Unlocking the Gates for Greats at iACADEMY

iACADEMY Nexus Campus, Makati

Top of the morning we braced through the usual Makati traffic and got ourselves acquainted with iAcademy at their Nexus Campus in the same city. I’ve passed by this place a couple times this month because of events in Manila and Pasay which this school has its proximity. Sure enough, students come from these communities and nearby cities so expect this to be a tad upscale than the usual institution, I’m glad I see they spent a lot building this place. 7434 Yakal Street Makati is a prime location and is pretty much in the country’s business district, traveling to and from here was a breeze because there are tons of alternate routes, plus I can say much about the education offered here.

Visiting them on the day of their open house was the perfect time as they introduce new strands they offer for students who chose to enroll in their academy like mobile app development, robotics, graphic design and audio visual production. Class sizes are small so they get to students thoroughly. Most of their professors are industry professionals because they believe students should enroll in programs that are highly specialized. They want game changers, they are not afraid to try something new, definitely non traditional.

The speakers during the open house include John Gregory Jose of Novare Technologies who does Mobile App Development. He is also involved in doing the Globe GCash App and PSBank’s Mobile Credit System among others. They also had Des Feliciano of Leo Burnett/Blackpencil Manila who is into arts and Graphic illustration, Paulo Agduelo who does Sound Engineering, Music Production and Musical Scoring for Thirty Six-O Media. Lastly, Angelyn Mercado who does research Underwater Robotics who is educated in UP Diliman and Kyushu Institute of Technology.

Jacob Aragon VP for Academics of iACADEMY

Jacob Aragon the VP for Academics says “The programs we have in Senior High School also is aligned with what they have in College so you don’t have to take the subjects that you have already learned in senior high. Students are excited to go to school and they can’t wait to advance in their fields and passion.”

John Jose of Novare Technologies

John Jose says “When you have a vision, you must ask yourself how to create that product. You have to know how to go from point A to B so your sons and daughters know where their destiny will be. The industry is going to data driven technologies so they give more value to their services, you have to visualize what you want to do and intend to do it. You have to know what you want to become and iACADEMY can help you realize that dream. I have failed a lot of times but I fail forward, you have to go through it before you learn from it. Don’t be afraid to try again and do something different.”

Des Feliciano from Leo Burnett/Blackpencil Manila

Des Feliciano of Blackpencil Manila says “Do not say negative things about your work, be yourself and let no one say you’re doing it wrong, compete and bring awards, don’t compete with others other than yourself so you become better, nothing is FREE (and no artist should starve), be nice (it can take you places with your clients), never stop learning (you have to be updated), do not give up, network your work, learn the fundamentals (so if you get to work, you’ll learn to also break rules with it), always be creative (success is not overnight, make tons of it and choose the best), pay it forward, get advice from people who already are in the industry.”

Paulo Agduelo, also an alumnus of iACADEMY

Paulo says “There is money in doing sound especially in advertising, if you shoot shows or movies, I help them make it nicer in the Gaming industry, app development, studio design, sales of audio products, same in animation too. You see the visuals but sound can tell you location in mobile games, like footsteps. You can also design sound in Church, iACADEMY prepares you for the small things, things that happen in real life. It becomes your portfolio, you need a skillset like good hearing, a sense of pitch timing and rythm, have knowledge of electronics and acoustics, have patience (longer than directors and producers), the ability to cope with long hours and tight deadlines (I learned that in iACADEMY which I thought was crazy when Professors did that here) it gave me that experience here before I graduated, the willingness to accept failure and learn from it (list it down and don’t do it the next time, you only learn when you fail), you are the future of the Philippines and you will be molded in iACADEMY so you will get to feel less of the pressure and be more creative when you get to work. I already had work even before I graduated from this school and everything became basic. I graduated two years ago, but it all beared fruit because they credit you with what you do. You get help with professors here and talk to them like your friends. You pass because they address your needs, you learn from professionals and their experience too. You go out here equipped from real life problems. I am thankful to them about that. They pushed me to my limits.”

Underwater Robotics expert Angelyn Mercado

Angelyn Mercado who does underwater robotics shared her experience about being in the robotics team of the Philippines “I am happy that we have highschool and k-12 programs that have robotics. This is the first time iACADEMY is offering this as well, it is hard to learn three fields like Mechanical Engineering, Electronics Engineering and Computer Science. It can be applied to agriculture here in the Philippines, even in industrial plants, fetching things, domestic applications too. Almost all first world countries have this and have the resources for it. It is a trend even in the factories here in the Philippines and is steadily increasing. The world is changing and opportunities are a lot, iACADEMY is one of the few that offer it.”

NEW PROGRAMS

Psychology

Anna Marie Abrera the Chair of Psychology in iACADEMY says “iACADEMY Nexus is now offering a Psychology Program. We want to address the emotional well being need of employees and prevent unhealthy workplaces. We work on human behavior, we marry studies and what happens inside companies. We also just recently passed the mental health law so there is a lot of work in this field of science. Students here will be equipped in research, HR Functions, assess behaviors and be psychometricians.”

School of Business

School of Business Dean Shieradel Jimenez says “We have been founded by movers and shakers of the industry. We are right smack in the business center of the country and we partner with the industry leaders for the curriculum and design the program with them. Aside from three BA’s we offer courses that hone an entrepreneurial mindset, social intelligence, community leadership and integrity. All of our faculty are licensed professionals and MBA holders and we have a lot of industry partners. We are working on BSBA Accounting programs, an MBA offered by DePaul Academy. We hope you choose iACADEMY if you want to be part of this.”

School of Design

Erica Nugui, School of Design Faculty

Erica Ngui says “Under the school of design we stand by “design thinking”, to create solution for real world problems. We already have Multimedia Arts and Design, Fashion Design and Technology, but we want to offer AB in Music Production and Sound Design, AB in Film and Visual Effects and AB in Production and Sound Design. If you want to make movies, these are the courses you can go to. You can learn the narratives, CGI, industry leading software skills. BFA Graphic Design and Illustration has photography and graphics classes so all bases are covered. It will also cover sound design, musical scoring and composition so they would be equipped and have technical know how to do all these. They can also write and make their own music. Equipments and a sound studio is available to borrow for all students as long as it is available. We have a unique collaborative environment to make sure your kids to be creative, imaginative and digitally excellent.”

School of Computing

Mitch Andaya, iACADEMY Dean Emeritus

Mitch Andaya says “The changes in the computing industry is becoming more niched. Programmers were considered rare, produced by many schools so we knew we had to diversify. This is why we have CS/IT courses and have specialization. You do not see our courses in other big Universities, it’s why we had Software Engineering in the past, they apply scientific parts and incorporate it in the design. We gambled and introduced programs in a time where it was not a norm. We have a bachelor program for Animation, we also have web development, so students now learn functionality, aesthetics and user experience. Now we also have game development, a BS program that makes programming, design and writing. In the next school year we are launching Data Science as a course, Mechatronics too. We will have Senior High programs to be trained in software development as a strand, so they know basic programming, also Mobile App Development and Robotics (separate) so they can start understanding early, perhaps better equip them to take their college course. They will have general subjects so they will be good in other core subjects. We give them the foundation to succeed in any course they decide.”

For those interested, School Year 2019-2020 is near and they are accepting entrance examinees already so do that if you please. You may call 889 55 55 or send an email to inquiry@iacademy.edu.ph.

Whew! That was what iACADEMY is all about!

KUMAGCOW

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