Rowan Student Places in International Graphics Competition

The computer science field is extremely varied, with multiple outlets for creativity, such as computer graphics. Computer graphics is up and on the rise here at Robinson, with the addition of the new AR/VR lab, new graphics classes, and ACM’S newest committee– Graphics. This new graphical spark coursing through the CS department attracted Anush Aryal, a (YEAR) graphic designer and current co-committee head of the ACM Graphics committee. With the new support and tools, Aryal was able to dive deeper into the artform—and that passion won him an honorable mention at the 39th annual SIGGRAPH Education Space Time Student Competition & Exhibition—an international graphics contest!

This past July, the 51st annual Special Interest Group on Computer Graphics and Interactive Techniques (SIGGRAPH) conference was held in Denver, Colorado. SIGGRAPH is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the discussion and development of computer graphics. A subgroup of the Association for Computing Machinery, SIGGRAPH hosts international conferences each year for graphics-fanatics to showcase their art and research, and learn about new design techniques and graphic technologies. SIGGRAPH hosts several competitions, one of which is the student-only SpaceTime Gallery. The SpaceTime Gallery is a graphics competition where students enter their original print work to be judged by a jury of educators based on a set theme—for 2024, that 2 was “the future of computer graphics and interactive techniques.” Aryal initially heard about the competition from the ACM graphics committee. “I was just looking around, wanting to explore what I could do, what companies I could work for, when I found the graphics committee,” says Aryal. “I was already a graphic designer, so when I found the committee, I just thought to myself, ‘Yeah, let’s go!’ Next thing I know, I was creating designs within minutes.” Aryal says. He was able to sharpen his skills at the committee, where he could freely use several high end art programs, such as those in the Adobe Suite.

Aryal’s poster, “GPUMANOID,” depicts an NVIDIA GPU robot holding Earth in its hand, set in front of a multi-colored cosmo, decorated with stars and satellites. The poster was made with the help of Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, and Canva. Aryal’s process involved examining the different graphical elements he would be working with in many different ways; reimagining and rearranging color palettes, object size and shape, text, text sizes—he analyzes the medium he’s working in, what it offers the artist, and explore every option he possibly can.  

Arayl started by working with a literal interpretation of “space”—first with the background, creating the galaxy backdrop. After a conversation with Professor Richard Rabbitz, Anush began to look beyond the competition’s theme, and analyze the current graphics industry. “I gave everybody in the Graphics Committee a rundown on the history of SIGGRAPH, and some ideas of what the prompt was looking for. [The judges] wanted the future of CS graphics.” With Rabbitz’s advice, Aryal decided that the focal point of his picture would be the new NVIDIA blackwell GPU chip, re-arranged and constructed into the massive robot. The robot was rendered, then brought back to the poster. “Since the GPU is a huge new thing within the graphics world, it would be the perfect centerpiece for my poster,” Aryal says. With the GPU’s revolutionary power, it holds the entire world of graphics in the palm of its hand.

However, not everything was as easy as Aryal may make it sound. “One of the most difficult parts of designing the posters was making time for it,” says Aryal. “It took me two months because I had a lot of stuff going on during development, between my school work and my personal life. When I submitted it, I actually wanted to work on it more, but I ran out of time. But even though it took a lot of balancing on my part, I was able to push through and get it in,” says Aryal. 

Aryal is both very grateful and extremely excited to win the honorable mention. “I was just looking for something, roaming around, exploring myself– not even thinking about the competition. But, I gave it my all, and got recognized not only by the department, but by the whole SIGGRAPH organization! And I know that if I had more time, I could’ve submitted a more complete poster, so maybe this year with extra planning, I can place as high as third,” says Aryal. 

As for words of wisdom for anyone else wanting to take the graphics plunge? “Just give it a go! You never know what might happen!” says Aryal. Students interested in learning more about the Space Time Gallery, or want to know more about SIGGRAPH, are invited to attend Graphics Committee meetings—Tuesdays at 5pm, in Robinson 311—or check out the ACM discord here. 

Written by Kiley Parker | Posted 10.5.24

Poster by Anush Aryal