Member Profile: Kalina Borkiewicz
1. What do you do, and how long have you been doing it?
I work at the intersection of computer graphics, data visualization, and human-centered computing. That has taken a few different forms. About a decade ago, I started working at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA) where I created cinematic scientific visualizations. There, I worked with a small and mighty team called the Advanced Visualization Lab (AVL) to visualize 3D scientific datasets like galaxies, molecular structures, and tornadoes for museums, films, concerts, and social media. I started working there as a programmer, and by the time I left, I was the Director of the AVL and also Director of a new Visualization Program Office that I had created. It was a wild ride! More recently, I’ve done some data journalism work at The New York Times, using computational photography / computer vision to analyze image data and visualize news stories about sports and politics. And I’m now pursuing a PhD at the University of Utah, where I’m still doing graphics+visualizaton, but focusing more on human-centered computing and data storytelling. I’m researching visual communication best practices, like how people create and understand scientific imagery.
2. What was your first job?
I like this question because I think it’s great to highlight the fact that most people don’t have a straightforward career path. My very first job, as a teenager, was as a waitress (and I was NOT cut out for it). A few years later, the first job which utilized my computer science degree was as a full-stack software engineer at a medical software company, where I made an Android app and several web applications. There was no computer graphics or visualization aspect to that work whatsoever, although even then, working in CG was my dream. And I made it happen after a couple of years!
3. Where did you complete your formal education?
This is still a work in progress. I got my Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. There was a 7-year gap between the two, and I completed my Master’s while working full-time. It was rough, but worth it. Then 3 years after completing that, I returned to school once again to work on my PhD, which I’m doing now. I’m at the University of Utah’s Scientific Computing and Imaging Institute, working under Dr. Kate Isaacs. Despite working in visualization for a decade, I hadn’t actually had formal training in it until now, and it’s wild how much I still have to learn. I’m a huge proponent of lifelong learning.
4. How did you first get involved with ACM SIGGRAPH?
I joined an ACM SIGGRAPH Student Chapter at the University of Illinois when I was an undergrad, so SIGGRAPH had been on my radar for a long time. I didn’t get to go to my first SIGGRAPH conference until I had my first graphics job, years later. Once I started attending the conference, I slowly became a contributor – presenting first at BOFs, then panels, then courses. I kept getting more involved – then in addition to being a contributor, I became a reviewer and a juror. Then also as a volunteer on the Nominations Committee, then also as a program manager for Women of SIGGRAPH Conversations. Then in 2023, I was the Director of the Computer Animation Festival, which was one of the most fun and rewarding experiences of my life. Now for 2025, I am the Courses chair. It seems like I’m getting more and more sucked in each year – quite happily!
5. What is your favorite memory of a SIGGRAPH conference?
It must have been my first SIGGRAPH. My colleague introduced me to a group of attendees from Australia, including Tomasz Bendarz, who offered me Australian chocolate called TimTam (which I had never tried before, and was delicious), and gave me a little koala bear clip (which I still have). I felt immediately welcomed and adopted into that group of SIGGRAPH friends, and it colored my impression of SIGGRAPH as a warm, inviting, and wonderful community. It has certainly lived up to that expectation. I attend other conferences as well, but only SIGGRAPH feels like “home”.
6. Describe a project that you would like to share with the ACM SIGGRAPH community.
The first project I led as a Principal Investigator was a visualization about the discovery of the black hole at the center of our Milky Way galaxy, created in collaboration with Nobel laureate Dr. Andrea Ghez, who discovered it. How cool is that? The visualization starts at the Earth, then the camera flies up and out of the Milky Way galaxy, and descends near the galactic center. There, we see a beautiful and complex environment with colorful gas and dust clouds, and we continue zooming toward the center of the galaxy until we see strange stars orbiting the black hole.There’s a version that I narrate, too! We got someone with a much nicer voice to do the final narration, but it was fun to pretend to be a voice actor for a minute there.
7. If you could have dinner with one living or non-living person, who would it be and why?
John Lennon. I am a huge Beatles fan and he has always been my favorite member of the band. I actually did get to meet another Beatle, Ringo Starr, which was a dream come true.
8. What is something most people don’t know about you?
I was born in Poland, and I only ended up in the USA because my parents won green cards in a lottery – what are the odds of that, right? My family came here with nothing but hope, and we didn’t know anyone or speak English. I’m a first-generation US citizen, first-generation to get a bachelor’s degree, and honestly, the first to do many things in my life. Growing up in a working-class family, I’ve always been incredibly grateful for every opportunity, and I try not to take anything for granted.
9. From which single individual have you learned the most in your life? What did they teach you?
Without a doubt – Stuart Levy. He was a Senior Research Programmer when I first joined the AVL, and he showed me the ropes and took me under his wing. I had learned about computer graphics at school, but had no experience with data visualization going into the job. I owe so much of my technical knowledge to Stuart, who is a great and patient teacher and mentor, and is never too busy to help anyone with anything. Stuart is also extremely knowledgeable about astronomy and science, which I am also passionate about, and I learned a lot about how the Universe works thanks to him. Beyond all that, Stuart has also been a role model for me when it comes to being a good person. His kindness and strong moral character inspire me to think “what would Stuart do?” when I find myself in difficult situations. I am a better person thanks to knowing Stuart, and I’m sure he has that impact on everyone whose path he crosses.
10. Is there someone in particular who has influenced your decision to work with ACM SIGGRAPH?
AJ Christensen, a long-time SIGGRAPH volunteer and my office mate for many years at NCSA. He often talked about his work for SIGGRAPH, and it sounded like he was doing cool stuff with cool people. I was intrigued, and he was more than happy to rope me in. He put my name forward for the Nominations Committee, and introduced me to Muunuu Nandigjav who was kicking off Women of SIGGRAPH Conversations – two great committees that got me started on my road to volunteering.
11. What can you point to in your career as your proudest moment?
Chairing the SIGGRAPH 2023 Computer Animation Festival (CAF) is probably my proudest moment. Each year, program chairs are asked to define a vision for their program—whether that means maintaining tradition or doing something bold. I went for bold. It was SIGGRAPH’s 50th conference, a huge milestone, and as someone specializing in data visualization (which is rare in this role), I wanted to use the opportunity to showcase visualization in a big way. That vision led to two ambitious projects: (A) the Computer Animation Festival Retrospective and (B) an interactive flight through the Universe for the CAF pre-show.
The CAF Retrospective set out to highlight seminal work from the past 50 years of SIGGRAPH. A project like this had been attempted before but was abandoned because of its sheer complexity. Keeping that in mind, I asked the amazing Alex Kekesi to help lead the effort. We worked with the SIGGRAPH Pioneers Group to identify works that had made a lasting impact. From there, the real challenge began—tracking down the videos, securing screening rights, and editing everything into a cohesive “Best of SIGGRAPH” reel. To make it even more special, we brought in an all-star panel—Alvy Ray Smith, Carolina Cruz-Neira, Dennis Muren, Donna Cox, and Paul Debevec, moderated by Doug Roble—to provide live commentary as the reel played. Getting to spend time with these legends of animation, real-time technology, VFX, visualization, and research was an experience I’ll never forget.
The CAF pre-show was inspired by my background in planetariums, where audiences are taken on vast journeys through space. I wanted to bring that same sense of wonder to SIGGRAPH, so I invited Dawn Fidrick to help lead the effort. Together, we worked with OpenSpace and Derivative (creators of TouchDesigner) to create an interactive data-driven experience. The journey started at the LA Convention Center and kept zooming out—past Earth, through the solar system, across the galaxy, and all the way to the edge of the known Universe. But here’s the fun part: the audience got to choose where we went next. Using computer vision, they controlled the experience by waving their arms left or right—no paddles, no remotes, just movement. It was a nod to a famous CAF pre-show from the ’90s where the audience played Pong with red-and-green paddles. Seeing thousands of people engaged and having fun was incredible. After the conference, we put together a short documentary about it, which you can watch here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=el1tA0XhfZo.
I’ve worked on a lot of cool projects, but this one was something special. Taking these ideas from scratch and turning them into reality—overseeing every piece of the puzzle, from building the team to securing sponsorships to writing software and setting up hardware—was an unforgettable experience. It was a crash course in leadership, creativity, and problem-solving, and the best part was seeing it all come to life in front of thousands of people. That moment of collective excitement, watching it all unfold, is something I’ll carry with me forever.