Member Profile: Anjelikal Rogers
1. What do you do, and how long have you been doing it?
I’m an Adjunct Professor at Drexel University’s Antoinette Westphal College of Media Arts & Design, where I teach 3D animation and character rigging in addition to serving as a thesis committee member for two of my graduate students. I also teach 3D animation courses at the Pennsylvania College of Art and Design. Altogether, I’ve been teaching for almost three years.
2. What was your first job?
My first job was as a video editing intern at Alkemy X. Unfortunately, I started right as the COVID lockdowns began, so I wasn’t able to get the full in-studio experience I was looking forward to. Despite that I learned a great deal about post-production workflows and remote collaboration, and to this day I’m grateful to the Alkemy X team for still bringing me onboard during such an uncertain time. Their support helped me stay motivated and connected to the industry when everything felt so unpredictable.
3. Where did you complete your formal education?
I completed both my BS in Animation and Visual Effects and my MS in Digital Media at Drexel University.
4. How did you first get involved with ACM SIGGRAPH?
I first got involved casually through my student chapter at Drexel. As an undergraduate, I attended a few meetings, but just as I was beginning to come out of my shell and get more involved, COVID hit and everything moved online. Later, as an adjunct, I heard that a professional chapter was being chartered in my city and decided it was the perfect time to finally get involved. Now, I’m in my second term as Vice Chair of my local chapter, and it’s been very fulfilling to help build and grow our community.
5. What is your favorite memory of a SIGGRAPH conference?
At this past SIGGRAPH in Vancouver, my chapter partnered with the RIT student chapter to host an East Coast Meetup. We organized a networking bingo game, “Banter Bingo,” where participants had to talk to people who met certain fun criteria to fill their cards. At the end of the event, someone came up to me and said how much they appreciated that we organized it, and that it made them feel welcomed and connected. Hearing that honestly made my day. It felt really good to see people enjoying something we put real effort and heart into.
6. Describe a project that you would like to share with the ACM SIGGRAPH community.
One of my favorite classes I’ve helped developed is a creature creation and muscle simulation course, designed under the supervision and support of Assistant Professor Emil Polyak. For the main project, we worked with a physical T-Rex sculpture that we scanned using both structured light and photogrammetry. The structured light scan provided highly detailed geometry, which we retopologized in Maya and used to extract a normal map. Meanwhile, the photogrammetry scan captured high-quality RGB data for 4K textures using Reality Capture. We then re-projected the texture information onto the structured light geometry, rigged and animated a skeletal model, and used Ziva Dynamics for the muscle (modeled by hand), fascia, and skin simulations. Although we’ve since adapted the class due to software changes, it was really cool, and remains one of the most exciting and technically challenging projects I’ve ever taught.
7. If you could have dinner with one living or non-living person, who would it be and why?
Nichelle Nichols. I absolutely love Star Trek: The Original Series. Watching it as a third grader sparked my fascination with science fiction, and I’ve always admired Nichols’ portrayal of Lieutenant Nyota Uhura. Once, I even snuck into my local Comic Con just to catch a glimpse of her! If I could have dinner with her, I’d love to hear all about the behind-the-scenes adventures, what she loved most about the show, and how she navigated being such a groundbreaking figure in television.
8. What is something most people don’t know about you?
I love plants! My goal is for my living room to look like a miniature jungle. Over time I’ve gotten into rehabbing plants as a hobby, so much so that friends and family now bring me their struggling plants to revive. I practically live in the clearance section at Lowe’s and Home Depot, hunting for plants that need a little extra care. Bringing them back to life makes me feel like a bit of a mad scientist, and I have so much fun experimenting with different propagation methods and soil mixes. My collection is already pretty big, but I definitely plan to expand it even more once I get a few extra grow lights and humidifiers.
9. From which single individual have you learned the most in your life? What did they teach you?
I owe so much to the amazing women in my life, but if I had to choose one person, it would definitely be my Aunt E’laine. As a timid middle schooler, she taught me how to be assertive and hardworking. Her tough-love style of encouragement (though frustrating at times) showed me the value of stepping outside my comfort zone and how rewarding it can be to embrace the unfamiliar. Thanks to her I learned to find my confidence and my voice, both personally and professionally, and I carry those lessons with me every day.
10. Is there someone in particular who has influenced your decision to work with ACM SIGGRAPH?
My fellow undergraduate cohort in Animation and Visual Effects at Drexel definitely inspired me. I always saw how much fun they were having getting involved with SIGGRAPH and how much they were growing from it. Their enthusiasm definitely motivated me to get involved myself after graduation.
11. What can you point to in your career as your proudest moment?
Since my career is still relatively new, I’d say nothing makes me prouder than watching students create something really cool, especially when it involves concepts we worked through together, like character creation or facial and biped rigging. Knowing I played even a small role in helping them achieve something they’re proud of is an incredible feeling.
I love learning new things, especially when it comes to exploring new tools, programs, and creative techniques. Teaching has become one of the best ways to both expand my knowledge and put it into practice. My students teach me just as much, if not more, in return: how to communicate ideas more clearly, approach creative challenges from new perspectives, and give feedback that genuinely helps others grow. These experiences have made me a better collaborator and artist, and I’m endlessly grateful to them for keeping me curious, inspired, and engaged as a lifelong learner.