My Story
I am currently working as a Lecturer in the School of Communication and Design at RMIT, Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam.
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I have 14+ years of International teaching experience and 5+ years of Industry experience in the following areas:
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3D Visualisation Generalist [Specialised in Lighting & Rendering] (Blender / Maya)
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2D Graphic Design Generalist (Photoshop / Illustrator)
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User Interface Design & UX (Figma / Adobe XD)
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Human-Computer Interactions
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Web Design Techniques
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2D / 3D Game Development (Unity with C#)
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Physical Game Design
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VR / AR Deployment (Unity Apps built with inbuilt XR module or Vuforia)
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Instructional Designs / Technology assisted learning
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Design Ethics & Values
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Video Composition and DI (Adobe AE)
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Digital Photography (Specialised in Studio Lighting)
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Education theories and practice
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Creative research methodologies
I have completed my Ph.D. at Karunya Institute of Technology, India from the department of Media Design & Communication. My area of research was developing an instructional design method to deliver ‘practice-based courses’ online using Augmented Reality simulations and at the same time reducing the transactional distance perceived by the students studying online. My thesis was titled - "Study of Introducing Augmented Reality in Learner-Content Interactions of an Online Digital Photography Course: Measuring Learners’ Perceptions of Transactional Distance and Performance"
As part of my thesis, I have developed an android mobile application using Blender, Substance Painter, Unity Game Engine and Vuforia AR kit which brings a virtual simulation of the subject contents to the students who are studying online. Despite the unavailability of lab sessions, the online students get to interact with the subject contents, virtually! The developed prototype was extensively tested and the results proved that this cost-effective method did reduce the transactional distance and bring the students more closer to the subject contents.
Industry Experience
I have had the wonderful opportunity to work in the animation industry of the highest standards with superior animation studios like Technicolor and Nickelodeon. Popular animated series/films such as Barnyard, Lego, Farm kids, Monster vs Aliens etc., have received my direct contribution as a senior CG lighting artist.
Being a Certified Expert of Autodesk Maya, Adobe Photoshop and Unity 3D, I can demonstrate in-depth Knowledge in CG (Film/Game) Production Pipeline. With a Master of Computer Animation & Visualization (Liverpool, UK), a Bachelor of Computer Science Engineering (India) and years of Industry experience I could bring a perfect mix of digital art and visualisation in my instructional design, effectively. Being a programmer (VR/AR, MEL / Unity Game Engine) is also a plus for me to understand the production core easily and automate the repeating tasks.
The mix of my Industrial experience and teaching qualification enables me to develop highly effective teaching techniques and instructional methods, which allows me to educate all styles of learners, and foster a fun and engaging learning environment that effectively teaches art appreciation, promotes creativity and encourages growing independence. In fact, most of my research publications including my thesis concentrates on computer design – assisted learning technologies.
One of my greatest strengths as an educator is meeting each student`s unique needs by developing a personal understanding of each one of them. I achieve this by seeing and assessing the students as individuals, and tailoring lesson plans and lesson delivery methods to accommodate multiple intelligences. My goal is to increase student motivation, awareness and understanding of the graphical principles while implementing interdisciplinary-based lessons involving social studies, general knowledge on current technology trends, multiculturalism and so on.
My teaching medium is in English and I speak/write English in high standards. I have cleared IELTS twice in the past years with the scores of 8+. I also speak and write Tamil and Hindi. I can communicate in preliminary Spanish, as well.
I`ve traveled & taught in India, China, Philippines and United Kingdom. I always look forward to receiving wonderful opportunities to learn and practice new things.