NJIT Has Strongest-Ever Representation at Annual SIGGRAPH Conference
The School of Art + Design at the Hillier College had the largest contingent of NJIT students and faculty to attend and participate in SIGGRAPH 2022, the 49th annual conference on computer graphics and interactive techniques.
The international conference returned in a hybrid mode with both remote and in-person events as more than 10,600 individuals gathered in Vancouver August 6-12. With 15 student volunteers in Vancouver, the NJIT contingent represented almost 10% of the onsite cohort.
Participating were Soraya Abellard, Rhea Adur, Emily Byun, Ozara Dalgo, Max Hafen, Denice Junice, Spencer Korman, Megan Krutz, Joseph Onwuasoanya, Patricia Patalinjug, Dominic Quitoni, Tejasi Thool, James Wisniewski, Michael Vincenty and Kaylin Wittmeyer. Yasir Iqbal served as an offsite/remote student volunteer.
These students and recent alumni provided more than 25 hours of service to the conference assisting attendees and contributors in different venues that included roundtable discussions of technical and art papers, the Emerging Technology exhibition, VR theater and more. In return, students had the opportunity to attend sessions, exhibits, the Computer Animation Festival and participate in special networking and advising programs with studio heads and recruiters.
Twenty-six NJIT students were also represented in the show reel of the curated Faculty Submitted Student Work exhibit. The following students had work selected and exhibited in Vancouver:
Digital Design: Rhea Adur, Emily Byun, Max Hafen, Brandon Kong, Tejassi Thool, Kaylin Wittmeyer, Nolan Wolmer, Allison Wong, and Chloe Yang.
Industrial Design (as part of Collaborative Design Studio): Lemmuel Escalona and Nick Irwin.
Architecture (as part of Collaborative Design Studio): Gnaneshwari Palamuthi.
Interior Design: Arianna Bazan, Constance Chu, Okhyun Des Lauriers, Dario Duran, Logen Eshmawy, Daisy Guamon, Martina Hanna, Mariam Imam, Caitlin Majewski, Haylee Merola, Nicole Palacio, Shela Picon, Kenna Squier and Fatima Zahra.
The work was created in the classes and studios taught by Glenn Goldman, Miguel Rodrigues and Jessica Ross-Nersesian.
In addition to the students, NJIT was represented by the Associate Dean of the Hillier College and Interim Director of the School of Art + Design, John Cays, who is a member of the ACM SIGGRAPH Education Committee and a liaison to the Committee on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. Also present was Glenn Goldman, director emeritus and professor in the School of Art + Design and Chair of the ACM SIGGRAPH Education Committee. Goldman, who had responsibility for the educator-focused events at the conference, also serves as the faculty advisor to the student group NJIT SIGGRAPH.
Associate professor Taro Narahara gave an in-person talk “Presenting Architectural Research in VR” as part of the Educators Forum. Monica Nelson, adjunct and member of the class of 2018 in Digital Design, attended the conference as part of her professional responsibilities while working for Enscape.
Story submitted by professor Glenn Goldman
