Giovanni Argueta studied in computer engineering at the University of Miami, where he started his academic career. Giovanni went back to his home state of Maryland to continue his engineering studies at Montgomery College (MC), despite his love of the bright weather and the benefits of living close to the lake. Giovanni discovered about UMD’s Cyber-Physical Systems Engineering (CPSE) program, which is offered at The Universities at Shady Grove (USG), at an informational tabling event at MC.
Giovanni is a recent graduate of the University of Maryland’s (UMD) A. James Clark School of Engineering and a ClarkLEADER. His capstone thesis, Survey and Analysis of Collision Detection Algorithms in Blender, was chosen to be presented at the IEEE SmartNets 2025 Conference in May 2025.
Giovanni’s portfolio has a video example of his Blender animation correcting script. GiovanniArgueta’s Github website has the complete Blender repair directory, complete with source code and detailed instructions.
Giovanni has had an incredible journey. After talking with Brian Schoem, the CPSE Program Coordinator at UMD, he decided to enroll in the program. Mr. Schoem emphasized the curriculum’s emphasis on giving students practical work experience, particularly in the field of software development. Giovanni found this appealing since he valued the fair distribution of software and hardware.
Giovanni said that CPSE’s smaller class sizes and committed faculty give students the skills and information they need to solve problems and challenge the status quo.
Capstone ProjectGiovanni’s original capstone project was to create visually appealing dance techniques using Bailando, a music-to-dance Machine Learning model.Using the rhythm of the music it is given, Bailandois, a 3D dance generator with a choreographic memory, can produce dances. The fact that some of Bailando’s outputs were prone to creating motion anomalies—movements that defy the laws of physics—was immediately apparent to Giovanni.
Luckily, Giovanni’s capstone project mentor, Dr. Tiglao, a CPSE professor, learned that Digital Infuzion was seeking researchers with Blender expertise to assist in creating artificial human movements with the software. Dr. Tiglao suggested that Giovanni concentrate on mastering Blender before tackling the issue of identifying and fixing motion abnormalities for his capstone project.
Notably, the movie Flow, which took home the 2024 Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, was made using Blender, a free and open-source animation program. Giovanni’s capstone project relied heavily on Blender’s ability to produce animations while minimizing motion anomalies. Go to Giovanni Argueta’s Github for a thorough description of how the computer determines joint/bone collisions.
Some reviewers recommended adding deeper examination of the suggested techniques after his research was accepted to be presented at the IEEE SmartNets 2025 Conference. The limited analysis resulted from the paucity of existing research on the subject. Giovanni’s objective was to carry out an initial assessment in order to have a better understanding of the existing situation and then come up with remedies.
The fact that this capstone project resulted in Giovanni’s internship at Digital Infuzion was one of its main highlights. Giovanni benefited from this chance by gaining useful industry experience that advanced his career.
A Digital Infuzion internshipAt a university employment fair, Giovanni first became aware of Digital Infuzion, an IT, software, and biomedical company situated in Maryland. Later, Dr. Tiglao told him about Digital Infuzion’s Blender animation study and suggested that Giovanni concentrate on learning the required Blender programming abilities. After that, he put Giovanni in touch with someone at Digital Infuzion, who helped him land an internship.
Giovanni collaborated with a group at Digital Infuzion that conducted research on illnesses linked to mobility. Their objective was to produce simulated data that reflected the limited mobility brought on by these conditions. An AI model intended to categorize and forecast symptoms was then trained using this data. Giovanni was able to work with Blender on a program that was relevant to one of his capstone projects and contribute to research that aims to treat people with rare genetic conditions during his internship, which was a harmonious blend of learning and impact.
ExperienceatCPSE Dr. Tiglao, CPSE Professor, and Dr. Gomez, CPSE Program Director, stress the value of stepping outside of traditional academic frameworks, particularly in quickly changing domains like software development. For example, Dr. Tiglao gave his pupils a chance to practice pitching their ideas by inviting professionals from the business to his lecture. In addition to imparting technical knowledge, these exercises help students get ready for the kinds of presentations they might give in the workplace.
Your chances of finding employment after graduation will probably improve if you customize your abilities to target a particular industry, field, or business. Above all, identify your specialty and make sure you enjoy what you do.For budding engineers, Giovanni Arueta’s insights
Throughout Giovanni’s academic career, Dr. Tiglao’s assistance and direction were crucial, demonstrating the amount of attention to detail and work that CPSE instructors put into helping their students grow. He guides his pupils in carrying out excellent research and motivates them to submit their work to respectable journals and conferences. He thinks that having their work published will give them a big advantage in the fiercely competitive employment market.
The emphasis placed by the CPSE program on giving students practical industry experience was essential to Giovanni’s development as an engineer. He valued the instructors’ encouragement of pupils to pursue their genuine interests and their development of adaptable, yet organized, curricula that could change with the times.
Giovanni is prepared to contribute significantly to the engineering industry as he embarks on the next phase of his life and career. He will undoubtedly reach new heights because of his curiosity, commitment, and love for finding solutions to challenging issues. Giovanni’s path is proof of the ability to improve the world and bring about long-lasting change via perseverance, hard work, and pushing boundaries.
Learn more about the Cyber-Physical Systems Engineering (CPSE) program at The Universities at Shady Grove (USG) Rockville campus or become involved as a student, academic partner, or industrial organization:
Please visit their website at https://shadygrove.ece.umd.edu/ or send them an email at [email protected].
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