Personal Statement

My lifelong passion for graphic design and the fine arts led me to digital media. Digital media design has captured the imagination of art audiences, redefining the aesthetic experience. Through human-computer interaction, artists like me are discovering stunning new ways to express our creativity and engage with the audience. Thus, I decided to major in digital media with concentrations in animation at Shandong University’s Software College, where I am the top-ranking student in my class. My inspiring undergraduate study motivates my application to Carnegie Mellon University’s Entertainment Technology Center graduate program.

Although I was qualified for a postgraduate recommendation, I have opted for the more challenging and exciting route of earning a graduate degree from a top entertainment technology program in the United States. My undergraduate work has prepared me well for this journey by equipping me with comprehensive knowledge of mathematics, computer science, and interactive art designs, which have helped me to excel and stand out among my peers. To complement my proficient skills in entertainment technology, I have studied computer science courses like Data Structure, Computer Graphics, and Human-computer Interaction, as well as fine arts courses like Color Composition, Story and Scenario Editing, and Visual Langue for Animation. These experiences have allowed me to accumulate rich practical experience in programming and interactive arts.

I have expended much effort to implement my ideas. During the first semester of my junior year, I entered a digital design project for an app called Myflag in an innovation contest in 2017. My team won first place at the college level. Using Android Studio, Myflag monitors personal productivity using data from social media and provides an entertaining way to track progress toward major goals. Users can find motivation to stay on task in virtual rewards like digital coupon points. In developing our own app design, I first examined the market performance including advantages and disadvantages of four similar apps. I gathered user experience data on the other similar apps and put myself in users’ perspective to help the team design a more attractive, user-friendly interface and interactive mode. As one of the points of differentiation to existing apps, I created a visually appealing animation using vibrant colors to entertain users while they wait for the data to load. In this process, I learned the importance of prioritization and tradeoffs as we were not able to implement all my ideas such as assessing the difficulty of each goal and offering rewards of greater value for more challenging accomplishments, but we were all very proud of the performance of our finished project. More importantly, I personally enjoyed the challenge of continued innovation and creating more innovative products for consumers.

This year I had an unforgettable opportunity to lead my team to finish a 3D animation called ‘Husband’. We developed this animation using 3D max, Maya, Ae, Pr and Motion Builder, and won first place (out of 300 teams) in the digital media competition. ‘Husband’ discusses the humanity and emotional problems existing between human and robots in future technology age. I took part in creating and producing every stage of this animation. We developed the animation from the beginning of screen writing and storyboarding to animation rendering and post production. During this process, I have tasted and experienced many indescribable sweetness and bitterness. I am grateful for my supportive team who believed in me, never gave up in the face of obstacles and supported my ideas to overcome these challenges. For instance, ‘Husband’ was our first adventure with motion capture technology. We found capturing the nuances of human movements difficult, due to the limited accuracy of our devices in mapping data points on a moving model. At one point, our cameras failed to capture data points along a man’s back and the animated character’s motion was consequently out of shape, because our model could not lie on an object while in motion under normal shooting conditions. My creative solution involved letting the model perform in a standing position and leveling off the human body in the leading-in of actions later in the animation process. It was rewarding to overcome these issues and see our final production, further confirmed my passion to pursue a career in interactive design.

Besides my core academic studies, I have conducted a number of scientific investigations that have sharpened my research skills and enhanced my problem-solving capabilities. At the Engineering Research Center of Digital Media Technology in Jinan, I worked on the project of computer animation teaching system in the summer of 2017. My six-person team piloted our own augmented reality (AR) project, which we developed to make the algorithms of computer animation technology easier for students to understand by giving them more vivid applications. Through our creative use of Hololens glasses, we made the classroom activities more interactive and exciting. It allowed students to choose key points for the path animation exercises by interacting with our educational program in real-time instead of focusing on passive memorization. Our finished AR platform tested well with our sophomore class as a means of improving learner comprehension. I am very passionate about this field and want to be on the forefront of new technologies and shape user experience.

It was in the application of digital media that I honed my career goals. After graduation, my first priority will be connecting with a group of innovative digital media developers and launching exciting new projects in visual and interactive entertainment design. My long-term goal would be to join Apple and build my career in interactive design to become a leader in the multimedia industry.

To achieve these goals the most important thing for me now is to pursue an advanced degree at Carnegie Mellon University. I have always dreamt of attending CMU given its world-renown program in computer and arts. At Entertainment Technology Center, I would have the opportunity to work under the guidance of professors like Steve Audia or Jessica Hammer on projects in augment reality, game designs, and communication technologies. The ETC program will provide me with a theoretical foundation and interdisciplinary skills in entertainment technology, and allow me to explore the imaginative use of technologies and arts. In addition, I would be able to tap into the abundant resources and social networks that CMU has to offer. I am very excited about the chance to surround myself and make friends with future leaders in the interactive entertainment world.

As well as the academic and practical strengths outlined above, as the student leader of digital media lab, I improved my managerial and leadership skills, including my ability to communicate, negotiate, and persuade. I believe these capabilities will help me make a great contribution at Carnegie Mellon University and beyond. I will take full advantage of your program and dedicate myself to success.