last thing is that you need a good computer. Aftereffects requires a lot of resources.

What are the future benefits of taking this course?
It’ll help you in digital signage, motion design, and graphic design because even graphics designers don’t just design for print anymore. There are tablets, phones, computers. You really need some motion design skills.
I like it because it is creative, there’s a lot of creativity here. It isn’t 1+1=2. You learn how to do things, but you’ll find yourself always imagining how an animation can work and how you can make it happen. What you’re doing is something that doesn’t exist yet. If you’re not creative, you won’t be able to do it.