Umran Ali
School of Arts and Media
Current positions
Senior Lecturer in Creative Media
BIOGRAPHY
After graduating (BSc in 2004, and later with an M.A in 2005) I worked as a freelance 3D artist & creative designer, and then as a visiting lecturer and private tutor teaching across Art & Design, 3D, CGI and Animation, I later joined the School of Media, Music & Performance at the University of Salford as a lecturer in creative media, and taught across a variety of areas from design, production, & project management for video games, specifically around creative design and production of virtual environments.
From 2006 to 2011 I acted as Programme Leader for the BSc (Hons) Computer & Video Games at the University and was responsible for curriculum design, programme management and developing the programme's partnerships with a variety of major industry partners. Many of my students since, have gone on to work in the creative industries including the videogame industry. From 2011 to 2013 I worked as Director oF Creative Media, overseeing the directorates' move to our new MediaCity UK campus.
My freelance work included several large projects ranging from PlastiCity; a Will Alsop driven project visualising the regeneration of Bradford city centre in a fully interactive form, the Virtual Jean Claude virtual knowledge space project recreating the French composer Jean Claude Risset, into a 3D avatar for 'virtual lecturing', to working on projects in partnership with UK based organisations such as the DarkHorse organisation, BT and the Foundation for Art & Creative Technology (FACT).
I currently works as a senior lecturer in creative media, at the University of Salford. and continue to explore virtual natural environment design through my teaching and research, maintaining a deep interest in the meaning, impact, and design of natural spaces, in particular around video games.
In my spare time, I am a keen videogames player, and landscape photographer.
Areas of research
Virtual, Games, Landscape, Design, Environment
My academic interests focus on across Art & Design (3D/CGi) and creative media production ranging from project management for creative industries, 3D character conceptualization & design, to application and design of games technology (around issues such as Serious games)
My research interests lie in creative design, focusing primarily on design issues surrounding the emerging computer and video game medium, and the advancement of games design. My PhD is currently focused on natural environment design in video games, and how traditional disciplines such as geology, can be used to further evolve natural environment design in video games.
Qualifications
- BSc Computer & Video Games
- M.A Creative Technology
- Postgraduate Certificate in Higher Education & Practice
Memberships
- Fellow of Higher Education Academy