Member Profile: Jake Adelgren

1. What do you do, and how long have you been doing it?

I’m a software engineer, which I’ve been doing for about 10 years.

2. What was your first job?

I was a farm hand on a dairy farm.

3. Where did you complete your formal education?

Vassar College.

4. How did you first get involved with ACM SIGGRAPH?

With my current job at Cesium. Cesium has been involved with SIGGRAPH for a number of years, and as my responsibilities have evolved at Cesium I’ve been getting more involved, too.

5. What is your favorite memory of a SIGGRAPH conference?

Last year at Denver someone gave a presentation on a program they’d created that allowed the user to rip apart objects (monster corpses included) in ridiculous ways. The presentation was packed with puns and was, frankly, hilarious.

6. Describe a project that you would like to share with the ACM SIGGRAPH community.

I’ve been heavily involved in Cesium’s Reality Tiler, a program built to generate 3D Tiles from photogrammetry models. 3D Tiles enables streaming of large-scale 3D data in a geospatial context (i.e. anchored to the globe). I would simply share 3D Tiles; there are numerous use cases that folks may find interesting.

7. If you could have dinner with one living or non-living person, who would it be and why?

It’s hard to narrow down, but I keep coming back to Richard Feynman. He was brilliant, insatiably curious, and had a childlike playfullness that I admire. I’m sure there would never be a dull moment, and I’d love to get a glimpse into how he saw the world.

8. What is something most people don’t know about you?

While I’m introverted and generally pretty reserved, I’m also a bit of a thrill seeker. I love snowboarding (and am constantly trying to clock a new high speed), water skiing, jumping off of stuff (usually into water) and exploring in general.

9. From which single individual have you learned the most in your life? What did they teach you?

This may sound a little corny, but it has to be my mother. She tought me grace, gratitude, patience and curiosity. Above all, she taught me to be open-minded.

10. Is there someone in particular who has influenced your decision to work with ACM SIGGRAPH?

Patrick Cozzi and the folks at Cesium got me involved in SIGGRAPH.

11. What can you point to in your career as your proudest moment?

Before Cesium, I was largely involved in small startups that, unfortunately, didn’t quite make it. And while these were incredible learning opportunities, the reach or impact of our work was relatively minimal. Now, however, we have folks using our software for historical preservation, for infastructure planning, and for national security, to name a few. So I’d have to say “now” is my proudest moment, as I’m part of something with such incredible impact.