November 2025
📣 MDM Spotlight
This month we're excited to feature Ian Jeffery from Cohort 13.0!
Alumni Spotlight: Ian Jeffery (MDM 13.0)
Research Assistant, Synaesthetic Media Lab (SynLab), Toronto Metropolitan University
Ian Jeffery (MDM 13.0) recently presented his published research paper SnapTunes: An Introductory Cross-device Application for Collaborative Music Production at the MobileHCI 2025 conference in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt. SnapTunes is a novice-focused collaborative music making application that allows users to create short single-instrument tracks on their touch-screen device and connect to other user’s devices to create a combined composition. It builds on SynLab’s SimSnap framework which allows for intuitive cross-device interactions. You can find out more about the paper here (external link) !
Ian first encountered the project through SynLab’s Embodied Digital Media elective (a course he highly recommends to MDM students interested in UX research or human-computer interaction (HCI)). He helped lay the groundwork for SnapTunes in the course, then continued developing it as a Research Assistant at the lab over the past year.
“We wrote a work-in-progress (WiP) paper based on the development process and small user study we had done in the class… MobileHCI was our first target conference, and it was accepted!”
As first author, Ian presented the work at the conference — a meaningful milestone in his growing research career.
“It was my first conference, and because MobileHCI is a smaller, more tightly knit venue, you actually get the chance to talk to everyone. It was great to share ideas and connect with researchers from around the world.”
The conference’s outdoor poster session, overlooking the Red Sea and featuring interactive digital displays, was an idyllic environment to showcase SnapTunes.
“I brought some tablets and hosted the server on my laptop so people could test it out as well. We got great feedback and some new ideas for how to move [SnapTunes] forward.”
Ian hopes that the project will continue to be expanded at the SynLab, even as he prepares to begin his PhD at Carleton University in January.
Ian found that MDM helped prepare him in several important ways.
“Industry Day was actually really similar to presenting a poster at a conference. People come around to talk about your work, and you try to synthesize and present all of the important details.”
Courses like Interdisciplinary Innovation strengthened his ability to present and synthesize complex information, while early exposure to digital media foundations sparked the curiosity that guided him into HCI research.
“Being introduced to a lot of concepts early on helped expose me to different areas of digital media… that curiosity definitely carried into my work at the lab.”
Ian’s advice for current and future MDM students?
“MDM is a great opportunity if you’re proactive. The support is there if you know what you want to do and find the right people to support you.”
He encourages students to reach out early, connect with faculty, and use their student status as a bridge into research and industry: “Find the people doing work you’re interested in and just reach out and ask questions. People are always happy to talk about their work and the research topics they care about.”
Read SnapTunes: An Introductory Cross-device Application for Collaborative Music Production (external link)
Connect with Ian on LinkedIn (external link)
Want to be featured in our MDM Spotlight series?
As a newsletter for past and present MDM students, we want to know what you're up to! If you have a cool project you are working on, a nice new piece of art, a publication, or even some cool tech to show off, fill out the (google form) MDM Spotlights form (external link, opens in new window) and we might reach out to you for a future newsletter!