I am a Jr. Pipeline TD at Hornet, working with the pipeline team to bring new tools and technology to the animation pipeline. I graduated from Princeton in 2021 with a major in Computer Science and a Minor in Musical Theater. I wrote my senior thesis at Princeton on modeling bioluminescent bacteria in ocean waves in Houdini, advised by Professor Theodore Kim and Professor Adam Finkelstein. I received my master’s in Multimedia and Creative Technologies at the University of Southern California in August 2023. I am pursuing a career in 3D animation and my favorite movie is Ratatouille.
Work
Tech Director, Hornet
Jan. 2024 – Present
I created all of the CFX for Mac Miller’s Balloonerism, clothing and hair/fur for 15 different characters in hundreds of shots. I also developed a tool to automate fur, sculpt and clothing application and vellum simulation for each shot. I am Developing a system for creating large crowds in Blender and importing them into Maya. I work with artists and the tech team to create useful and effective tools as the studio needs.
Coding Instructor, Juni Learning
Dec. 2022 – Dec 2023
I teach one on one classes with students aged 8-18, giving instruction on computer science in Java, Python and C. Each week I meet with al 10 of my students for an hour as their primary computer science instructor.
In classes I cover subjects ranging from syntax and algorithms to artificial intelligence and game programming.
CG Art Intern, Soul Machines
May. 2022 – Aug. 2022
I helped to transition of 43 different digital human phenotypes to a new rendering pipeline. I also encoded Soul Machines models and data into Pixar’s USD scene files for universal usage. In conjunction with that, I explored different commercially available physically based shaders in Maya, Unity and Unreal, to transition from a proprietary software.
Research Assistant, University of Southern California
Sept. 2021 – May 2022
I work with a small team of researchers to create a graphical representation of polyculture agroecosystems. We use computer graphics to compute optimal plant configuration given light and canopy conditions, which will ultimately be transferred to real world agricultural data to make more efficient and eco friendly farms.
Center Director, Coding Instructor, Code Wiz; Juni Learning
May 2021 – Present
I Instruct students aged 7-18 in coding and robotics, including Java, Python Unity Minecraft, Roblox and robotics I meet each of my 14 students weekly for 1 hour one on one lessons in coding over Zoom for Juni. I acted as a supervisor and administrator for Code Wiz, handling COVID safe protocols and safety
Teaching Assistant, Computer Science Dept. Princeton University
Sept. 2020 – May 2021
I gave instruction on course material for 3 CS courses: Algorithms and Data Structures, Intro to Programming Systems and CS: An Interdisciplinary Approach. I also helped students understand assignments and assisted in debugging. In addition, I graded assignments of over 100 students in Computer Science courses at Princeton each week and Checked the work of around 8 other graders weekly to ensure fair and consistent grading.
AWS Cloud Intern, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
June 2020 – Aug. 2020
I transferred 120 TB of climate data to the cloud and set up cloud computing through JupyterHub and ran analysis scripts on the cloud data. I also granted access to the data across Amazon AWS accounts to GFDL and ESGF administrators and worked in collaboration with the NOAA, ESGF and GFDL through CIMES.
Grading Supervisor, Computer Science Dept. Princeton University
Jan. 2019 – May 2021
I grade assignments of over 200 students in Computer Science courses at Princeton University each week and standardize and supervise other graders work to ensure uniform and fair grading. I also answer questions from students regarding assignment grades.
Counselor, Greenwood Music Camp, Cummington, MA.
Aug. 2018 – Aug 2019
I coach and play violin and viola with over 60 musicians aged 10 – 18. I live with and take care of the kids for seven weeks in the summer so I also keep the children’s prescriptions and medicines and make sure they take them each day.
Natalie O'Leary 