How did Vahe and Maga go from using Adobe Premiere for the first time and composing music with iPads at TUMO, to working as a video team lead and a visual artist at Picsart Armenia? Peek into a 10-year old flipbook, hear first impressions about a new office, and see what our alums are working on now.

One of TUMO’s earliest students and first animation studio start-up member (Yelling Studio), Arevik Aroyan has moved to Stepanavan to teach kids how to draw comics. Watch the new episode of the #TUMOGeneration series featuring Arevik.

Eric Asryan is all about making animations. Even when he’s walking in the city, he captures all the peculiar details around him and comes up with new animation ideas. He joined TUMO 10 years ago, and since then, his thirst for education hasn’t left him. That’s what keeps him on a constant quest to discover new things, initiate ambitious projects, and earn millions of views on YouTube.

You may already know “Armine, the Model.” But do you know the girl who grew up in an artists’ studio, surrounded by her grandparents’ art, the 10-year TUMOian who started her journey in animation and graphic design at TUMO? She takes us back to her childhood and the sleepless nights spent at TUMO.

When TUMO Yerevan launched in 2011, no one fully understood what they would ultimately be signing up to learn.  From the earliest days, however, there was a body of students who were ready to discover the unknown without any hesitation.  Anahit is one of those students, who at the age of 21 has managed to become a guru in a range of TUMO learning areas, to study at UWC Dilijan and the Watson Institute at Lynn University, intern at the IPM Group and eventually return to Yerevan.

Initially, many people think of TUMO as a place where students acquire technical skills and become familiar with the types of subjects that they would otherwise not have had access to. Anahit, however, says that TUMO is not just a location for gaining technical knowledge. “Every time I’m asked to talk about TUMO, I tell people to imagine entering an environment without any preliminary background and being given complete educational freedom, resources and endless opportunities to explore and create.”

Anahit during her years as a TUMO student

Anahit’s thirst for creative exploration landed her in TUMO’s graphic design workshop.  “Although I no longer work in design, this experience was my first serious dive into a discipline that I was entirely unfamiliar with.  It’s enormously rewarding to create something from scratch.  In TUMO workshops, I understood that every subject is comprehendible and conquerable, so long as you have the drive and you work with a team”

Anahit’s graphic design learning lab results

After studying at TUMO for five years, Anahit was accepted into the prestigious UWC Dilijan boarding school.  “It’s not a coincidence that the first time I heard about UWC Dilijan and decided to apply was at TUMO.  It was here that I learned how to seek out opportunities and achieve my goals.”

After graduating from high school, Anahit was accepted into the Watson Institute at Lynn University.  “TUMO also taught me to appreciate unconventional pedagogical approaches.  That’s why, when I was searching for colleges, I chose an institution that had an incubator approach.  In that system, you enter with a project idea and graduate with a business plan.  During my college years, I hoped to work in the type of entrepreneurial field where I would have a positive impact.” Prior to returning to Armenia, Anahit interned as a junior analyst at the IPM Group asset management firm.

Anahit’s student years at UWC and the Watson Institute

Anahit had so many future plans that were still in the works, that she couldn’t pick just one to share with us. Instead, she discussed her approach to crafting a career path: “Rather than focusing on the source of income, I prefer to understand what I’m creating and contributing to.”

FUN FACT

Anahit’s first job was at TUMO, at the age of 17, as a learning labs coordinator.

The main photo features Anahit in 2016, from TUMO’s 5-year Anniversary campaign.

When launching any new initiative, the hardest part is getting started, turning an idea from zero to one. It’s one of the main problems facing fresh start-ups, and many fail before getting past this hurdle.

According to a study authored by the European Association of Business Angels, some 137,000 new projects are created each day across the globe. Out of those, 9 out of 10 fail in 1-3 years — the reasons range from weak team structure to lack of vision and a poor grasp of the market.

The Foundation for Armenian Science and Technology (FAST) has launched various initiatives to guarantee viability, establish networks and ensure the success and longevity of Armenian startups. And in the midst of it all is a key member of the FAST team, their innovation analyst Anna, one of our very first TUMOians.

Let’s hear from Anna herself: “As part of the innovation team, we’re working with startup teams and individuals alike, planning and implementing entrepreneurship projects. These provide an opportunity for professional networking, gaining new knowledge, and helping raise financial backing.”

Anna’s been immersed in Armenia’s startup scene for four years now, having met some promising startups and following up with their growth and development.

“It’s inspiring that someone with an idea, regardless of the difficulties that arise, won’t stop until they’ve achieved it.”

One such project that Anna has been able to shepherd along was the recently wrapped M1TQ incubation program launched as part of the DigiTown project in cooperation with FAST.
“This program aims to encourage entrepreneurship among young people, providing opportunities for them to turn their business ideas into reality. With eight startups participating, they went through training and practical exercises, each with their own assigned mentors. They were even introduced to potential investors.

That’s Anna at 14, back when she first joined TUMO and launched her learning journey where she was introduced to concepts that would have otherwise passed her by.

“I was interested in web development and filmmaking. With the former, I know I’d need to use it eventually. As for filmmaking, my curiosity was enough. And now, watching a movie isn’t enough. I break down what I see, applying the film know-how I gained at TUMO.”

Fact or Fiction?

“I don’t know if this was true or not. When we were doing self-learning activities, there was a competition to see who’d collect the most points. And whoever did could go up to the second floor, which wasn’t allowed for students back then.”

Well, Anna. It was true. Don’t believe us? We’ve got Hovik Tamazyan as a witness.

One of the first students of our big TUMOgeneration, Rafi Aharonyan, left his career as a programmer to start his business in agriculture. Sounds unusual, right? But you don’t get TUMO out of a TUMOian that easily: Rafi is continuing to learn innovative approaches to agriculture and preparing to implement them in his greenhouses. Learn more in our video from his beautiful farm in Kotayk village.

Hovik + Sergei + Arsen, a few of our earliest and most active TUMOians, are together again at EPAM Armenia. Listening to their stories from TUMO’s early days is always a treat, so let’s see what these friends have to share.

We’ve all been there – designing and developing a product and sending it out for production without knowing if it will work. What if something or someone could help us identify and solve problems before going into production. “Actually, I’m working with companies that use our software to its full potential, solving any problems that could pop up.” Whoa! Thanks, Mariam.

That’s Mariam Abrahamyan. She’s one of our first TUMO students from way back in 2011; she’s still active, too, plus working at Siemens Industry Software. And they happen to be a leading international digital solution provider.

Wait… what software are you talking about, Mariam?

“We’re building software that makes it possible to test a designed product virtually before sending it to production. It’s to understand if the final product will match the original concept or if any problems need to be solved or changes need to be made.

That’s pretty cool. Now you’re thinking, Mariam probably focused on just the programming path at TUMO. Not exactly.

Let’s go back to TUMO’s opening – well, a few months after. Mariam, joining at her sister’s advice, was on the waiting list and had to wait just a bit.

“Before joining TUMO, I was already into programming and had decided to continue with an education in mathematics. But then, at TUMO, I discovered web and game development. Those got my attention. And I widened my knowledge, gravitating towards graphic design and drawing too.”

As she progressed on her TUMO journey, Mariam unlocked new opportunities for herself, becoming a volunteer for TUMO’s Camp and workshops.

Mariam’s work from “Islamic Geometric Patterns”, “My Favorite Movie Poster” and “Postage Required” learning labs.

“The pandemic had its plus side. Working from home gave me the time to pursue new interests and educate myself. And since I still get email notifications on TUMO’s event, special workshops, and learning labs, I decided to do a few. I discovered blogging and designed stamps and patterns.” That’s undoubtedly an excellent way to spend your time, Mariam.

But before we wrap up, a nugget of cool news for the bookworms out there.

Mariam and some friends are planning to launch a site where you can sign up to receive a book a month, based on your likes. That’s all we can say about this project for now, but we’ll be back with details soon.

TUMO is about to turn 10! A perfect reason to track down some of our very first TUMOians who walked through our doors all those years ago. In this new series, we’ll check in with our alumni for a full report on what they’re up to these days. We’re kicking things off with Nare Gevorgyan.

Nare is a co-founder and chief design officer at Embry Tech, a startup that designs a system of smart insoles and an application that tracks and analyzes body weight and physical activity to ensure a healthy lifestyle.

As Nare tells it, “At Embry Tech we have gathered a dream team around us and broken into the US market. Just after we started with my husband Sargis, our nutritionist Liana and biomedical equipment expert Levon joined us from Boston as co-founders. Now, we have a team of 15! A year ago, Eva Gyulzadyan joined our team; ten years ago, she was my learning coach at TUMO!”

Embry Tech has already racked up several accolades with this dream team, pulled in investment, won at WCIT19, and represented Armenia at the Viva Tech expo in Paris. “I consider our major success to be raising weight management and activity tracking to a new level. Helping a person lead a healthier lifestyle alongside the long hours spent at the office.”

Forming this startup was no accident for Nare. She’s always been fascinated by the physics, ergonomics, color schemes, and psychology of product design.

“We’re essentially creating something that can help people improve their lives. It all started at TUMO where I would spend all day talking about product design. With Vasken Brutyan, one of my first workshop leaders there, we created the startup Ardēan, which TUMO spun off into an independent company. Our entire workshop team moved from the classroom to our new studio.”

Nare continues with passion, “Find. Draw. Create. Remix. This process resulted in scarves with Armenian patterns, household goods, and countless exhibitions. It’s terrific seeing Ardēan‘s products used by people across the globe.”

Before TUMO, all Nare had was a Pentium 3 that would barely run Photoshop CS2. And yet, she was still taking on freelance work. “With my dial-up internet connection, I was somehow able to study works on Yanko Design, which I consider the Louvre of product design.”

“I was quite active at TUMO, participating in everything, and when I married a year later, being 19 years old, my relatives would ask me, “Why do you need TUMO?” and I’d even earned the nickname of ‘the one married TUMOian.’ It never bothered me much. One of the best things about TUMO is what surrounds you.”

These were the auspicious beginnings of Nare’s product design career. And now you’ll find her featured on the Forbes list of women in tech – next to Marie Lou Papazian, TUMO’s CEO.

FUN FACT

“There was a time when, while designing decorative pieces, I would listen to Hamasyan and Mansuryan on repeat. These products were displayed on TUMO’s first floor when one day I caught sight of Hamasyan and Mansuryan sitting in front of them. I don’t know why they were there, but I was in shock, my eyes teared up… and then I went back to work.”