The one page version that I submit to companies: [PDF]  [DOC]  [HTML]

The extended version: [PDF]  [DOC]  [HTML]

Andrew A. Kaufman



Canada:    1305 W 12th Avenue | Apt 404 | Vancouver, BC, Canada V6H1M3 |
U.S.A.:      1961 W. Hidden Reserve Court | Mequon, WI, USA 53092 |

To work for a visual effects company, in research and development or production, focusing on physical simulation.

Programming: C/C++, Python, MEL, Maya API, Java, OpenGL, tcsh, CommonLisp, Visual Basic, HTML, JavaScript.
Multimedia: Maya, Houdini, Nuke, SolidWorks, Blender, Photoshop, After Effects, Flash, Dreamweaver, Final Cut, Poser.

S. Sueda, A. Kaufman, D. K. Pai. 2008. “Musculotendon Simulation for Hand Animation”, In ACM Transactions
on Graphics (Proceedings of SIGGRAPH 2008),Volume 27, Issue 3, Pages 83:1-83:8, Aug 2008.

Image Engine Design Inc., Vancouver, BC, Canada                            September 2009 – Present
Research & Development Programmer – Major projects include integrating hair dynamics with our proprietary grooming system, maintaining and contributing to the open source visual effects project “cortex-vfx”, and facility wide Houdini integration.

Image Engine Design Inc., Vancouver, BC, Canada                            September 2008 – September 2009
Junior R & D Programmer – Major projects included a python interface and GUI for manipulating Renderman compliant render passes; upgrading, maintaining, and building a GUI for our proprietary dynamic simulation software; render farm management of batch renders and networked preview renders; a tool allowing artists to view current work in place with cuts from editorial.

Sensorimotor Systems Lab, Vancouver, BC, Canada                          Summer 2007 – September 2008
Graduate Research Assistant – Developing a musculoskeletal simulation of the human upper limb using a strand-based muscle system; seamless integration of biomechanically realistic secondary motion into a traditional animation pipeline; created custom interfaces for the modeling of musculoskeletal systems; extended the simulation code base.

Tomorrow Lab, Evanston, IL                                                                   Summer 2005 – Winter 2006
Research Assistant – MEL scripting for the visualization of complex molecular models. Created custom interfaces for specific user groups, solved real world research problems, and documented them as research papers.

ArticuLab, Evanston, IL                                                                            Summer 2005 – Fall 2005
Animator – Responsible for animating a virtual character designed for collaborative storytelling with children. Improved the animation pipeline by reworking the connection between animation software and the code base; helped develop a real-time lip syncing system based on viseme animations and phonemes extracted from audio files.

Simulated Control for Balancing, Computer Animation                    Winter 2008
Developed a controller for stabilizing the center of mass of an articulated character. Demonstrated the versatility of the balance controller with a range of simulated scenarios, including the effects of noise, reacting to projectiles, and the use of unstable and inclined ground surfaces.

Information, Animate Arts IV                                                      Winter 2006
Modeled, animated, and rendered a 3D animated short based on a Rube Goldberg machine. Used Alias Maya's physics engine to perform the rigid body collisions that drive the motion throughout the short.

Mime and Punishment, Animation Studio                                      Fall 2005 & Winter 2006
Spent the fall developing a story, creating storyboards, modeling, and rigging the characters. Spent the winter instructing a group of animators to create a 3D animated short film ready for submission to animation festivals. 

Exhibited Chicago New Media Artist 2006; SIGGRAPH Member since 2005; Dean’s List: Spring 2006, Winter 2006, Fall, Spring & Winter 2005; Phi Gamma Delta Fraternity, 2002-2006; Northwestern University Men’s Club Ice Hockey, 2002-2003; Skiing, Hiking, Travel, Animation, Film, Sculpture, Installation Art, Interactive Media.