I am a Computer Graphics researcher at Columbia University in the City of New York, pursing both a B.A. in Computer Science and a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering. I will graduate in May of 2015 with the intent of continuing to explore the R&D field of computer graphics.
I hope to someday achieve a PhD in Computer Science by blending my passion for coding and engineering in a research setting. Whether through academia, industry, or even a start-up, I aim to contribute my skills and bring closer that future we all envisioned as kids. Then, years later when I am old and rich, I will become famous for founding the first university in outer space!
My research interests primarily involve physics-based simulation and animation. Fluids, Cloth, Hair, Fracture, Control... you name it! I also enjoy developing tools, plugins, and peripherals that assist with graphics, robotics, and vision.
Currently I am a National Science Foundation (NSF) REU Fellow working in the Columbia Computer Graphics Group under the advisement of Breannan Smith and Eitan Grinspun
Here I have been lucky enough to work on a variety of projects that have granted me lots of exposure and insight into the research community. Below are some of the projects I am currently invested in, both in collaboration with and outside of our lab.
A joint project with the Lamont Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University, we are exploring the effects of friction on granular material, especially under the guise of landslides. With the aid of physically accurate simulation we are able to explore large scale frictional behavior under various conditions and further develop an entrainment model that comprehensively details granular phenomena.
Elastic rod simulation is a key backbone to representing various interactions in physics and special effects. Exploring improvements to the state of the art, we are pushing the scale, stability, and speed of physically-accurate hair simulation, thus achieving a new set of features and realism not yet available in hair simulation techniques.
Columbia's capstone project for Mechanical Engineers, Senior Design, is underway. My team, Turn Down for Watt, is pursing the creation of an Air Hockey Robot that can compete autonomously. Combining computer vision with precision machining, our player will feature a variety of game modes for players of all levels. More details to come as we take our idea through the full pipeline from thought to working product. We look forward to seeing you at the expo!
From what was supposed to be a simple application of Discrete Differential Geometry processing, I am collaborating with Dr. Keenan Crane of CMU on a new method of simulating fluids on surfaces. Current progress has revealed some promising insights that could be used to speed up or tweak existing fluid simulation techniques.
My research is culminating into publications in both the physics and computer graphics community.
Honored by Adobe Systems to receive a GEM National Consortium Fellowship
Recognition of my assistance in projects can be found in:
- Fast Multipole Representation of Diffusion Curves and Points
- Multimaterial Mesh-Based Surface Tracking
- Wire Mesh Design
* Lapin d'Or - received for first place prize in a semester long animation competition.
* Twilio Achievement Award - received for the Linger app at DevFest 2014 Hackathon
* 3rd place in RoboRace 2013
* BrickBreakAR - Augmented reality brick breaker game, best in show
* Assistive Robotics - researching and building a framework to support daily tasks for paralyzed individuals
* GDL - a Graph Decision programming Language designed to quickly generate and traverse acyclical graphs and decision trees
* 1stDibs - Backend software developer
* Meta - Software engineer
interests outside of graphics:
volleyball. capoeira. video games. the internet.
movies: star wars, city of god, children of men, looper
Plans for world domination
