Work Experience


Dreamworks Animation [Glendale, CA]
www.dreamworksanimation.com

Kung Fu Panda Holiday Special
Animation Technical Director [September 2009 - January 2010]

Kung Fu Panda 2: The Kaboom of Doom
Character Effects Technical Director [January 2010 - March 2011]

Rise of the Guardians
Character Effects Technical Director [April 2011 - Present]

  • Support animators and character effects artists (fur, hair, feathers, clothing simulations, finaling) by troubleshooting technical issues that arise in their daily work. Develop scripts and tools to help make the workflow more efficient for artists and communicate with other shows at the studio regarding current issues in character effects. Work with other departments as needed to fix cross-department issues that arise in production.

  • Wrote a multi-step shot completion / validation tool in python and PyQT run by artists before passing the shot onto Lighting. The CFX Completion tool:
    - Handled all version control file check ins and check outs
    - Validation that no files in the shot were still checked out by any artists
    - Validation that all files were up to date and the latest version
    - Validation that all parts and models for each character in the shot were present on the model server
    - Validation that envir assets set to be modified are loaded and present on the model server
    - Validation that all "finaling" work done by the artist had been exported correctly to the finaling merge model server
    - Checked to ensure that rendering switches were toggled correctly so renders contain all the correct characters and envir assets needed for the shot
    - Generated and sent notification emails to lighting supervisors, leads, and the lighter assigned the shot notifying them of CFX completion of the shot and what assets were worked on the by the artist

  • Developed a crowds pipeline validation tool to check and ensure that crowd characters set to be worked on in CFX had the right attributes set for cloth and finalling installation and simulation. Tool notified users when a step in the cloth installation process failed so artists could immediately resume simulation work from that step.



Electronic Arts - Tiburon Studio [Orlando, FL]
www.ea.com

EA Sports MMA
Rendering Engineer [May 2009 - August 2009]

  • Worked on the backend (C#) and runtime side (C++) code for the MMA game for Xbox 360 and PS3. Handled venue and gym lighting, shadow, and texture game code, as well as additions to the backend database game asset system. Maintained asset data files (XML) and modified as needed. Served as the point of contact for artists to take art assets and hook them up in-game.



Center for Human Modeling and Simulation [University of Pennsylvania - Philadelphia, PA]
www.cis.upenn.edu/~hms

Motion Capture Lab Assistant [May 2009 - August 2009]

  • Started wiki page to show proper use of Vicon Nexus motion capture system. Helped with initial calibration of Vicon T20 and T40 cameras. Assisted students with motion capture software.

Renderman Renderfarm Manager [May 2009 - August 2009]

  • Responsible for the renders that use the 64 node renderfarm at the University of Pennsylvania. Helped install Radiance and Pixar's RenderMan ProServer on the cluster. Helped to assist students with using the cluster and also maintain the lab wiki site to provide details about the renderfarm and using it for rendering projects.



Science Applicatons International Corporation [Charlottesville, VA]
www.saic.com

Software Engineer [May 2008 - August 2008]

  • Analyzed N-gram package in C to provide synopsis of code to development team. Developed text entailment N-gram project in Java and Eclipse in Linux to improve relevant file set returned from query search by scoring documents to identify false positives and negatives. Presented project at quarterly Internal Research and Development Review to regional program managers and directors.



CompSci Resources, LLC [Alexandria, VA]
www.compsciresources.com

Software Engineer in Test [May 2007 - January 2008]

  • Created test cases in Excel and performed manual and automated testing using Selenium Core and Selenium IDE on Executive Compensation website to locate Javascript, GUI, and related syntax errors. Assisted in maintaining company wiki site, developing ExecComp in Java, and providing input and feedback for company press releases involving SEC ExecComp release.


Activities


A Cappella Singing - Voxel Rox  [October 2009 - January 2011]

  • Sang in the a capella group Voxel Rox with a group of about 14 singers performing a wide variety of songs. Performed several concerts for friends and family, as well as at the Los Angeles A Cappella Festival in January 2010. Songs included a Depeche Mode Medley, Superwoman by Alicia Keys, Whatcha Say by Jason Darulo, S.O.S. by Rihanna, Stand By Me by Ben King, and Hide and Seek by Imogen Heap.


Student Game Developers  [January 2008 - May 2008]

  • The Student Game Developers is a student-run organization that consists of about 30 students who share a passion in game design and development. Each semester culminates in a game expo where students show off their final projects. A link to the trailer for the Spring 2008 expo can be [found here] . I worked primarily as a Game Programmer on the Gravity team which was 12 members strong.

  • Additionally, I contributed to the creation of a brand new Computer Science elective for the Fall 2008 semester [CS 451 - Game Design] by helping write the new course proposal.


Cavalier Marching Band  [August 2004 - May 2008]

  • Alto Saxophone Section Leader in the 230 piece band. Performed at halftime football games and traveled with the team to away games and bowl games. Performed a solo and soli at halftime in front of 60,000+ fans. Soli performance can be heard here - [Rhythm of the Night].




Education Background


University of Pennsylvania - Penn Engineering  [Fall 2009 - Present]

  • Masters of Science in Engineering in Computer Graphics and Game Technology
  • Relevent Courses: Computer Graphics, Computer Animation, 3-D Modeling, Physically Based Animation, Visual Communication, Game Project


University of Virginia - School of Engineering & Applied Science  [Fall 2003 - Spring 2008]

  • Bachelors of Science in Computer Engineeringa w. High Distinction
  • Relevent Courses: Computer Graphics, Data Structures, Software Design and Development, Databases, Defense Against the Dark Arts



Technical Skills


Programming Languages / GUIs

  • C/C++, Python, PyQT, MEL Script, C#, OpenGL, UnrealScript, FLTK, Java, SQL, VHDL, Matlab

Program Applications

  • Microsoft Visual Studio, Eclipse, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Premiere, Adobe After Effects, Microsoft Visio, TortoiseSVN, Perforce, Microsoft XNA, CodeReviewer, SN Systems ProDG

Graphics / Game Tools

  • Autodesk Maya, RenderMan (Studio, ProServer), OpenGL, ZBrush, Houdini, MotionBuilder

Game / Physics Engines

  • Unreal Engine, Ogre3D, Gamebryo, PhysX

Motion Capture Software

  • Vicon Nexus, Vicon Blade

Web Technologies

  • HTML, CSS, PHP, JavaScript, XML, XBRL


Teaching Experience


CIS Grader   [Spring 2009 Semester]

  • Grader for CIS 277 - Introduction to Computer Graphics Techniques. Responsible for reviewing and grading programming assignments submitted by students. Programming assignments are written in C++ or Python using openGL and Visual Studio. A brief description of the course is listed below:

  • Course description: This course is focused on programming the essential geometric and mathematical concepts underlying modern computer graphics. Using primarily 2D implementations, it covers fundamental topics graphical user interface design, computational geometry, and graphics algorithms.

  • The course is intended as an intensive programming course meeting three times a week. Students will create a computational graphics and geometry software library over the course of the semester. Software design, testing, re-use, and code sharing will be important characteristics of the programming assignments. One class a week may be devoted to a hands-on programming lab. There will be (nominally) one assignment due each week. The individual assignments will be small enough to ensure completion, but they are designed to grow into a library of reusable C++ or Python code for other graphics projects or purposes. We will make use of the OpenGL and the FLTK GUI libraries.


CIS Grader   [Fall 2008 Semester]

  • Grader for CIS 140 - Introduction to Cognitive Science. Responsible for grading and keeping records of the homework assignments for a class of approximately 140 students, as well as assisting Professor Richards and Professor Ungar with grading mid-term and final examinations. Also help to answer student questions regarding homeworks questions and grades.


Senior Undergraduate Teaching Assistant   [January 2007 Semester, January 2008 Semester]

  • Led a team of four undergraduate teaching assistants in helping Professor Michael Gorman with his January Term course Earth Systems Engineering Management. Behind the scenes I helped maintain the course syllabus and post assignments and announcements. In class I helped students with essay assignments and their final presentation project and paper. I worked daily with Professor Gorman grading assignments, the group project presentations, and setting up guest lecturers and making changes to lecture plans as needed.



Additional Information


Languages

  • Fluent in English and Mandarin Chinese. Six years of study in Spanish.

Groups / Clubs

  • The Animation Guild Local 839 IATSE [Present]
  • The Cavalier Marching Band Alumni Association [Present]
  • Contemporary A Cappella Society [Present]
  • Penn Siggraph Club [2009]
  • Kappa Kappa Psi, Honorary Music Band Fraternity [2007-2008]
  • Tau Beta Pi, Engineering Honor Society [2007-2008]
  • Eta Kappa Nu, Electrical and Computer Engineering Honor Society [2007-2008]

Interests

  • Traveling, Snowboarding, Singing, Piano, Guitar