School of Communication, School of Interactive Arts & Technology, School for the Contemporary Arts, Publishing Programs, Students, Alumni

First graduates of the Certificate in Sound gain valuable skills to enhance their degree

June 11, 2025
Evan Huang and Jasmine Lam, the first graduates of the Certificate in Sound.

From learning how to use the latest audio software to learning how to use household objects to make music, Evan Huang and Jasmine Lam, the first graduates of our Certificate in Sound, have gained a broad range of skills they can apply to a variety of career paths.  

The interdisciplinary Certificate in Sound includes courses from across the Faculty of Communication, Art and Technology in communication, contemporary arts, interactive arts and technology, and publishing. 

New courses open new modes of thinking for Jasmine Lam

Jasmine was attracted to SFU for its communication program — one of only a few in the country. She began her studies in 2021 and had to do her first semester fully online. “I wasn’t really familiar with the whole system, so it took me some time to catch up,” she says. 

Once Jasmine reached her upper-level classes, she felt more comfortable as the topics became more specialized. One of her favourite assignments was being asked to analyze the communication strategy of a music artist. She chose The 1975. A couple of years into her degree, Jasmine discovered the publishing program and fell in love with those courses, including one where the class went on a field trip to Raincoast Books, and one where she designed her own zine about films with protagonists who are minorities. “I wanted to show how movies that shine a light on minorities could actually bring about social change,” she says.

Near the end of her degree, Jasmine heard about the new Certificate in Sound. “In communication, we have a lot of freedom to take the courses we are interested in,” she says. “I'm personally quite interested in sound related courses, so I had already been taking a lot of them, even before the certificate was launched. I realized I only needed two or three more courses for the certificate.”

Jasmine says that one of the things she liked about the certificate was a broad-based study of sound that didn’t require any music background. “It's more focused on sound technology and sound design, so I think it's a good choice for people who are interested in sound, but you don't really have a solid background in music.”

For example, in one of her elective courses in interactive arts and technology, she gained experience using the Adobe Creative Suite software, something she says has come in handy in her other courses. In a contemporary arts course, she was asked to bring in an object from home and use it to make music. She brought in a drinking glass and used it to make different notes. This opened up a different way of thinking about sound.  

Jasmine hopes to find a communications or publishing role that allows her to continue exploring her creative freedom. “Looking back, it seems like I have taken a lot of courses, and a lot of people might think it could be a waste of time, or maybe you won’t be interested in it, but I would say just try as much as you can, because you don't know how new courses might open some new concepts or a new mindset for you.”  

Evan Huang completed his degree while working remotely for an animation studio

When Evan came to SFU in 2019, he initially went into the mechatronics program. “I thought I want to be an engineer, but I quickly realized that I didn't, and that's when I started exploring different courses and found Interactive Arts and eventually transferred into the program,” says Evan.

Evan’s first term was in person and then the pandemic hit, moving his courses online. “I definitely found it more of a challenge to stay focused in online classes than in person classes, but that helped me develop that resilience to stay focused even when I'm just relying on my own self-discipline,’ he says. “That helped me later on when I found a job that was purely remote, and I was able to have enough self-discipline to carry that out properly”

While searching for a co-op work term in 2022, Evan found a job as a Technical Artist for an animation studio called Glitch Productions, based in Sydney Australia. “I was like, sure, I'll give it a try, and I loved it. They taught me new skills, and I've been with them ever since.” Glitch produces all their content in-house and have become popular on YouTube with original animated series. Recently, the company sold a show to Amazon, but they retain creative control which is uncommon in the streaming world. 

When the Certificate in Sound was announced, Evan realized he only needed three more courses to fulfill the requirements — one would fulfill a requirement of his major, and the other two were offered online. He decided to extend his degree one more term to gain another credential. “I've always been interested in sound,” he says. “Before I got into animation, I was doing a lot of music and audio design. So naturally, the certificate piqued my interest.”

Evan enjoyed exploring course in other areas of the faculty, including a course about journalism and an introductory sound course in contemporary arts that he really enjoyed. “We had these weekly discussions that became a really cool space to talk to people about sound and ask them cool questions.”

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