By: Alexander Kenny
In 2001, a company called Finning donated an 18-acre plot of land for the creation of the Great Northern Way campus. It was decided the land would be shared between Simon Fraser University, the University of British Columbia, the British Columbia Institute of Technology, and Emily Carr University of Art and Design for them to become partners in the administration and operation of a new, innovative school and program in technology. This dream would be realized in 2006 when the BC government would give the Great Northern Way campus $40.5 million for the creation of the Centre for Digital Media and, subsequently, the Masters of Digital Media (MDM) program, which would open in 2007.
In 2017, by the end of the previous fiscal year, SFU — who have a 25% share of the Great Northern Way Trust, according to their financial report — reported an investment of $19,129,000. Further, their share of the trust’s income for the 2017 fiscal year was $3,478,000. This indicates that the operation of the Centre for Digital Media has a small incentive for SFU outside community engagement and the benefit of helping to enhance BC’s tech industries.
A growing industry
10 years on, the MDM program has met its original intention of becoming a benchmark to help British Columbia lead Canada into the digital media industry. It has become an internationally acclaimed program that gives its students experience in the creation of a variety of digital media products by completely immersing them in the process of their creation. The Centre for Digital Media stresses the importance of the program due to the size of the industry itself. Their website advertises BC’s digital media industry as an ever-growing behemoth which creates over $23 billion in revenue, and has 141,000 workers in digital entertainment and technology.
Hands-on with industry partners
In BC’s increasingly crowded technology industries, there are a number of factors that could point to why the MDM program has become a benchmark program for turning students into professionals that are equipped with the necessary skills to tackle the issues of an ever-changing industry. When asked by The Peak to speak about some of the program’s highly touted industry partners and the exciting opportunities that they present, Dr. Richard Smith — the director of the MDM program — was quick to note a number of different, sometimes lesser-known, opportunities, as well as the value they present to their students.
“Students have worked on projects for major companies like Microsoft, EA, Sony, Fujitsu, SAP, Mercedes, but also very exciting smaller companies like Finger Food Studios and Elastic Path,” he said. “They also work with university researchers, who sponsor several projects every year as well. I think the opportunity to work side by side with people inside a company, solving a real problem, and learning the way in which other people work is incredible valuable.”
He also noted that these industry partners play a large role in why an impressive 95% of the program’s graduates are employed in the digital media industry. He explained the cyclical relationship of the program and their partners, saying, “The industry partners create the jobs that employ our students. Not only that, but our students go on to work in those companies and as they move up in the company, they come back to hire grads from the subsequent cohorts.”
Obviously, it appears that the Centre for Digital Media has been able to form a truly mutualistic relationship with companies in BC’s digital media industry, which has helped the program’s students in becoming more successful in their fields. It has also kept the Centre for Digital Media and the MDM program at the forefront of BC’s tech industry by consistently helping their students become well-equipped professionals.
The key to success: a collaborative effort
While big industry partners may be a large contributing factor, Smith also had a deeply humanistic take on what is at the heart of the MDM’s success and why students choose the program above similar programs elsewhere.
“I think the success comes from the incredible passion for creation that the students bring to their graduate program, the dedication and hard work of the staff, and the experience and compassion that they receive from the faculty,” he said. “It is a transformative experience because everyone is committed to a common goal. I think the cohort model — all the students come in at once and graduate together — is also a big part of their success; students are committed to their own and each other’s success.”
Perhaps another key aspect of the program’s success is the concept that in the success of the program, everyone has a role to play, from the dedication of the staff to the passion that the students bring. The past decade has seen a team effort that, in part, mirrors the concept of collaborative effort that is so frequently touted as the driver of innovation and growth in the tech industry itself. This idea appears to be a lesson for the program’s students; success in the industry takes a team with a variety of skill sets and traits.
This appeared to be a recurring theme. When asked what some of the common traits of the students that entered the program are, Smith said that “[the] students come from diverse backgrounds — about one-third [of them] are technical, one-third are art and design, and one-third are everything else, [such as] business, science, engineering, social sciences, and humanities. We deliberately recruit a diverse skill set because we know that digital media is a blend of art and technology and making it fun and engaging for people . . . [Y]ou can’t just do that from one perspective.”
Again that trend continued when looking at what SFU students in particular bring to the program. “SFU students bring a strong local knowledge, engagement with their community, strong interactive skills ([especially from] students from the School of Interactive Arts and Technology), strong technical skills ([especially from] students from computing science) and strong communication skills ([especially from students] from the School of Communication),” said Smith. He also mentioned that students don’t just come from the four universities that operate the campus, but from across the country and around the world, furthering the concept of diverse skills and diverse ideas and understandings.
Meanwhile, discussing the presence of SFU graduates in the MDM program, Smith said that his search of program alumni indicated that there have been over 20 SFU graduates who have taken the MDM program, many going on to a wide range of fields and careers. One he mentions is Tori Romano, a 2015 graduate who was featured in a 2016 interview with SFU’s faculty of communication, arts, and technology, and who now works in Montreal for Cinesite.
A student’s perspective
The Peak was also able to discuss the experience of the program with a current student who has an undergraduate degree from SFU. According to the Centre for Digital Media’s website, Sherlaine Lau finished her criminology degree at SFU. She now has skills as a 2D designer, front end developer, UI designer (which is user interface design which focuses on a product’s appearance, layout, etc.), UX designer (which is user experience design, a way of making products easier for people to use), marketing and communications management, and project management thanks to the MDM program.
Lau demonstrates the typical wide skill set and ability that appears to be prominent amongst the students selected for the program. She noted a number of factors that made the MDM program more attractive than other programs. Being credited with a master’s degree from all four of the partner universities as well as the internship aspect of the program (the MDM being the first of its kind in the country) were factors that Lau described as important to her decision to attend. She also cites that the program reviews both an applicant’s portfolio and experience (not just their academic career). The school’s focus on both UI and UX design, and its connection to the Vancouver tech industry were key reasons as well.
The school’s proximity to the Vancouver and BC tech industry has clearly helped the program and its students be successful. It has also helped make the program more attractive to students, as it offers a closer jump to a strong career.
When asked what she liked most about the program, Lau said that she has enjoyed the focus on projects, the hands-on nature of the program, the way the program helps build her portfolio, and all the work that she gets to do with her classmates. “That is what our industry is all about,” she said, “not about doing tests!”
Further, when asked what she believes will be most beneficial to her success, the program’s close relationship with Vancouver’s tech industry appears as a key factor for the program again.
“We get a lot [of] industry leaders [who] talk at our school about what type of individual they are looking for. This helps prepare [us] for the future,” Lau said. She also noted that “in our spring semester, we will be working with actual clients [which] will definitely help us in our tech futures when it comes to experience.”
The MDM program has built what is very clearly a winning formula by providing a program centered on equipping their students with the industry experience and skills to be successful in their field. This approach seems to have been quite successful in building a reputation as a state-of-the-art digital media program, attracting students as well as making them successful in their careers by giving them the tools to succeed. Though the program has been successful through its first decade, Smith still has his eyes set on the future.
When asked about his hopes for the next 10 years of the program, he replied, “I look forward to deeper integration with our four university partners, and further examples of our students and our partners creating digital media products that change the world for the better.”
The first decade has been a success for the program, but if its reputation holds true, the sky’s the limit.
