| Thomas
H. Kang |
|||
|
thkang cs cmu edu
http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~thkang/ |
Education |
| 1996- | Carnegie Mellon University | Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania |
| Enrolled in the Ph.D. program in computer
science, focusing on applying machine learning techniques to problems
in computer graphics and vision. Completed Masters degree in computer
science. 4.0 GPA.
Courses taken include
cryptography and security, computer architecture, theory of
programming languages, distributed systems, photorealistic rendering,
physically based modeling for computer animation, image-based modeling
and rendering, computer vision, artificial intelligence, and machine learning.
Schlumberger Foundation Collegiate Award Fellowship in Computer Science.
Teaching assistant for several classes, including
advanced algorithms and data structures,
computer graphics, computation theory, object-oriented programming,
and Java programming.
Principal second violinist of the All University Orchestra; singer in
the Carnegie Mellon Concert Choir.
|
||
| 1992-1996 | Harvard University | Cambridge, Massachusetts |
| Graduated with Bachelor of Arts degree in
computer science, magna cum laude.
Courses taken include general programming in C++, LISP,
and MIPS assembly; computation theory; data structures
and algorithms; advanced algorithms; logic design and
computer architecture; operating systems; computer
graphics; and AI planning systems. Non-major coursework
includes linear algebra and differential geometry;
applied algebra and combinatorics; three semesters of
physics; neurobiology; inorganic and organic chemistry;
micro- and macroeconomics; and music theory and
composition. Harvard College Scholar. Teaching fellow for
the computer graphics class. Assistant manager of the Harvard
Glee Club; principal second violinist of the
Harvard-Radcliffe Mozart Society Orchestra; concertmaster
of the Harvard-Radcliffe Gilbert & Sullivan Players and
the Dunster House Opera Society. |
| 1988-1992 | Newark High School | Newark, Delaware | |
| Graduated with a 4.0 GPA. Valedictorian and a member of the Honor Society. National Merit Scholar. Bausch and Lomb Science Award. Concertmaster and soloist of the Newark High School Orchestra and the Delaware All-State Orchestra. First place in the 1990 Delaware Computer Programming Competition. |
Research Experience |
| 1999-present | appearance-deformation model for articulated figures | Carnegie Mellon University |
|
Doctoral research, with advisors Steve Seitz and Jianbo Shi. Developed an image-based representation for articulated figures which encapsulates how the appearance of the underlying figure changes as it goes into different poses, which can then be used to generate photorealistic renderings of the figure in novel poses.
|
| Summer, 1999 | contour tracking system for video conferencing | San Francisco, California |
|
Research intern at Microsoft Bay Area Research Center, Telepresence Group.
Worked with Jim Gemmell, Kentaro Toyama, Jim Gray, and Gordon Bell.
Studied how gaze
is generated and perceived, with the aim of developing a gaze-aware
video conferencing system. Developed the
warp tracker, a new algorithm
for tracking contours in images that offers a balance of robustness
and precision. Applied the warp tracker
on tracking eyes, which gave encouraging results. Optimized the
algorithm to achieve close to real-time performance.
|
| Summer, 1998 | scientific data sonification | Austin, Texas |
|
Research intern at Schlumberger Austin Research Center,
End-To-End Simulation Group. Worked with Christoph Ramshorn,
Richard Hammersley, and Peter Highnam. Researched the fields of
sonification (displaying multidimensional data using sounds) and
spatialized sound (generating sounds so that they appear to emanate
from specific locations in space around the listener). Performed cost,
feasibility, and performance studies for developing and deploying a
sonification system for Schlumberger. Developed a prototype stereo
sonification system using OpenGL and VSS, a sophisticated distributed
sound server and API developed at NCSA by Robin Bargar and his group.
Presented detailed findings and recommendations to the Austin group.
|
| Summer, 1998 | spatialized sound in immersive environments | Bonn, Germany |
|
Visiting researcher at IMK, the Institute for Media Communications,
at GMD, the German National Research Center for Information Technology.
Worked with Stephen Barrass and Gerhard Eckel. Studied GMD's immersive
display system, which had been developed for virtual prototyping and
teleconferencing, to assess the feasibility of adapting it for data
sonification. Summarized the findings by writing a feasibility report
for Schlumberger Austin, who sponsored the study. Also wrote a brief
tutorial for the GMD system.
|
| Summer, 1997 | 3D modeling in immersive environments | Austin, Texas |
|
Research intern at Schlumberger Austin Research Center,
End-To-End Simulation Group. Worked with Christoph Ramshorn and
Peter Highnam. Developed a detailed 3D computer model of the
Geco Eagle, a newly designed
oceanic survey vessel. Demonstrated the feasibility of using the model
for commercial presentations, design verification, logistics simulations,
and training. Successfully tested the model in a CAVE, using an SGI Onyx and a
full array of VR equipment (including motion trackers, stereo goggles,
and gloves) to study the deck machinery layout in an immersive 3D environment.
Presented the findings to the group of engineers involved in the project,
in Oslo, Norway. Gave a second presentation to the Austin group, on
integrating state-of-the-art computer graphics techniques with
traditional engineering design processes.
|
| 1995-1996 | semi-automatic lighting specification system | Harvard University |
| Senior thesis,
with advisors Joe Marks and
Stuart Shieber. Developed a system for
semi-automatically placing lights in a scene, independent
of the scene model and the renderer employed. Implemented
an exploratory interface, augmented by an intelligent
culling system that efficiently generates a set of basis
lighting configurations that best represents the set of
all possible lighting configurations. |
| Spring, 1995 | animation control system | Harvard University |
| Independent
research, supervised by Joe Marks. Investigated the
viability of integrating a gesture-based interface to an
existing animation control system. Modified the system to
accommodate the gesture-generated output. Devised and ran
a suite of test inputs to evaluate the new interface. |
| Summer, 1994 | cochlear response characterization | Boston, Massachusetts |
| Neurochemistry research intern at the Eaton-Peabody Laboratory of the Massachusetts Eye/Ear Infirmary (now a part of Massachusetts General Hospital), supervised by William Sewell. Studied a pharmacologically induced slow modulatory effect on the concentration of free intracellular calcium ions in cochlear hair cells. Constructed the experimental setup, including a computer interface to capture and digitize the data from a microscope. Wrote programs to record, display, and process data in real-time. |
Publications |
| Jim Gemmell, Larry Zitnick,
Thomas Kang, Kentaro Toyama, Steve Seitz,
Gaze-awareness for Video Conferencing: A Software Approach,
IEEE MultiMedia, Oct-Dec 2000, pp. 26-35. |
| Thomas Kang, Jim Gemmell,
Kentaro Toyama,
Warp Tracker,
Microsoft technical report MSR-TR-99-80, 1999. |
| Joe Marks, Brad Andalman,
Paul Beardsley, William Freeman, Sarah Gibson, Jessica
Hodgins, Thomas Kang, Brian Mirtich, Hanspeter Pfister,
Wheeler Ruml, Kathy Ryall, Josh Seims, Stuart
Shieber, Design Galleries:
A General Approach to Setting Parameters for Computer Graphics
and Animation, Proceedings of SIGGRAPH, 1997. |
| Thomas Kang, Designing a Semi-automated Light Specification System , Harvard University senior thesis, 1996. |
| Thomas Kang, Josh Seims, Joe Marks, Stuart Shieber, Exploring Lighting Spaces, Mitsubishi Electric Research Laboratory technical report TR95-18, 1995. |
Patents |
| Adam Berger, Tony DeWitt, Thomas Kang,
Greg Schohn,
User-Guided Document Segmentation,
U.S. patent pending, February, 2004. |
| Thomas Kang, Joseph Marks, Joshua Seims,
Stuart Shieber,
System and Method for Exploring Light Spaces,
U.S. patent 5,886,704, March, 1999. |
Work Experience |
| 2003-2004 | Nokia Inc. | Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania |
|
Senior software engineer.
Joined Nokia via the Eizel acquisition (see entry below).
Continued work on the PIM system for the proxy server, now called Nokia One Business Server (N1BS).
Led a team in Pittsburgh and India to develop numerous enhancements, including full create/edit capabilities, support for text notes, parsers for vCard and iCal formats, and access to Lotus Domino Server R6.
Managed a large team in India to develop a Windows-based adaptor software to enable transparent access to Microsoft Exchange Server 5.5.
Successfully shipped two major releases: v2 in 2003 and v3 in 2004.
Led a team in Pittsburgh, Boston, and India to re-architect the entire N1BS user interface (UI) subsystem, to streamline future UI development.
Evaluated several platforms for this purpose, including JSP, Velocity, PHP, and XML.
Spearheaded efforts to improve UI development processes.
Wrote UI development guides to help all engineers adhere to a common design, significantly improving system usability.
|
| 2002-2003 | Eizel Technologies Inc. | Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania |
|
Software engineer.
Developed a secure, portable Java/C framework for accessing Microsoft Exchange Server 2000.
Constructed a J2EE JavaMail provider on top of the framework, enabling full native access to Exchange e-mail.
Using the framework, developed the entire personal information management (PIM) system for Eizel's universal data access server, which involved:
1) designing and implementing a protocol-independent PIM API from scratch, for accessing contacts, calendars, and task lists;
2) coding up a complete reference protocol implementation for Exchange, including access to its global address list (GAL);
3) integrating PIM functionalities into other parts of the system, such as e-mail; and
4) developing web-based PIM user interfaces for a wide variety of client devices.
Also benchmarked and evaluated several image quantization algorithms as a side project.
Acquired by Nokia in 2003 (see entry above).
|
| Summer, 1996 | Microsoft Corp. | Redmond, Washington |
| Software
development engineer. Worked in the Microsoft
Internet Explorer Group. Implemented browser-side support for
JavaScript and Netscape plug-ins on the 16-bit
version of Internet Explorer 3.0 . |
| Summer, 1995 | Microsoft Corp. | Redmond, Washington |
| Software
development engineer. Worked in the Microsoft Office
Setup and Configuration Management Group. Developed tools to
read and analyze the setup configuration data for Office 95,
which proved helpful in debugging the system in time to
make the product shipping deadline. Wrote programs
that utilized ODBC to migrate the old setup configuration
data to a new, relational database-oriented format. Aided
in the initial design and implementation stages of
Darwin, the powerful database-driven successor to the
original Acme installer,
which was first introduced with Office 98. |
| 1992-1993 | Harvard Student Agencies Inc. | Cambridge, Massachusetts |
| Group manager. Worked in the computer software testing division. Tested beta versions of various commercial software for usability and reliability. Set up and maintained a local-area network for the testing of network-based software. Promoted to group manager for successfully troubleshooting many network and operating system problems. |
References |
| Available on request. |
