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.