Startups, their creators among Tumo's biggest achievements

Marie Lou Papazian:

Startups, their creators among Tumo's biggest achievements

PanARMENIAN.Net - A new Tumo branch with a capacity of 500-1000 students opened in Artsakh, with every student to attend four Tumo classes: animation, filmmaking, web design and game development basics. Also, over 1000 students have registered to attend classes in a newly-opened Tumo branch in Gyumri. PanARMENIAN.Net conversed to Marie Lou Papazian, CEO of the Simonian Educational Foundation and Managing Director of the Tumo Center for Creative Technologies.

On founding a Tumo branch in Artsakh

The Nagorno Karabakh Republic government came up with the idea of founding a Tumo center in Stepanakert. The center thus turned to the Armenian General Benevolent Union (AGBU), whose management expressed willingness to open branches not only in Stepanakert, but also in Gyumri. We have every reason to believe that the project won't be limited to these two cities, and can go beyond the countries’ borders. The main difficulty is distance, which is also surmountable.

Tumo instructors

Instructors working with children in the centers of Yerevan and Dilijan will also be employed to teach kids in Gyumri and Stepanakert for the time being, but we will, of course, look for specialists in their own cities. The teaching coaches who coordinate the students and support them during the process of self-education are hired on spot. Our guest teachers will also visit and teach courses in Dilijan, Gyumri and Stepanakert.

Tumo guests

We’re trying to find leading specialists in the field of creative technologies from around the world, people who author and carry out interesting projects. We are expecting guests from Italy, Serbia, the United States in the coming months to teach courses of photography, animation and programming. Local specialists are also of great importance. For example, Ruben Meschyan’s course combines programming and martial arts, while the course of music marketing by Andre Simonyan, lead singer of The Beautified Project will start in September.

Curriculum news

Educational system is constantly developing at Tumo, at the very least because the center is connected to fast-growing spheres that are also constantly changing. The innovations are mainly aimed at increasing the efficiency of our system and making it even more individuaized for each student.

Program differences at each Tumo center

The programs do not differ in the four centers, as Tumo’s individualized educational curriculum is common for all of them. Animation, filmmaking, web design and game development basics, as well as 3D modeling, graphic design, photography, music are the milestones of our education.

Oncoming projects

New projects are expected to be implemented in the filed of animation and games, with new apps and music videos to be released soon. We'll be offering interesting and topical courses. For example, we'll be creating virtual reality with the use of Google Cardboard.

Contacts with the alumni

We always try to look out for our alumni and promote their professional growth. For instance, we are currently working to implement a monitoring program that will allow us to follow the career progress of Tumo alumni. Despite their young age, many of them are already working in leading organizations, which is a welcome fact. It's also noteworthy that some of Tumo collaborators are our alumni.

Opening of another Tumo center

We get multiple offers and are planning to increase the number of Tumo centers in Armenia and abroad.

Tumo’s greatest success

Our startups are among the most important achievements of the center’s 4-year activity: we already have three startup companies, composed entirely of Tumo students. The center supports them by providing free office space, trying to help them find orders. The fast-growing number of courses run by the guests is another achievement. We are also proud of our students, who, despite their young age, managed to find positions in leading organizations.

Mane Yepremyan/ PanARMENIAN.Net
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