My name is Michael Collins, and I’m an Associate Teaching Professor and Curriculum Coordinator for the Penn State Digital Multimedia Design program. I was a founding faculty member for the program and I wrote DMD 100 back in 2017. I’m currently really intersted in opensource and open education projects, but my creative background is in illustration, interactive media, graphic design, photography and video production, 3D animation, UI/UX for web, product design, digital fabrication, and New Media exhibition art. I also teach the capstone course (DMD 400), so please let me know if you have any questions about preparing for that. My professional network extends into pretty much every creative field touching creative digital production, so if I don’t know the answer to a question, I can point you to someone who does. I’m also a long time volunteer for ACM SIGGRAPH, which hosts the SIGRGRAPH conference — the largest computing graphics conference in the world. Please ask me more about SIGGRAPH Student Volunteering if you are looking to break into the CGI field.
Most of the design concepts presented in this course are applicable across media and time, and the course’s GitBook will always be accessible online if you want to revisit any of the content throughout your time in the DMD program. The course has gone through some iteration with contributions from faculty members and some insightful recommendations from students, and so I expect updates will continue long into the future. This class will be a lot of work as it is the first spine course in the DMD Program. Canvas will be hosting the course syllabus, grades, assignment calendar, discussions, and where you will upload reading responses. Canvas is likely more updated than other materials, so if you come accross contradictory information, please let me know so I can clarify or make fixes. Otherwise, defer to Canvas. We link to a course GitBook, primarily so faculty can collaborate on making updates.
We have an active Discord server hosted by the DMD Club. Please consider joining the club, it’s a great way to meet your fellow DMD students and ask questions about the courses, the program, and involvement or career opportunties. Reach out to the officers on the Discord for more information. Pleae see the Discord invitation link below this message.
Connect with me on LinkedIn if you haven’t already and please join the LinkedIn Alumni Group.
I look forward to working with you this semester,
Michael