Alumni Stories
Yunzi Shi ‘24
Q: What were you doing before joining the MSDA program?
I was pursuing a professional degree in architecture. While I deeply appreciated the discipline, I gradually realized that my creative interests leaned more toward freeform artistic expression rather than traditional building design. This realization ultimately guided me to the MSDA program.
Q: What have you been up to since graduating the program? Where are you now?
I've been living in the Bay Area and working as a software engineer at Adobe. Alongside my professional role, I have been developing my practice as an independent artist, with a focus on video and spatial installations.
Q: How did the MSDA program impact your life and career?
The MSDA program was transformative for both my artistic and professional paths. I am passionate about creating research-driven art that critically engages with contemporary image culture—how digital content is produced, circulated, and perceived. Through advanced coursework and hands-on research in the Rendering and Imaging Science Lab, the program provided me with a technical foundation to delve deeper into the material and computational aspects of digital media. One of the most meaningful experiences was developing my thesis: a series of interactive installations exploring the implications of computer vision and computational imaging. With the generous support of my advisors and the program, I was able to present and publish this work at international conferences, including SIGGRAPH Asia. The invaluable experience and feedback I received continue to shape my growth as an early-career artist.
Jasper Tucker ‘24
Q: What were you doing before joining the MSDA program?
Before joining the MSDA program I was an undergrad at Bates College studying Music and Game Design (through a self-made, interdisciplinary major). I was originally much more involved with music performance and composition, and through an interest in music and sound in games my studies shifted more to game design and then more broadly game development.
Q: What have you been up to since graduating the program? Where are you now?
After the program, I moved to Los Angeles to work at a startup creating apps and frameworks for digital avatars called Genies. I’m a software engineer there working in Unity and C#.
Q: How did the MSDA program impact your life and career?
I had a bit of a unique background going into the program, where I had done a lot with music and its role in games, creating some of my own video games to make music for them, but my technical ability was limited. I wanted a greater understanding of software engineering principles and more general skills within computer science due to my interests shifting more into game and app development. At the same time though, I still wanted to incorporate a lot of the interdisciplinary nature of my previous education, which the MSDA program allowed me to do with the dual focus on computer science and digital arts. It definitely positioned me well as a person between design and engineering, and has given me a much better ability to execute on the career I want to build.
Sookyoung Park '24
Q: What were you doing before joining the MSDA program?
I was an undergraduate student in a program that combined IT and Design, similar to MSDA.
While creating and exhibiting a media art project in Seoul, I realized that I needed to be in a new environment where I could meet people from diverse backgrounds to gain more exciting ideas and insights.
Q: What have you been up to since graduating the program? Where are you now?
I'm currently based in Seoul, South Korea, working as a Project Lead and UX Designer. I've been growing professionally through various projects and expanding my experience in the industry!
Q: How did the MSDA program impact your life and career?
It was one of the most meaningful accomplishments and experiences of my life. All the people I met and the experiences I had there completely changed my life. I learned the value of working hard, staying up late, and giving my best to every task. Now that I'm in the industry, I've come to realize once again how unique the MSDA program is. It's rare to find people who have both strong CS knowledge and artistic insight like MSDA graduates do. This experience reaffirmed for me just how special and inspiring the program truly is.
Eammon Littler '22
Q: What were you doing before joining the MSDA program?
I was an undergraduate student at Wheaton College, double majoring in Physics and Computer Science. I've always had an inkling of wanting to explore digital arts, but there were no opportunities of that kind at my undergraduate school. It was the combination of physics, computer science and 3D printing that I really wanted to pursue, but I felt like I lacked the knowledge and setting to effectively put those together. Going into my senior year at Wheaton College, I had applied for the MSDA program and found my chance to combine my interests and apply it towards a thesis project.
Q: What have you been up to since graduating the program? Where are you now?
Throughout my time as an MSDA student, I was an intern at the company, QUEL Imaging, and I began full time a couple months before graduating. We were a small company of three and now grew to eight a couple of years later. I'm still local, teaching Digital Fabrication and Rapid Prototyping for the second time this summer.
Q: How did the MSDA program impact your life and career?
It brought me to the upper valley which I now call home. The environment here is why I stay, but the MSDA program is what gave me that opportunity. The MSDA program gave me more insight into the world of research. It was my first true introduction, since my undergraduate college lacked that exposure. I was able to freely explore my own curiosities and combine my existing passions with a concerted research effort, culminating in my thesis. The classes I took exposed me to various niches in computer science I was not privy to in the past. Those served as great inspiration for the work I do now and the fun I have coding outside of work. It felt strange to see how much of an overlap the field of biotech has with what I learned from the MSDA program. I'm happy to say the classes I took have directly informed the decisions we make at QUEL. Overall, the MSDA program has impacted my life and career for the better.