Vincent Cheung: From Math Class to Software Designer?
and CEO of Shape Collage. Shape Collage is an exciting new software program that creates fun, innovative photo collages out of your digital photos on your computer or even in your Facebook albums. How many of us have hundreds if not thousands of digital photos stored on our computers, unprinted and disorganized? I know I do and so did Vincent Cheung. Vincent Cheung is clearly a
I
smarter-than-average student, with a Ph.D. From the University of Toronto in Machine Learning and Computer Vision. He has worked at both Microsoft and Google. In fact, it was after a summer internship at Google that the idea for Shape Collage was born. Vincent and his friends spent a summer snapping digital shots of all their adventures around northern California and sharing photos. At the end of this experience, he had thousands of photos and wanted a way to share them with him friends and family. He knew he couldn’t
post
his Facebook so he started a different share of
all of them to page or blog, looking for way to
a larger body
photographs. Vincent
researched
other digital collage makers but found them to be too simple and too square!
So he created his
had the good fortune to speak with Vincent Cheung, founder
own collage by hand in Photoshop. If you have ever worked with Photoshop, you know how time consuming this must have been. Or if you have ever tried to construct a creative collage out of hundreds of printed 4” x 6” photos, you know how difficult it is to get them just like you want them. Vincent quickly realized that by using what he had learned about math, programming and algorithms, he could create a computer program to create photo collages that could take any shape, from a heart, to a circle, letters, numbers or yes, even a cat.
When I spoke with Vincent, he
said that he used all of the math skills he learned in school, from elementary school and beyond, to help create the Shape Collage program. So the next time one of your kids complains about math class or says they want to program video games, show them what Vincent created using algebra, trigonometry and calculus. With all of the talk these days from
the government about STEM initiatives and encouraging more students to stay involved and interested in science, technology, engineering and math education, Vincent Cheung is a great role model of how to have fun with technology and how to make money doing what you love. Share with your frustrated sixth grader that over 3 million people have downloaded Shape Collage in the two years since he
42 North Texas Kids • February 2011 •
www.NorthTexasKids.com
launched the
program.
50% of those 3 million are in
non-English speaking countries. Talk about an
international impact! From a personal perspective,
Shape Collage is just fun! It is easy to use and the opportunities are endless for what you and your kids can create together. Make sure to take a look at the Flickr Gallery of collages people have created using Shape Collage at
http://www.shapecollage.com. The collage of photos from the Dallas Heritage Village on page 10 was created using Shape Collage software. But don’t take my word for it, watch the demo video and try it for yourself. Share your collages on the North Texas Kids Facebook page and tell us what you think about the experience and the software. For more information about Shape
Collage, or to try out the program, visit them online at http://www.
shapecollage.com
Dr. Minette Riordan is the publisher of North Texas Kids magazine and a happy, photo-snapping mom of two. She can be reached at
minette@northtexaskids.com.
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