Employee Spotlight: Manivannan Kannan, Project Coordinator, Office of Research & Innovation (ORI)
At the Office of Research and Innovation, we are proud to state that we have built a thriving and collaborative work culture. We work hard, but we have fun doing it. ORI has a team of aspiring project coordinators who help us work towards a collective goal. Let us introduce you to Manivannan Kannan, known as Mani to us all—a go-getter and a self-motivated team player.
Journey to ORI
We have a captain on our team! Fun fact–Mani used to represent his state of Tamil Nadu, India, as captain of his college team at many major football tournaments.
While pursuing his Bachelor of Commerce from SRM University, India, Mani had his heart set on Canada. After graduating in 2017, he applied to several academic institutions in Ontario while working with AT&T as a technical support executive for a year. Arriving in Canada, he joined Lambton College, Ontario, and completed his Post-Grad Diploma in International Business Management in 2019. During the third semester at Lambton, Mani grabbed an opportunity to participate in a field study project with Bombardier. He excitedly shares that this was when his interest in project management peaked. In Canada, Mani has continued to upskill through several roles such as customer service associate, retail merchandiser, stewarding supervisor and human resources and office administrative assistant.
“I started my career looking for a job where I could grow and learn more. Along the way, I had the opportunity to apply my skills in several roles, and project management really made an impression. I want to pursue the Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM)® certification soon followed by the Project Management Professional (PMP) Certification.” – Manivannan K.
We asked Mani about his journey to Humber’s Office of Research & Innovation (ORI). Mani’s go-getter attitude has allowed him to transition from India to Canada, all the way to ORI, beginning as a Project Assistant in December 2020, promoted to Project Coordinator within a year. We are glad he decided to join our team, as he is assuredly a contributing and eager team player.
Role at ORI
In his role as Project Coordinator, Mani has been a part of an internal research team at ORI that conducted a skills mapping analysis (watch out for their paper in the upcoming issue of JIPE in January 2022). Mani works closely with Project Manager Barath Roy-Michel, assisting with research projects’ data analysis, data visualization, creating dashboards, and providing back-end support for workshops facilitated, like Tableau training for a cohort of Project Management Post Graduate (PMPG) students. Mani and other project coordinators are a part of what they call a “Data Club”, a group of highly motivated team members passionate about all things ‘data related’.
In addition, along with Project Coordinator Juan Garcia Felipe, Mani is playing a vital role in the development of Humber’s ‘Change Leadership/Management Methodology’ framework—an alternative capstone project—by Raeshelle Morris, Innovation Program Manager, ORI and Cheryl Francis-Nurse, Program Coordinator, Project Management Post Graduate Program.
Mani also provided timely assistance to ORI’s Knowledge Mobilization Specialist and Managing Editor of Humber Press, Anju Kakkar, by handling graphic design and maintaining ORI’s news page and social media platforms for a short period. He continues to assist with data collection and annotated bibliographies from time to time.
Read what Mani has to say about his experience with Humber’s Office of Research & Innovation:
“My experience at ORI from day one has been very educative, exciting, and inspiring. The variety of work and the workplace culture made me learn a lot about myself, what my strong points are and what needed enhancement. I am delighted to work with a lovely team, an amazing boss and supportive management who values our ideas. With all these, we strive to perform at our best in research and more and to think out of the box to achieve successful outcomes. I am very grateful to work with Michel and the ORI team. In one word: ORI and the team = ASTONISHING!” – Manivannan K.
Get to know
Want to get to know Mani just a little bit more? We thought you might:
- Recent Certifications: Graphics Design, Power BI, Tableau and many more through LinkedIn Learning
- The next certification he has in mind: Short term–Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM)®, Certified Human Resources Professional (CHRP), HR Analytics; Long Term– Project Management Professional (PMP)
- When he is not at work or studying: Exploring new places. Long drives. Sports. Movies & Music
- A secret talent: Cooking, Photography
- A favourite book: ‘The Intelligent Investor’ by Benjamin Graham
- When online, the most visited platform/site: YouTube, LinkedIn, and Netflix
- Favourite hashtags: #beyourself #lovethingsyoudo. Mani humbly states, “It is important to me that I am honest with myself and with the people I interact with. I don’t want to put on a mask for others.”
“Research is everywhere; whatever we do, we have to conduct research. Research is finding patterns and trying to predict the future, trying to find solutions. Research is the investigation that makes one work more efficiently, and research can be fun and interesting too. There are no mistakes, only Research” – Manivannan K.
Benefits of Tableau Certification:
- Ease of Implementation
- Interactive Data Visualization
- Handle large amounts of data
- Build a career in Business Intelligence and Data Analytics
- Mobile Support and Responsive Dashboard
Learn more about Tableau certification.
Is there a certification you are working towards? Are you developing a particular skill? We would love to hear all about it.