Member Profile: Janine Liu
1. What do you do, and how long have you been doing it?
I’ve worked at Cesium as a 3D Software Developer since early 2022. Initially, I contributed to CesiumJS, our 3D geospatial engine on the web, but I moved to the Native Runtimes team in late 2022. We integrate Cesium with popular runtimes like Unreal Engine and Unity, bringing geospatial capabilities with our plugins, while supporting developers as they take advantage of built-in engine features.
I spend much of my life in the intersection of computer science and art, consuming plenty of animated and interactive media—most notably, video games! And I’ve always wanted to combine my interests as seamlessly as possible in my career. So, I feel right at home on the Native Runtimes squad, working with game engines, 3D graphics, shaders, and open standards.
2. What was your first job?
Cesium is my first job out of college! If it counts, my very first job was an internship in high school, where I did front-end work for a project at the Computational Institute of the University of Chicago.
3. Where did you complete your formal education?
I graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a Bachelor of Science in Engineering, majoring in Digital Media Design. I have always been humored by how artsy the major sounds, when I actually was immersed in code most of the time.
4. How did you first get involved with ACM SIGGRAPH?
During undergrad, I attended events that were hosted by the SIGGRAPH chapter at Penn, including workshops and alumni talks. Through these meetups, I was able to connect with others in the SIGGRAPH community and bond over mutual interests.
5. What is your favorite memory of a SIGGRAPH conference?
I loved attending the “Advances in Real Time Rendering in Games” courses. I like video games, of course, but I also have a lot of respect for the effort that developers put into them. I love seeing people dissect shader or rendering techniques that result in immersive environments, or cool visual effects.
6. Describe a project that you would like to share with the ACM SIGGRAPH community.
I always point to a final project I did for GPU Programming, a class at Penn. My team implemented a 2019 paper called “Dynamic Diffuse Global Illumination with Ray-Traced Irradiance Fields” by Majercik et. al., achieving dynamic global illumination in a procedurally generated and textured scene, inspired by Minecraft aesthetics. We challenged ourselves to use Vulkan, and since some of our hardware couldn’t process the Vulkan ray tracing extensions, we had to manually raytrace in a shader. But still, we achieved a working implementation of the light probe algorithm in the paper. You can read more about it here! https://www.janineliu.
7. If you could have dinner with one living or non-living person, who would it be and why?
I’m caught between two choices. I would love to talk to Willow, whose music I really admire, to ask how she developed her music and writing style. I would also love to talk to Xiran Jay Zhao, who is a really cool author and content creator, and I would love to pick their brain on Chinese history and good writing habits.
8. What is something most people don’t know about you?
I studied Taekwondo throughout middle and high school, and I became a second degree black belt by sophomore year of high school. However, I haven’t practiced in years, so I can’t say I’ve retained any of that martial prowess.
9. From which single individual have you learned the most in your life? What did they teach you?
This may read as a cop-out answer… so I apologize in advance.
Many people have had to teach me valuable lessons throughout life that I know now. But to actually learn and absorb knowledge requires a lot of elements. It requires vulnerability, to admit ignorance and inability. Initiative, to want to grow, learn, and change. Patience, to keep with it despite the intermediate failures. And accountability, to hold yourself to new standards and retain your knowledge for the years to come.
I’ve always had a fear of failure, and in the past that has made me unwilling to unlearn. But over the years, I think I’ve become more able to admit my weaknesses and accept criticism. I have pushed myself to try things that I know I’m not good at. And that has helped me establish a baseline from which I can see that, yeah, I *am* improving. :)
I’m afraid I can’t point to one individual that has taught me that. I think with the help of others in my life — friends, classmates, therapists — I have been able to grow more comfortable in my skin and accept where I’m at, knowing that I can better myself in the future. So I will broadly thank them, and also myself. I haven’t completely internalized this mindset, but I have become more able to swallow ego and embrace humility—and not out of shame, but as forgiving and nonjudgmental acceptance.
10. Is there someone in particular who has influenced your decision to work with ACM SIGGRAPH?
At Penn, I had a former friend who introduced me to SIGGRAPH. She was on the board of Penn’s SIGGRAPH chapter, so she would encourage me to attend events. I was riddled with social anxiety in college (more so than today), so I was always reluctant to go. But ultimately I relented and showed up to one event, and then more after that.
11. What can you point to in your career as your proudest moment?
Over the years, I have been given opportunities to speak at external events on behalf of Cesium. I’m not a great public speaker—my nerves often get the best of me, my voice shakes, I talk fast, and I forget to breathe. But I care about doing my best, and I always try to, especially if I’m representing the company.
Initially, my hesitation came across the wrong way. It made me sound like I didn’t want to show proactivity or leadership. In reality, I was scared and overwhelmed by the prospects, and I wanted a lot of support. I was upset when, as a result of this miscommunication, I was not able to speak at an event that was a good opportunity. I wanted to do it, but I didn’t convey that well, because I was so buried in anxiety.
But, I tried to channel my emotions in productive ways. The next time that I was asked to speak, I was more affirmative in my answer. I was better at expressing my appreciation for these opportunities, and my genuine desire to do them, while gently requesting the support that I wanted to do a good job. After articulating myself more clearly—and assertively!—I was given more chances to speak, and my speaking ability improved over time. Navigating that moment with the courage and self-belief to advocate for my needs, is what ultimately helped me build up my confidence to tackle bigger challenges.