Member Profile: Derek Ham
1. What do you do, and how long have you been doing it?
This fall I joined the faculty of Carnegie Mellon University as the Director of the Entertainment Technology Center. This marks my twentieth year in academia of which I have spanned teaching in several design fields including architecture, graphic design, game design, animation, and immersive technologies.
2. What was your first job?
There’s been a lot of attention lately to those of us who worked at McDonalds at some point in their early lives. As for me it was my first job as a junior in high school. While I wouldn’t say it paved my road in creative fields, it did open my eyes to customer service, and taught me valuable lessons in patience.
3. Where did you complete your formal education?
I’m a proud alum from a Historical Black College/University (HBCU). My first degree which was a Bachelor’s in Architecture came from Hampton University. Immediately after I went to Harvard’s Graduate School of Design and earned a Master’s Degree in the same field. It was only after some years of working and teaching in the field that I opted to have a pivot in my career and design interest. This led me to MIT where I completed a PhD in Design Computation.
4. How did you first get involved with ACM SIGGRAPH?
When I was an undergrad I had a professor who told me about SIGGRAPH, as I was very into computer modeling and animation. It was in the late 90’s and while I was formally taught to use CAD software for building modeling and rendering, I would secretly use my spare time to computer model characters. This professor knew that my interest in computer modeling, graphics, and rendering would fully be ignited at a SIGGRAPH conference, but I never had the means to attend. Some years later, early in my teaching career I was lucky enough to be in Tallahassee FL, the year that SIGGRAPH was in New Orleans (2009). The drive was a short five hours, and it changed my life! All the same it would take another nine years for me to return, but this time as a contributor. In 2018 I had my VR project “I Am A Man” accepted in what was then called the VR Arcade. I’ve since been the Chair of the Immersive Pavilion twice (2022 & 2024). It’s been a wonderful journey.
5. What is your favorite memory of a SIGGRAPH conference?
I will never forget my first SIGGRAPH experience in 2009. At that time the exhibit hall was just as much of an event as the experience hall.That year Pixar/Renderman had a booth that was simply breathtaking. The entire booth was a full scaled version of the house in the film “Up.” It was so detailed with the mailbox, balloons, and I kept thinking to myself how magical and surreal it was to learn about the software that created the film, sitting immersed in the recreated set of the animated film. For me that’s what SIGGRAPH has always been about. It is a magical convergence of technology, creativity, and art.
6. Describe a project that you would like to share with the ACM SIGGRAPH community.
Earlier this year I released a short independent animated film I had worked on the year before titled “The War Torn Drum.” It was very much a passion project as I took it on completely by myself (writing, character design, animation, editing etc). Projects done this way do come with some setbacks as it lacks some of the completeness and “polish” it would have with a properly sized team, but it was something I wanted to do on my own. I’m pretty proud of it. In fact it did well in many of the independent and culturally Black film festivals winning Best Animated Short at the 2024 Virginia Black Film Festival, 2024 Charlotte Black Film Festival, and 2024 DC Black Film Festival (it also screened at several others).
At the end of the day I am most excited about the project’s narrative, a fictional story about a Black Cowboy. In the genre of animation, it’s hard to find a film, TV show, or any episodic content featuring a Black Cowboy (I couldn’t find any myself). While historians have said 1:4 cowboys were black, in the imaginations of animators, writers, and producers, Blacks did not exist in the Old West. My little film, “The War Torn Drum” is a rare piece of animated art depicting Black Cowboys, allowing them to be heroes in fiction as they were in real life.
7. If you could have dinner with one living or non-living person, who would it be and why?
This might sound strange, but I wish I could time travel in the future and have dinner with any of my children as older adults. I have three wonderful kids ages 14, 11, and 8. I like to imagine seeing them as older people (in their 60’s and 70’s) and hear what they had to say about their childhood. How will they tell the story of the COVID years when they were having school at home with dad and mom on zoom calls. I really hope I live long enough to see them as older adults and have that conversation.
8. What is something most people don’t know about you?
When I was in undergrad I was very much passionate about music, even as much as I was about my creative design career. In fact, in my undergraduate years at Hampton University, outside of my architecture major, I sang in the University Choir, Gospel Choir, and Concert Choir, which traveled and toured the southeast. Music has always been a big part of my life, and it’s one of my favorite elements to play with even now when I am working on some of my work in immersive storytelling.
9. From which single individual have you learned the most in your life? What did they teach you?
It’s hard to just pick one person. I am fortunate to have been raised by two amazing parents who really grounded me in faith, family, and the pursuit of excellence in my career. I’m also married to an amazing wife who has always been supportive of my work. I could go on and on about individual professors and mentors I’ve had as well, so it’s hard to just pick one, as I’ve always benefited from communities.
10. Is there someone in particular who has influenced your decision to work with ACM SIGGRAPH?
I have to thank Mona Kasra for this one. After seeing my piece, “I Am A Man” in 2018 she invited me to speak and present at UVA where she is on faculty. If anyone has met Mona, you know how much of an advocate she is for SIGGRAPH and its community. She pointed me in the right direction, and I was fortunate enough to be selected as a chair for Immersive Pavillion in 2022.
11. What can you point to in your career as your proudest moment?
Career proudest moments are hard to pinpoint, but I do think completing the PhD program at MIT (for me) is up there. Growing up, going to college was no-brainer as my parents were first generation college students. So getting an undergraduate degree was expected. Yet, I was always impressed that my mom completed her Masters Degree, taking it a step further. I am grateful I had the opportunity to keep pushing the dial forward (academically) for my kids. The idea is that each generation stands on the shoulders of the ones before them.