Computer Graphics Comes Alive for H.S. Students

BY MATT ROBERTS

When the sun starts blazing and school lets out for the summer, teens start making memories. Loosed from the classroom, they develop interests and social skills through first jobs, camp or just spending time out of the house. But how many students can recall fond summer memories of NURBS curves and polygon subdivision?

The first crop of high school students finishing the SEAS Summer Academy for Applied Science and Technology (SAAST) Computer Graphics Program (CGP) can. The international group of students—hailing from as close as the Philadelphia suburbs to as far away as France— studied 3D modeling, rendering and production techniques in two intensive weeks on the Penn campus.

Under the guidance of Professor Norman Badler, Director of the Center for Human Modeling and Simulation, and Program Director, Joseph Sun, CGP was ably lead by Mark van Langeveld, a second-year Ph.D. student in computer science, and staffed by energetic undergraduates in the Digital Media Design program, Diana Chang and Steve Muniz.

“When you have a passion for computer graphics and multimedia, you can easily share it with others, and especially with high school students,” explains van Langeveld. Mark was a highly accomplished professional with an impressive resume in graphics and gaming at companies like Microsoft and Starwave prior to pursuing his Ph.D. at Penn Engineering.

The students lived in Penn’s hallowed Quadrangle dormitories with their undergraduate engineering “mentors,” but spent most of their time in the School’s computer lab. “My intent was to push them,” says van Langeveld, and push them he did. Projects included a cylindrical facial mapping project, an introduction to physically-based 3D modeling techniques, and a full character development process, starting from clay or drawing prototypes to complete 3D models. “The students picked up on all the vital concepts so quickly they were able to apply these concepts to produce some truly impressive work,” says teaching assistant Muniz.

Mark van Langeveld’s strong enthusiasm for graphics was reciprocated by the students. “They were up almost all night many nights, and they were in the labs working on their projects and just cranking through,” he says. By his estimate, the students accomplished about a third of a semester’s work in computer graphics modeling and animation over the span of two short weeks.

The students bonded over the experience, have kept in touch regularly over the Net on a bulletin board, and have even hosted a small reunion. “It was nice to get away, to be who I wanted,” says participant Evan Benshetler. Many of the rising seniors are applying to the undergraduate Digital Media Design program for next fall.

SAAST hopes to expand to include additional programs next summer—possibly in such areas as nanotechnology, robotics, biotechnology, and technology/management—and extend the duration of the program to three weeks. SAAST’s Computer Graphics Program proves that vacation memories are sometimes made in the cool glare of a computer monitor—far from the balmy heat of the summer sun.

Program URL: http://www.seas.upenn.edu/saast