Class of 2009: Dalnews features some of the 2,700 graduates who'll walk across the stage of the Rebecca Cohn Auditorium during Spring Convocation, May 19 to 27.
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| Andrew Shouldice |
For as long as he can remember, Andrew Shouldice has been drawing, doodling and painting. He confesses that sometimes he’ll even sneak a sketch when he should be tackling a classroom problem.
That love of design hasn’t dissipated as he’s moved into the databases and disc drives world of computer science. With a focus on computer animation, Andrew’s honours thesis provides a model for ocean surface simulation—manufacturing the perfect seascape for everything from video games to flight simulators.
“You want the ocean to be physically accurate, but my take is that you have to always make it look good at the same time,” he explains. “You need to be conscious of the balance between something that is technically correct and something that simply is awesome to watch.”
Mr. Shouldice, originally from Dartmouth, transferred to HÂţ» looking to get more out of his education than a technical degree. “I wanted to do something a bit more meaningful…I wanted to stretch myself, push myself more.”
A stellar student with several awards and Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council grants to his name, Mr. Shouldice has been a familiar face in the Computer Science Society, serving as president, social rep and undergrad rep. He’s not only donated his time but his talents.
He created the pixilated version of the Dal shield that adorns the society’s most popular T-shirt, and also designed the Computer Science grad ring that many of his fellow graduates will be purchasing for the first time this year.
“To me, design is about coming up with something aesthetically appealing that communicates an idea,” he says. “Above all else, that’s what’s important to me.”