 - My day-to-day tasks
 involve designing
   new ways of making
   things blow up
   or new ways of,
   basically, mayhem.
I'm a principal engineer
at Dreamworks Animation.
 I design new kinds of visual
 effects for our feature films.
 So, creating virtual water and
 lava and tar and explosions.
  In 2008, I received
  an Academy Award
   for Technical Achievement.
   I'd been working on
   liquid simulation effects,
  and it was quite innovative
  for the film industry.
 It was very nice to be
 recognized by people
 that I respected a great deal.
 And, even more so, it
 was nice to contribute
   to a field that gives me a
   lot of joy to work inside.
 When I was at the
 College of Charleston
I was very influenced by
Professor Tony Leclerc.
  He had a lot of
  research into using
 algorithms to create pictures.
So, he really taught me
how to approach things
   algorithmically and
   blend art with computing.
 The group of students
 that ended up
in computer science at the
college had a real love for it.
  And there was a lot
  of mixing between
  the seniors as well
  as the freshmen.
 So it was a very nice,
 tight-knit community.
 One of the things that
 was stressed a lot
   in the computer
   science department
 was continued experimentation.
 We were always
 encouraged to try out
 the things we learned in very
 real and practical terms.
   So I learned a lot
   outside of class,
  and that, to me, was
  a lasting lesson.
 Right after college,
 I sort of just worked
 as a programmer trying to find
the niche that would draw me in,
 and it took me about
 two and a half years,
 but I eventually found my way
   into the visual
   effects industry.
  My favorite part of
  my job is getting
  to work with
  world-class artists.
   It's so inspiring to work
   with them and to help them
   because they bring the
   best ideas that they have,
  and I bring the best
  ideas that I have.
   And together we
   can create things
   that have never
   been seen before.
