Layla Anahita-Shireen Mah

Objective

An R&D-style position, utilizing my current strengths, yet challenging me in new ways, thus providing me with the opportunity for growth in unexplored directions; both as an employee, and as a person.

Preferred areas: DOOM 4, 3D Graphics, Physical Simulation, Robotics, AI, Game Engine/OS Design, Linguistics.

Education

2002-Present

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

Troy, NY

·         B.S. Philosophy, B.S. Computer Science, PhD. Computer Science – In Progress. Semesters Remaining: ~6.

Relevant Undergraduate Coursework: Computer Architecture, Computer Organization, Operating Systems, Minds & Machines - Lego Robots, Physics Simulation (I,II), Distributed Haptic Feedback Networks, AI/Robotics, Advanced Parallel Simulation, 3D Engine Development (I,II), Game Development, Japanese 1-4, Study Abroad (China), etc.

Relevant Graduate Coursework: Advanced 3D Graphics, Optimization Methods for Distributed Sensing, Game Engine Development, Image Processing, Cryptography.

Experience

2007-Present

Freelance Software Engineer

上海,中国

Senior Software Engineer

·     Led a team developing a Chinese IME + Dictionary for Windows, Linux and Windows Mobile.

·     Designed and developed a Data Engine capable of searching and enumerating a heterogeneous set of databases much larger than the 32mb process address space of a Windows Mobile device while only consuming a small amount of system memory, and having average-case user-imperceptible latency. This same code runs on Windows/Linux; using a different (template) pre-fetching algorithm, exploiting additional memory.

·     Developed a Chinese/Japanese/English Flashcard Application for Windows and Windows Mobile.

Education

Spring 2007+

East China Normal University（华东师范大学）– Shanghai

上海,中国

Mandarin Chinese - Study Abroad

Advisor: Yanfeng Li

Attended courses on Mandarin Chinese, Communicative Chinese, and Chinese Traditional Landscape Painting, as well as a special topics course in the Shanghainese Dialect, accompanied by multiple 1-on-1 tutor sessions each week.

Publication

2006

IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation

Rome, Italy

With: Stephen Berard, Binh Nguyen, Jeff Trinkle, Jon Fink, and Vijay Kumar

Advisor: Jeff Trinkle

daVinci Code: A multi-model simulation and analysis tool for multi-body systems. Published in ICRA, 2007.

Experience

2006

Xerox

Albany, NY

Software Engineer

Researched and tested various bridge technologies for interfacing software with a distributed set of Oracle databases.

Research

Spring 2006+

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

Troy, NY

PhD Research

Advisor: Jeff Trinkle

Continued research on physics simulation, soft shadows, and developing software for massively parallel computers.

Research

Fall 2005

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

Troy, NY

Advanced 3D Computer Graphics

Advisor: Barbara Cutler

Implemented my area-light source (soft-shadow) algorithm using PS 3.0 shader hardware, with tone mapping support.

Implemented: 3D Fractal Generation, Subdivision Surfaces, Radiosity, Navier Stokes, etc. Studied: Particle Systems, Cloth Simulation, Dist. Ray Tracing, Monte Carlo , Irradiance Caching, Photon Mapping, Subsurface Scattering, etc.

Experience

2005

New York State Department of Health - Wadsworth Labs

Albany, NY

Medical Image Processing Research

Worked with another PhD student to develop software for use in medical image processing; using Matlab and C++.

Research

Spring 2005

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

Troy, NY

Advanced Physics Simulation Research II

Advisor: Jeff Trinkle

Continued development on the Physics Simulator started in 2004.

Research

Spring 2005

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

Troy, NY

Advanced Cross-Genre and Cross-Platform Game Engine Design

Advisor: Marc Destefano

This R&D project was aimed at optimizing the design of a cross-genre game engine, such that it could be used to create games of any genre, yet still perform as well as an engine optimized for a single genre, without being cumbersome.

Research

Spring 2005

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute & Wadsworth Research Lab

Troy, NY

Image Processing Independent Study

Advisor: Qiang Ji

This was an R&D Project aimed at creating a C++ library usable for tracking edges, contours, objects, etc. in image sets.

Research

Fall 2004

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

Troy, NY

Advanced Physics Simulation Research

Advisor: Jeff Trinkle

Was one of two lead developers on a from-the-ground-up C++ Physics Simulator project for the accurate simulation of planar systems of bodies experiencing unilateral contacts with friction.

Research

Fall 2004

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

Troy, NY

Distributed Haptic Feedback Networks Research

Advisor: Suvranu De

Developed a physics based distributed haptic feedback system for use over computer networks such as the internet.

Research

Fall 2004

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

Troy, NY

Minds & Machines – AI/Robotics

Advisor: Bram van Huelven

Led and mentored a team during the development of an autonomous robot with the ability to solve any theoretically solvable instantiation of the Wumpus World problem.

See http://www.cs.rpi.edu/~roghab/research/minds_and_machines_ai_robotics_urp.doc for an in-depth explanation.

Experience

2004

Vicarious Visions

Troy, NY

Console Engineer – DOOM 3 XBOX

·     Was responsible for the engineering development of the Xbox Exclusive feature: Co-op Mode.

·      Led Co-op development from an engineering standpoint, and instructed designers in their work on integrating constructs new to Co-op mode into their workflow.

·      Synchronized the single player experience over the network, which required an understanding of the way that the engine functioned as a whole, as well as the intricacies of many systems.

·      Developed data structures and algorithms which were used extensively within the Co-op network code.

·      Worked with (and fixed bugs in) most parts of the engine code (e.g. graphics renderer, sound renderer, animation system, IK system, physics system, script system, network system, file system).

·      Wrote separate (when relevant) documentation for engineers, designers and artists.

·     Created a Replay-able Simulation mode for recording game data for the purposes of performance profiling, game testing & debugging, and creating game demos.

·     Created a build test system which kept the team abreast of breaking changes to assets.

·     Created a utility to assist artists in automating the process of modifying (usually reducing) animation frame rates.

·     Commonly assisted programmers on other projects with advanced OpenGL questions.

Award

Fall 2003

Minds & Machines Lego Robot Competition – First Place

Troy, NY

Won first place in the 6^th annual Minds & Machines Lego Robot Competition.

See: http://www.rpi.edu/~khemls/mm/index.html for a description of the competition and our Robot.

Research

Fall 2003

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

Troy, NY

Advanced Parallel Simulation Research Project

Advisor: Chris Carothers

Continued development of the 3D engine I developed during the first two independent studies, specifically investigating my research interests in parallel simulation.

·     Created a new lighting algorithm to compute accurate lighting from arbitrarily complex polygonal or non-polygonal area light sources in real time (Implicitly Generates Physically-Accurate Soft-Shadows).

·     Developed a “Dynamic Pipeline Reordering Algorithm” to dynamically reconfigure the execution order of engine pipeline stages and sub stages on the fly, on a per-frame basis, in order to maximize parallelism and pipeline efficiency and minimize execution-bubbles resulting from uneven pipeline latencies.

·     Researched hybrid async/synchronous multithreading architectures, with an emphasis on scalability (100+ CPUs)

Research

Summer 2003

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

Troy, NY

Advanced 3D Engine Development Independent Study

Advisor: Marc Destefano

Continued engine development where the first independent study left off; Began advanced research into topics which truly caught my interest as exciting and challenging problems: Efficient Stenciled Shadow Volumes, Real Time Soft Shadows, High Dynamic Range Processing, Efficient HDR Global & Dynamic Lighting, Real Time HDR Texture Usage, Highly Efficient Parallel Execution and GPU Programmability as a problem solving tool.

Research

Spring 2003

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

Troy, NY

3D Engine Development Independent Study

Advisor: Marc Destefano

Developed a first person 3D engine using C++ and x86 Assembly along with the OpenGL and DirectX API’s atop the Win32 platform. Key research areas: 3D Graphics, real-time data structures & algorithms, memory management, parallel computing, OS kernel design, API development, etc.

·     Researched proven implementations in each of these areas; always contemplating novel ideas for extending these implementations to better suit the needs of the system and or overcome problems.

·      Developed a hierarchical culling algorithm utilizing a novel approach to the popular Portal/Sector data structure, with a pre-computed potentially-visible-set, providing efficient visibility-culling and an extremely flexible system for organizing world space and object/world interaction.

Experience

2001-2002

Cingular Wireless

Rocky Hill, CT

Senior Sales Representative

2 Years

·     Developed relationships with technical and non-technical customers both face-to-face and via telephone; was responsible for explaining technical details in an accurate, yet easy to understand manner and for assisting the customers with any problems they may have experienced throughout their time as a customer of the company.

·     Held several sales records including higher net sales figures than all full-time employees while working part-time.

·     Achieved 71 net activations in a single month while working only 15 hours per week.

Experience

2000-2001

D&Z Soda King

Brooklyn, CT

IT Consultant

1.5 Years

·     Advised the owner on all technology decisions; carried out all technology implementation and educated other employees on the use of said technology.

Experience

1998-2000

Infotree Web Services

Manchester, CT

Software Engineer

2 Years

·     Developed an extensible Java based chat client/server system for internal and external use. Created specific clients for each of several different usage models.

·     Researched new and emerging technologies to assist management in business decisions related to future development work and presented this research during in-house meetings.

Relevant Skills

Programming Languages

Skill

Level of Proficiency

Length of Experience Using

Length of Knowledge

Assembly: x86, MIPS, SSE, etc.

Advanced

5 Years

6 Years

3D Graphics GPU Languages

Expert

3 Years

4 Years

Interactive C (Embedded)

Expert

2 Years

5 Years

C

Expert

10 Years

10 Years

C++

Template Metaprogramming

Expert

Expert

10 Years

4 Years

10 Years

4 Years

C#

Intermediate High

2 Months

3 Years

Java

Advanced High

6 Years

11 Years

Salsa

Intermediate

3 Months

2 Years

Scheme & Lisp

Advanced

2 Years

4 Years

Oz

Intermediate

3 Months

2 Years

Prolog

Intermediate

3 Months

2 Years

Perl

Advanced

6 Months

4 Years

PHP

Intermediate High

1 Year

2 Years

JavaScript

Advanced

6 Years

12 Years

ASP/CSS/CSS2/CSS3/XHTML

Expert

12 Years

12 Years

BASIC/VB/VB Script

Expert

5 Years

13 Years

Sh & Various Shell Scripting

Expert

11 Years

11 Years

Matlab

Intermediate

1 Year

3 Years

Relevant Skills

Libraries/APIs

Skill

Level of Proficiency

Length of Experience Using

Length of Knowledge

Win32

Advanced High

10 Years

10 Years

WxWidgets

Advanced High

5 Years

6 Years

MFC

Advanced High

10 Years

10 Years

.NET

Intermediate

2 Months

3 Years

STL

Expert

8 Years

8 Years

Boost

Advanced

6 Years

6 Years

POSIX

Advanced

4 Years

6 Years

BSD Sockets, Winsock

Advanced

4 Years

6 Years

GTK+

Advanced

4 Years

6 Years

OpenGL

Expert

10 Years

10 Years

DirectX + Direct3D

Advanced

4 Years

8 Years

Other Various Libraries/APIs

Loki, Win32 DDK, PPC SDK, XBox XDK, Glut, SDL, SGI Inventor, SGI Performer, PQP, Immersion SDK, OpenAL, FMOD, FTGL, FOX –Toolkit

Relevant Skills

Spoken Languages

Skill

Level of Proficiency

Length of Experience Using

Length of Knowledge

English

Native Speaker

Lifetime

Lifetime

Mandarin Chinese (中文)

Advanced / Fluent

1 Year

1 Year

Japanese (日本語)

Conversational, but out of use

2 Years

5 Years

Shanghainese Dialect

Survival Speaking, OK Listening

3 Months

3 Months

Cantonese Dialect

Survival Speaking & Listening

1 Week

6 Months

Russian

Learning

1 Month

1 Year

Italian

Learning

1 Month

1 Year

Spanish

Survival

1 Year

9 Years

Relevant Skills

Operating Systems

Windows (3x/9x/NT/2k/XP/2k3/Vista), Windows Mobile 5/6, Symbian S40/S60, Mac OS X, MacOS, DOS

Linux (Slackware, Debian, Ubuntu, Redhat/Mandrake/Fedora), Unix (AIX, IRIX, Digital Unix, Solaris), BSD (Free, Net)

Relevant Skills

Software Packages

Visual Studio 4/5/6/7/8, gcc/g++, gdb, Comeau C++, Intel C Compiler, Intel VTune, Xbox Pef Analyzer, Xbox PIX, etc.

3D Studio Max, Character Studio, Gmax, Lightwave, Maya, Soft Image, Radiant, Flexporter, Photoshop, HDRShop, etc.

Relevant Skills

Teamwork Ability

Experience working with and writing documentation for programmers, artists, designers, QA, managers, and users.

Ability to work under (sane) time constraints, independently and or in groups, with or without defined leadership.

Interests

Technology: AI, Robotics, Biomechatronics, Physics Simulation, Real Time Soft Shadows, Hi-Fi Audio, Mobile Phones.

Passions: Dancing, Driving, Racing, Philosophy, Languages, Learning, Innovating, Teaching, Music, Art, Movies, Skiing.

Sports: Skiing (Alpine Racing), Soccer, Running, Tennis, Volleyball, Mountain Biking, Rock Climbing, Judo, etc.