Scholarly Adventures
Scholarships and Publications
2023: UFVA (University of Film and Video Association) Virtual Conference Day:
giving two talks presenting my two pedagogical research papers, Pedagogical Exploration into the Meta-Verse, and Virtual Reality is a Revolutionary Pedagogical Design and Ideation Tool (See Exhibit 1 in Appendix below)
2023: UFVA Research Paper:
Pedagogical Exploration into the Meta-Verse - (See Exhibit 1 in Appendix below)
2023: UFVA Research Paper:
“Virtual Reality is a Revolutionary Pedagogical Design and Ideation Tool (See Exhibit 1 in Appendix below)
2023: HCII 2023 Research Paper:
“Multi-user VR Experience for Creating and Trading Non-fungible Tokens”. Published by Professor Chao Peng – RIT, School of Interactive Games and Media. This paper was one of the results from the Foundry Digital grant in the Metaverse (Exhibit 2 in Appendix below)
2022: Book Chapter Contribution:
“Sparks! Sparks! Sparks!” Prints book created and published by Prof. Ted Kinsman – RIT, School of Photographic Arts and Sciences. I took images that resulted from high voltage shocks on paper and used them as data maps which created a displacement effect that turned the flat image into mountains with fabulous details, making a nice connection between Photo Science and 3DDD (Exhibit 3 in Appendix below)
2021: Soap Film 1, short film licensed for Permanent Exhibition:
at the Exploratorium Museum of Science, in San Francisco. An incredibly inspiring museum with hundreds of visitors daily (Exhibit 4, Appendix below)
2019: Epic Mega Grant:
a multidisciplinary Collaboration at MAGIC Spell Studios to establish and launch its Virtual Production program. During my tenure track, I became involved with writing and crafting an Epic Mega Grant proposal (Epic Games committed to over $100 million in grants for individuals and organizations to apply to) with a team of multidisciplinary faculty, which led to launching the virtual production program at MAGIC Spell Studios. The grant was worth $270,000. Since the proposal and after the launch of the program I have been an affiliate faculty of MAGIC. The virtual production program marks a significant milestone for RIT, because the material taught in that program is closely related to industry and rarely can it be found in academia elsewhere.
2019: Frameless Lab Symposium RIT:
Cross Disciplinary Virtual Reality for Lighting and Composition, collaboration with Professor Shaun Foster from 3D Digital Design. We presented our research to an audience of 150+ people – (Exhibit 5, Appendix below)
2019: “Light Sound Interactive” Conference (LSI):
presentation on collaborative PLIG-funded research of Lighting and Composition in Virtual Reality with Professor Shaun Foster. The conference is local in Rochester. Our presentation had an audience of 50+ people, and the conference had multiple sessions going on. Some of my students were there either attending or volunteering. The presentation gave me conference and networking experience and it was a transparent way to praise the RIT PLIG grant that empowers faculty research (Exhibit 6, Appendix below)
2019: Ithaca College Conference Talk:
research studies presentation “3D Printing at 25 Microns Precision”. This conference was impressively organized, and the schedule was filled with interesting topics. I shared my cutting-edge research with an audience of 60+ people, in a conference that had about 200+ attendees. I talked with people with a deep knowledge of 3D printing (Exhibit 7, Appendix below)
2018: Frameless Lab Symposium RIT:
Presenting “Whose Street? Our Street” PLIG-funded collaborative research. We (Professor Josh Meltzer and Jen Poggi from Photo in RIT, and I) presented our research to an audience of ~100+ people (Exhibit 8, Appendix below)
2018: “Whose Street? Our Street” project PLIG Grant Showcase:
at RIT, showing the work-in-progress we had at the time
2018: MAGIC Spell Studios Demonstration:
Presenting “Whose Street? Our Street” at MAGIC Spell Studios opening at RIT
2018: UCLA Medical Conference First Place Presentation:
56th Annual Western Anesthesia Residents’ Conference hosted by the University of California, San Diego. A 3-day medical conference. Dr. Nir Hoffman whom I made a medical illustration 3D animation for, gave a presentation with the animation. His presentation won 1st place for Oral Presentation (Exhibit 9, Appendix below). My work was directly with Dr. Hoffman who supervised Andrew Wu – the animated film I made is not published but I can provide it privately if needed)
2015: A permanent display of the film, Iroquois Creation Story
Made by RIT Professor Emeritus Cat Ashworth at the Ganondagan’s Seneca Art & Culture Center in Victor, NY. My role in the production was 3D Rigger and Animator. The Seneca Art & Culture Center is a beautiful local cultural center/museum in the Rochester area. The film is displayed permanently in one of the rooms on a big screen.
Grants
2023: Provost Learning & Innovation Grant (PLIG - internal grant, RIT):
Crafting a new course for Emerging Technology Fundamentals
2023: FEAD Grant (Faculty Education and Development - internal grant, RIT):
Funding for my new short film, Life of a Dummy that involves motion capture and real-time rendering technologies
2023: FEAD Grant:
“Collaborative Composite” course – collaboration with Professor Ted Kinsman (School of Photographic Arts and Sciences) for improving a newly launched multi-disciplinary course
2022: Decentraland “Foundry Digital” Research Grant:
grant for a collaboration project in the Metaverse managed by the MAGIC (Media Arts Games Interactive & Creativity) Spell Studios at RIT. The research was about the Metaverse (a virtual world with virtual places and virtual people representing supposedly real people) and Decentraland (a leading platform in the Metaverse), involving a team of multi-disciplinary faculty, students, and PhD candidates. The grant was for $100,000. The research was valuable especially because the topic of the Metaverse is trending in industry and exposing the students to a more in-depth experience can make a great addition to their professional experience.
2022: Grant Writer Boot Camp:
Production cost funding of the short film, Life of A Dummy
2022: FEAD Grant
“Virtual Reality & Tracking” – collaboration with Professor Shaun Foster
2020: “Epic Mega Grant”:
to craft and launch a Virtual Production Curriculum and Program at the MAGIC Spell Studios at RIT involving LED panels, camera, and tracking equipment
2019: FEAD Grant:
funding for online courses to advance industry relevance in teaching, called “2D Hardware Rendering” and “Modular Design in Unreal Engine”
2019: PLIG Grant:
“Cross-Disciplinary Virtual Reality for Lighting and Composition” - collaborative with Professor Shaun Foster (3D Digital Design, RIT)
2018: PLIG Grant:
a multidisciplinary collaboration on the project, Whose Streets? Our Streets between the Department of History (College of Liberal Arts), Photojournalism (School of Photographic Arts and Sciences), and 3D Digital Design (School of Design) programs at RIT
Honors & Awards
2022: Teaching with Technology Award nomination, RIT
2018: Eisenhart Nomination – RIT Award for Outstanding Teaching
2018: UCLA Medical Illustration Conference Animation Competition winner: Peer-reviewed by the UCLA conference jury
2015: Nomination for Outstanding Teaching Award for Non-Tenure-Track Faculty, RIT
2014: All-RIT Graduate Delegate Student Award and Delegate Speaker
2014: CIAS Outstanding Graduate Student Award – RIT
2010: Awarded a U.S. Fulbright scholarship – A fully funded grant to study in the US at RIT
Films, Awards, & Recognitions
Work-in-Progress: Life of A Dummy - Personal Short Film (length 3:00):
A comedic film about a crash test dummy that retires after his painful career. The film involves Real Time Rendering, Motion Capture animation technology, 3D models, and live action footage, expected to be released in 2024.
Work-in-Progress: Bittersweet - Personal Short Film (length 3:10):
An experimental film using macro videography of sand in water, expected to be released in 2024.
Work-in-Progress: Musical Smoke - Personal Short Film (length 4:20):
An experimental film with smoke reacting to music sound waves, expected to be released in 2024.
2023: Soapaboyo: (Soap Film 3) - Personal Short Film (length 3:00):
An experimental film with soap-in-water movement. Jazz composition and scat singing by Italian artist Veronica Parrilla. Videography by RIT Professor Ted Kinsman.
2023: Surface Tension (Soap Film 2) - Personal Short Film (length 2:40):
An experimental film with soap movement in water with dramatic classical music composed by Egyptian composer, Bassem Badawy. Videography by RIT Professor Ted Kinsman.
Recognition:
2023: Lisbon Film Rendezvous - Semi-Finalist
2021: Soap Film (Soap Film 1) - Personal Short Film (length 2:36):
1 Permanent Exhibition + 1 Award + Twelve Film Festival Recognitions
An experimental film with soap movement in water and joyful music composed by RIT Professor Tom Davis. Videography by RIT Professor Ted Kinsman.
Recognition:
2022: Lisbon Film Rendezvous - FINALIST
2022: 7th Siding Festival of Film
2022: Experimental Films Online
2022: Bizarrya Short Film Festival
2022: White Nights Film Festival (Russia)
2022: Manchester Lift-Off Film Festival
2022: Berlin Lift-Off Film Festival
2021: Druk International Film Festival – Award
2021: Exploratorium Museum of Science - Permanent Display
2021: Tucson Film Festival
2021: West Sound Film Festival
2021: Lift-Off Filmmaker Sessions by Lift-Off Global Network
2021: London Lift-Off Film Festival
2021: Toronto Lift-Off Film Festival
2021: Comfortably Lost - Personal Short Film (length 4:47):
6 Film Festival Recognitions
An experimental film using cinematic drone footage and surreal music composed by RIT Professor Tom Davis.
Recognition:
2022: Lisbon Film Rendezvous – Finalist
2022: Experimental Films Online
2022: Bizarrya Short Film Festival
2021: BELIFF - Be Epic Film Fest LONDON
2021: West Sound Film Festival
2021: Lift-Off Filmmaker Sessions by Lift-Off Global Network
2015: Iroquois Creation Story (by Cat Ashworth) - Role: 3D rigger and animator (length 16:44):
1 Permanent Exhibition, 4 Awards, Twelve Film Festival Recognitions
A collaborative film, produced by G. Peter Jemison, directed by RIT Professor Cathleen Ashworth, dance choreographer Garth Fagan.
Recognition:
2016: Permanent Exhibit at the Seneca Art and Culture Center in Victor, NY
2016: Indianer Inuit, Germany - Winner Best Animation
2016: Green Bay FF, Wisconsin
2016: Maoriland Film Festival, New Zealand
2016: Bare Bones International Film and Music Festival - Winner - BEST SHORT ANIMATION
2016: Buffalo Niagara International Film Festival - Winner - BEST ANIMATION
2016: Syracuse International Film Festival
2016: Wairoa Maori Film Festival, New Zealand
2016: One Flaming Arrow Inter-Tribal Film Festival, Portland, Oregon
2016: Asinabka Film and Media Arts Festival, Ottawa, Canada
2016: 12th Annual Bay Street Film Festival, Thunder Bay, Canada - invited as a guest
2016: Tulsa American Film Festival, Tulsa
2016: American Indian Film Festival, San Francisco - Nominated – Best Animation
2015: 18th Annual Native American Film Festival of the Southeast, South Carolina - Winner Best Original Music
2015: 12th Annual Red Nation FF, LA - Winner Best Animation and Best Live Short
2015: Comanche Nation Film Festival
2015: Santa Fe Film Festival, Santa Fe, NM
2014: Plastic Glory – School of Film and Animation at RIT -- MFA Thesis Film (length 6:06):
1 Award + 29 Film Festival Recognitions
Recognition:
2023: Anti-War International Independent Film Festival
2015: Film Miami Fest / Best Shorts World Wide
2015: Olive Tree Int. Story-Teller Film Fest
2015: Hollywood North Film Festival
2015: Catalyst Communities Film Festival
2015: Student Art Festival
2015: The Monthly Film Festival
2015: Digital Griffix Online Film Festival
2015: Goa Short Film Festival
2015: Grad Symposium Presenter Award - RIT
2015: Athens ANIMFEST
2015: Grad Research Exhibition in RIT
2015: Show Me Justice Film Festival
2014: Accolade Global Film Competition Award
2014: ITSA Film Festival - Award Nominee
2014: RIT Honors Show
2014: Universe Multicultural Film Festival
2014: Hamilton Film Festival
2014: CORFU Animation Festival
2014: Anim’est Int Animation Film Fest
2014: Opificer Media Student Film Festival
2014: Sansueña film festival
2014: Indyoh film festival
2014: Anim Arte
2014: Films Open Mic
2014: IMA Int. Film Festival India
2014: 4th Pune Short Film Festival
2014: Access Code Film Festival
2014: TOFF The Online Film Festival
2014: CINEFEST Global – Official selection, FIC Puebla
2013: Dark Mechanism – SOFA-MFA 2nd year Film (length 2:45):
Seventeen Film Festival Recognitions
Recognition:
2015: Animate Dubai
2015: London Digital Film Festival
2015: Olive Tree Int. Story-Teller Film Fest
2015: Catalyst Communities Film Festival
2015: Student Art Festival
2015: Digital Griffix Online Film Festival
2015: Goa Short Film Festival
2014: Sansueña film festival
2014: 4th Pune Short Film Festival
2014: TOFF The Online Film Festival
2014: Red Hook Film Festival
2014: Katra Film Series
2014: FIC Puebla
2013: Embarras Valley Film Festival
2013: RIT Honors Show
2013: Fredrick Film Festival
2013: A finalist in the Film Skillet Winter
