My purpose is to create Aha and WOW moments!
I have had a track record of creating impact as an award-winning creator using energy technology!
As a refugee escaping from Vietnam, Van's childhood dream job was to become a comic book artist because he loves to tell stories. However, his parents wanted him to pursue a more stable career, so off he went to study psychology and business economics at UCLA. Upon graduating with cum laude honors from UCLA, he went to work for Ernst and Young. As he was crunching numbers as an accountant, Van yearned to doodle instead. Fortunately, a chance screening of the SIGGRAPH Electronic Theater changed his life. After seeing a fantastic short film created by just one individual, Van was inspired and transformed. That aha moment was transformative as it motivated him to learn this emerging technology to tell his stories.I am passionate about VR and emerging technology to push the boundaries of storytelling!
Van's breadth of experience in XR, emerging technology, pipeline development, real-time game engine, animation films, broadcast, interactive media, academia, and psychology has given him a unique perspective and teaching philosophy. He can be creative at these intersections and leverage his knowledge to create Aha and WOW moments. He loves solving problems, pushing the boundaries of new mediums, and solving creative and technical issues. Recently, Van has had the opportunity to work on multiple award-winning metaverse projects. These include improving processes and workflows for animation, previz, XR, and virtual concerts, creating content for award-winning VR, and learning and testing cutting-edge tools in AI and the metaverse.
I love fostering Aha moments to help learners fulfill their potential!
In addition to production work, Van enjoys facilitating Aha moments for his learners and incorporates team-based learning to foster community learning. He has taught or been a guest speaker at Duke University, SCU, AAU, LMC, Mt. Sac, SCU, LSU, Cal Arts, SCAD, Ringing, and Stanford University. Besides animation and story, Van has recently explored game development using real-time rendering and AI. He is honored to be a TD/instructor for the 2023 Unreal Animation. He also advocates strength-based pedagogy and has presented at the Stanford Neurodiversity Summits and the Pedagogy Conferences.
