Sean Curtis Department of Computer Science CB #3175 Sitterson Hall, Rm #338 UNC Chapel Hill, NC 27599-3175 (919)962-1870 seanc at cs dot unc dot edu http://www.cs.unc.edu/~seanc/

Me: Now

I'm currently a graduate student at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. I finished my M.S. in May, 2008 and decided to take it out into the world. I spent a year at Walt Disney Animation Studios working on the animation tools team. The people were great and the environment fun, but I found that my intellectual itch simply wasn't being scratched enough. Conclusion: actually corralling the elusive Ph.D. has definite benefit. So, in the summer of 2009, I left my job and returned to school. Now I'm diligently pursuing research in motion synthesis.

This home page serves as the font for knowledge of all things Sean. Here the curious can explore Sean's professional background, his interests and hobbies and his research to date. But caveat emptor! Remember, curiosity killed the cat.

Me: Then

I was born in a sleepy little German village called Wegburg in 1974. I was born in a British military hospital while my dad served in the American army on a Belgian air force base. It's difficult to say if that led to my sense of internationalism or my perpetual state of confusion. My family was quite the clan of gypsies; I had moved 15 times by the age of 16.

All through school I excelled (when I got around to doing the work) at math and science. For many years I took a career in engineering for granted. Then, at the ripe old age of 16 I was introduced to theater and all of my plans changed. In my last two years of high school I performed in numerous shows (musical and straight theater.) When I began college in 1992 at Brigham Young University, I was a theater major. I had auditioned for the acting emphasis and had been accepted. After four semesters at BYU I decided that trying to pursue acting (more particularly stage acting) professionally would be...impractical. I needed to find something else. But what?

No obvious choice presented itself. So, in order to buy myself time and explore my familial heritage, I elected to follow my good friend's example and spend the next two years of my life pursuing a Mormon mission. My mission took me from Germany to California (where I preached to the heathens.) It was a unique experience and one which left an indelible mark on me. Although I have left my religions roots behind me, the experience was invaluable in helping me mature.

Upon returning to Utah in March of 1996, I began casting my net out for a job...and for a major. During my mission I had come to a new conclusion. Terminator 2 was five years old, Jurassic Park was three years old, and Toy Story was entering its sixth month in movie theaters; 3D computer graphics was taking a vise-like hold on Hollywood. I was a talented actor, a decent artist and reasonably comfortable with computers. All of those factors clearly added up to a career in computer animation.

There was a local company called Viewpoint Datalabs (the link is to the remnants of that once great company) which created digital models for any and all applications. For instance, they modeled the Coca-Cola polar bear and the F-18s in Independence Day. While they didn't animate, per se, I felt this would be a prime opportunity to step into the industry. Through a series of very fortunate circumstances, Viewpoint offered me a job on a trial basis (at a pittance pay.) Six years later, I left a senior modeler, lead animator and responsible for much of the R & D from the artistic side. It was a mutually beneficial experience. Viewpoint gave me the opportunity to grow and explore and, in return, my initiatives prepared Viewpoint to expand their services.

For various professional reasons, I felt that there was no life-long career possible at Viewpoint. So, Spring of 2002, I left Viewpoint. (Curiously, the company I knew as Viewpoint closed its doors nine months later.) I moved to Washington D.C. to pursue a masters degree in International Relations. After arriving I realized that the program I'd entered wasn't worthwhile. I cast about again and decided to return to school to pursue the technical side of computer animation. This plainly illustrates my greatest curse; I suffer, not from a lack of interests or aptitudes, but from a lack of time.

That is what brings me here today. I completed a B.S. in Computer Science at the University of Utah. I entered UNC-Chapel Hill's graduate program in May 2006. The time here has been wonderful and the people exceptional. Now, I find circumstance and opportunity blowing me back into the real world.

A Random Quote

(Said of Winston Churchill)

The first time you meet Winston you see all his faults, and the rest of your life you spend in discovering his virtues.

Attributed to Lady Lytton (Miss Pamela Plowden) in Churchill: A Biography by Roy Jenkins (p. 105)