Summary of Qualifications

• High to low poly modeling and texture baking
• 3D modeling, texturing, rendering, animation and compositing
• More than ten years of experience with college level teaching in digital arts field
• Industry experience in broadcast, HD video and game art
• Art and design background with strong eye for color and composition

Education

MFA, Computer Arts in Animation – May 2003 – Florida Atlantic University, Ft. Lauderdale, FL
BFA, Environmental Design – June 1987 – Parsons School of Design New York, NY

Experience

Champlain College     Burlington, VT
Assistant Professor Game Art and Animation –  January 2010 – Present

• Teach introductory to advanced 3D and 2D game art classes.
• Advise and mentor students.

Mechanism Digital     New York, NY
Freelance Digital Artist – Oct. – Dec. 2009

• Modeling, texturing and compositing for “Why Planes Crash”, MSNBC.

D2 Creative / D2 TEAM-Sim     Somerset, NJ
3D Art Director – October 2007 –August 2009

• Supervised team of artists in the production of 3D assets for both real-time game and video projects. Team included 3D artists in Shanghai, China.
• Modeled, textured, set up lighting and animated 3D objects and scenes used in marketing videos for pharmaceutical and corporate clients.
• Modeled, textured and set up lighting for 3D objects and environments used in real-time training simulations for government and defense industry clients.
• Set up vertex lighting on 3D assets in Maya and exported assets to the game development platform (Gamebryo, Virtools or Unity 3D).
• Set up Level of Detail for 3D assets in game development platform.
• Keyed and color corrected actors shot on green screen for Continuing Medical Education projects.
• Researched technology and techniques to determine the most effective way to produce interactive multimedia instructional projects for the military.

Pratt Institute     Brooklyn, NY
Visiting Assistant Professor – August 2006 – Dec. 2009

• Taught polygon, NURBS and subdivision surface modeling techniques at the undergraduate and graduate level.
• Taught lighting and rendering using Maya software rendering and mental ray.
• Revised syllabi for 3D Character Modeling and 3D Lighting & Rendering courses to reflect current industry trends and techniques.
• Participated in mid-semester critiques of Senior Project proposals and MFA Thesis proposals.

Art Institute Online    
Online Facilitator – Oct. 2009 – Dec. 2009

• Taught Fundamentals of Design and Color Theory for Web & Multimedia in the Foundations department.

Edit One     New York, NY
Freelance 3D Artist – August –September 2007

• Created materials and lighting for interior, engine and chassis shots of the BMW 1-Series using Maya and mental ray, for the BMW website.

Mechanism Digital     New York, NY
Freelance Digital Artist – January – March 2007

• Modeled and textured weapons and armor and composited live action actors onto digital backgrounds on Last Stand of the 300 – History Channel.
• Supervised 3 artists in production of 3D neighborhood maps for A&E’s SWAT show. Modeled, lit, set up render layers and animated cameras for maps.
• Modeled, textured and lit 3D logo for an HBO Entourage promotion. Composited logo into live action background, fine-tuned lighting and added reflections in After Effects. Color corrected 2D billboard element and integrated it into the shot.
• Modeled, textured and lit spider web for final shot in Spiderman toy commercial for Hasbro.
• Textured digital set for a Discovery Channel series test.

New York Institute of Technology     New York, NY
Adjunct Instructor – August 2007 – December 2007

• Taught graduate level Digital Compositing and Visual Effects using Maya, Photoshop and After Effects.

Art Institute Online
Online Facilitator – Oct. 2006 – August 2008

• Taught 3D Camera and Lighting Techniques and Modeling/Animation in undergraduate Game Art & Design program.

Miami International University Online 
Online Facilitator – April 2006 – December 2007

• Taught Historical Exploration of Animation Techniques in MFA Computer Animation program.

Mechanism Digital     New York, NY
Freelance Texture Artist – September – November 2006

• Texture artist on “Engineering an Empire” and “Inside a Volcano” – History Channel. UV mapped objects in scenes. Painted textures in Photoshop and created shading networks in Maya.

News 12 New Jersey     Edison, NJ
Freelance Graphic Artist – June 2006 – September 2007

• Designed on-air graphics for live news broadcasts including over the shoulder boxes, full screens, monitor fills and maps using Photoshop, After Effects, Curious World Maps and Viz.

Digital Media Arts College     Boca Raton, FL
Chairperson of Undergraduate Studies – January  – December 2005

• Recruited, developed and managed faculty for the Computer Animation and Graphic Design programs.
• Revised all course outcomes and topics for the undergraduate Computer Animation curriculum to reflect current industry techniques, in preparation for the accreditation review process.
• Taught intermediate to advanced classes in 3D modeling, texturing, lighting, animation and compositing.
• Wrote syllabi and developed course material for Computer Animation and Graphic Design courses.
• Arranged for Pixar to donate 20 licenses of Renderman Server and Artist Tools to DMAC labs.
• Compiled list of recruiters from more than 200 animation and visual effects studios for DMAC party at SIGGRAPH 2005.
• Represented program at college open houses.

Digital Media Arts College     Boca Raton, FL
Instructor – June  – December 2004

• Taught intermediate to advanced classes in 3D modeling, texturing, lighting, animation and compositing.
• Taught graduate level History of Animation, and Graphic Design Thesis 1.
• Taught undergraduate Basic Graphic Design and Web Design courses.

Florida Atlantic University     Ft. Lauderdale, FL
Visiting Research Associate / Instructor – August 2003 – June 2004

• Taught undergraduate and graduate students 3D modeling and animation using Maya, texturing using Photoshop and digital compositing using Shake.
• Developed course content and tutorials for undergraduate and graduate classes.
• Managed Graduate Teaching Assistants
• Represented program at college open houses.

Florida Atlantic University     Ft. Lauderdale, FL
Adjunct Instructor – June – August 2003

• Taught undergraduate students 3D modeling and animation using Maya, and texturing using Photoshop.

Florida Atlantic University     Ft. Lauderdale, FL
Graduate Teaching Assistant – August 2002 – May 2003

• Taught undergraduate students 3D modeling and animation using Maya, texturing using Photoshop and digital compositing using Shake.

Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale     Ft. Lauderdale, FL
Adjunct Instructor, Multimedia and Web Design – Jan. 2002 – April 2003

• Taught students to design web sites and interfaces for multimedia projects using Dreamweaver, Fireworks, Photoshop and Image Ready.

Patel Design
Designer – 2000 – 2007

• www.affordablenjhomes.com – Logo and website design using Illustrator, Photoshop, Dreamweaver, Fireworks, HTML, CSS. Implemented IDX solution for property search.
• www.everydaymedia.com – Website design and implementation using Photoshop, Fireworks, Dreamweaver and Flash.
• www.stuffyshmitt.com – Website design. Created Flash music player so users could quickly listen to songs.
• www.blazingpackets.com – Logo design, photography and website design.
• www.petnannyresort.com – Website design and implementation.
• www.wishnetworks.com – Optimization of existing website and Flash greeting cards. Improved download time by 40-60% through proper use of symbols and instances in Flash.

Software Expertise

Autodesk Maya
Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, Flash, Premiere, After Effects, Dreamweaver
Pixologic ZBrush
UDK, UE4, Unity 3D
NDo, Crazy Bump, XNormal

Professional Affiliations

NYC ACM SIGGRAPH – member 2006-2010
ACM SIGGRAPH member- 2004-Present
Ft. Lauderdale ACM SIGGRAPH member – 2001-2006

Activities

Board of Directors 2006-2010– NYC ACM SIGGRAPH
Volunteer reporter, SIGGRAPH 2007, wrote articles about conference events for SIGGRAPH website during conference
NYC ACM SIGGRAPH’s Animators Boot Camp & Field Manual Workshop, created graphics for event, May 2007
NYC ACM SIGGRAPH’s Industry Spotlight Event, March 2007
MetroCaf 2006, video editor for NYC ACM SIGGRAPH’s college animated short film festival
Volunteer, SIGGRAPH 2006, managed 7 volunteers in the production of video reports (SIGGRAPH 2006 Scoop)
Reviewer, National Portfolio Day, Brooklyn, NY, Nov. 2006
Attendee, Acting for Animators Workshop, NYC ACM SIGGRAPH, February 2006
Presenter, Florida Art Educators Association, “Preparing Students for Post-Secondary Computer Graphics Education”
Board of Directors 2003-2004 – Ft. Lauderdale ACM SIGGRAPH

Honors/Awards

Grand Prize, Homestead Animated Film Festival – Casandra The Chameleon
Enhanced Graduate Teaching Assistant Award – $2,000 scholarship for excellence in teaching, January 2003

Exhibitions

March 2004 – Sudwestrundfunk Baden-Baden, Germany
Animated short film Reflections was broadcast on television.

December 2003 – 25th Anniversary Classic Telly Award
DVD compilation “Cream of the Crop”, which included animated short films Casandra The Chameleon, Reflections and Greed, received a Gold Classic Telly award.

July 2003 – 2003 Independents’ Film Festival Tampa, FL
Animated short films Casandra The Chameleon and Idea Hunting were broadcast on the Tampa Educational Channel.

June 2003 – Kidflix Florida International Children’s Film Festival Tampa, FL
Animated short Casandra The Chameleon was shown at the Centro Ybor Muvico Theater.

March 2003 – Cinema in Paradise – The Homestead Animated Film Festival Homestead, FL
Animated short film Casandra The Chameleon received the Grand Prize.

January 2003 – Through Women’s Eyes – Women’s International Video-Film Festival Sarasota, FL
Screening of animated short films Reflections and Idea Hunting.

July 2002 – 2002 Independents’ Film Festival Tampa, FL
Animated short film Reflections broadcast on the Tampa Educational Channel.

Courses Taught

Intro to Game Art and Animation
2D Game Art
3D Modeling
Introduction to 3D Modeling and Rendering (Maya)
3D Character Design (Maya)
3D Lighting and Rendering (Maya, mental ray)
Modeling Foundation (Maya)
Character Modeling and Rigging (Maya)
Digital Texturing and Lighting (Maya, Photoshop)
Cinematic Techniques (Maya, After Effects, Premiere)
Digital Compositing and Visual Effects (Maya, After Effects)
Advanced Digital Compositing (Maya, Shake)
Senior Animation Production
Senior Animation Portfolio
Senior Animation Thesis
Graphic Design Thesis 1
Basic Graphic Design
Web Design
Interface Design
Fundamentals of Design
Color Theory for Web & Multimedia
History of Animation