For this week’s edition of our “Meet the Squid” series, I chose to introduce you to this year’s class of Summer interns. Turbosquid interns are given the opportunity to gain some real on-the-job experience, unlike some internships that result in training legions of glorified coffee couriers. The TurboSquid Intern League sat down to answer a few questions about the projects they are working on, their school plans and goals for the future.
Which school did you attend, or which do you currently attend? Do you have a major?
Alan Newman (Development): Stanford – I’m working on a Master’s degree in Computer Science
Andrew Freeman (Product Group): I was at College of Charleston in South Carolina, but now that I am back in New Orleans I will be attending UNO next semester. I am working towards a business degree.
Liam Craver (Content Group): I am a senior attending Benjamin Franklin High School for half the day, then New Orleans Center for Creative Arts for the other half. At NOCCA, I will be going into level 3 of Media Arts.
Oliver Hill (Product Group): I currently attend a boarding school called Deerfield Academy in Massachusetts. My planned major is Computer Science
Silas Owings (Marketing): I graduated from Millsaps College in May, with a BA in Anthropology.
Taijon Robinson(Sys Admin.): I will be attending Louisiana State University this fall. My planned major is Computer Science, and I wish to one day work in game development.
What are you working on this summer at Turbosquid?
Alan (Development): I’m currently developing an automated framework to classify and score models, which will be used to enhance the search engine and handle new submissions.
Andrew (Product Group): Currently I am working on Feature Graph, organizing assets so that they are easily searchable.
Liam (Content Group): So far I have been mainly working on things related to the CheckMate inspection process. I’ve also done some stuff like learning Maxscript to try and tackle the pole detection problem… Yeah, way too detailed I know.
Oliver (Product Group): This summer I’m working with the Feature Graph team, working on the deep categorization of Turboquid’s products
Silas (Marketing): I’m currently doing a full-time internship in Turbosquid’s Marketing Department. My daily tasks at the moment are checking the site for crawler errors, keeping an eye on our social mentions (which shows what people are saying about Turbosquid on the web) and updating our Pinterest account. I also blog for the company and do a variety of tasks involving our site’s rankings on Google (Search Engine Optimization).
Taijon (Sys Admin.): This summer at Turbosquid I am working on small projects to get me familiar and comfortable with programming, as well as assisting with anything I can in the IT department under Radar and Foster.
What do you like about interning here?
Alan (Development): Good people, good work, good tea.
Andrew (Product Group): I really enjoy the people that I work with here at Turbosquid, but I come in every morning for the free cereal.
Liam (Content Group): Everything! No seriously, the atmosphere in the office is cool and relaxed but still has an air of business. The people working here are all masters of their individual crafts and quite happy to share their knowledge with others. Interning here also allows me to do what I already enjoy doing, but with more resources. Plus, it’s been a slight dream of mine to work here ever since Turbosquid started popping up in the local newspapers and on the web!
Oliver (Product Group): What I like most about working at Turbosquid is the atmosphere in the office. It feels like there’s a “work hard, play hard” attitude that’s shared among employees. People are productive but happy! Also, the 3D printer is really cool!
Silas (Marketing): I’m honestly not sure where to even start with this question, there’s a reason Turbosquid keeps getting ranked as one of the best places to work by City Business. The office is a very laid back environment with a whole lot of perks, but honestly, as a young man right out of college, the company parties are possibly my favorite part!
Taijon (Sys Admin.): First of all, I love interning here and am glad to even have the privilege, but I simply love having an opportunity to be in an environment with people who have similar interests to me. I also love being able to learn from all the friendly people at Turbosquid, who have already been through what I hope to do one day!
What’s your favorite 3D model from our catalogue?
Alan (Development): Crazy Fractal 20
Andrew (Product Group): Anything that is 3D printable. So cool!
Liam (Content): Not actually a model, but rather a picture: qafish. By far my favorite thing I’ve found on the site!
Oliver (Product Group): I can’t decide on a favorite.
Silas (Marketing): By far, my favorite 3D model is Omama. Pump up the music!
Taijon (Sys Admin.): My favorite model is the Suzuki GSX-R 600 2011 because of the general beauty of the model and the detail on the bike. This impressive model would fit in beautifully with one of my fiction game ideas.
Anything else you’d like to tell us about? Hobbies, volunteer work, other jobs?
Liam (Product Group): I am currently volunteering at Children’s Hospital during the weekdays when I’m not at Turbosquid. I also am occasionally hired to do freelance work under my company/brand Lime Studios, which usually deals with coding or art. Ever since I was little, I’ve been fascinated with computers. I actually learned the coding language, Python, at a very young age. Currently, I’m working on the second edition of my gaming engine, LimeWorks. I also have had a lifelong interest in graphic design and animation, which I owe in part to Japanese animator Hayao Miyazaki, though French animation is actually my favorite style.
Silas (Marketing): I’m actually currently doing my second internship with Turbosquid! When I was in high school I used to come into the office with my dad (who works in development) once a week to do work in QA. I’m an avid Star Wars nerd, burgeoning beer snob, hopeful home brewer, and European history enthusiast. I also have a growing interest in tattoos, and got my first one in June.
Taijon (Development): My hobbies are playing video games and writing small pieces of fiction. I also enjoy constructing fictional worlds which I hope to bring to life, by either writing a series of books, or developing video games. Through working at Turbosquid, I’ve made a new hobby of learning code and making small projects that involve programming.