Confessions of a researchaholic

For NVIDIA senior architects

So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish

Dear friends:

I would like to let you know that I am moving on to the next stage of my career.

I have been very happy working with you guys in the past 3.5 years, and I am proud of being a member of this team. I would like to thank everyone who ever worked with me. In particular, I would like to thank John Danskin, who supported my need to publish papers and attend conferences, and nv50 texture team, whom I have the luck to work with in the most exciting project I had with this company.

Even though I will not officially associate with NVIDIA, I will still continue my contributions to Computer Graphics. For the next few years, I will spend the majority of time publishing research papers, and, as you might guess, one of my research topics will be exploring new applications for graphics hardware. As Jensen noted in a recent company meeting, graphics hardware is advancing so fast than the developers could barely catch up. Since enough smart people are working in this company already, I hope I could help the rest of the world figuring out how to utilize these wonderful beasts. Given my ability and track record in both industry and academia, I am confident that I will conduct research that is both fun and useful. (As a corollary, please put me on the front part of your graphics card donation queue.)

I am leaving around mid of June.

Some FAQ and answers:

Q: Where are you going for the next job?

A: I will be colleague with Kurt Akeley. I chose this place for its excellent people and publication record. Obviously, they are probably one of the best groups of people to figure out how to utilize graphics chips.

Q: Since you have shown that you can continue publication with NVIDIA, why don’t you continue to do so?

A: I have no problem managing my time and energy to continue publishing papers and patents while making managers happy, as I have demonstrated. However, there are other issues beyond my initial estimation. Since research is not the company’s agenda, I found it almost impossible to find collaborators, or even someone whom I could brainstorm with. Unfortunately, good research needs collaboration, no matter how smart you are.
A more serious problem is that some other junior team members might feel pressured by my publication ability, and it is very easy for them to mistaken my research effort as a sign of lack of work commitment. This may cause morality issue and management problems.
Aside from research, I do prefer spending the rest of my time designing and debugging products in a company, rather than teaching and writing proposals in a university. I just couldn’t find a good solution to the fundamental problems mentioned above.

(I will send out a similar email to the group on my day of departure, but without the FAQ part.)

For general NVIDIAN

Li-Yi OOTO until a few SIGGRAPHs later

(If you don’t know who I am, please ignore this email.)

I would like to let you know that I will be OOTO for a few SIGGRAPHs, and today is my last working day with NVIDIA.

I will no doubt miss the fun of wrecking graphics chips (and breaking regressions) with you guys. But I will continue my damage by exploring new methods to abuse graphics chips.

For the next few years, I will work for Microsoft Research at Beijing. I will spend the majority of my time writing research papers, and one of my topics will be exploring new applications for graphics hardware. In addition, I am likely to perform some community services of advising students and teaching at local universities.

You would probably hear my news if I get imprisoned for spreading poisonous political opinions. We Taiwanese have a tendency to do that. 😉

For friends

Dear friend:

I would like to let you know that I am moving on to the next stage of my career.

I plan to work for Microsoft Research at Beijing for the next few years. I will divide my time between research publication, technology transfer, and teaching/advising students. This is a group of top smart people, and I believe I will have a good time working with them.

During this period of time, Big-Head will remain in U.S. Both of us will have frequent business travels to see each other. Please feel free to invite her to your parties and activities; she might be able to tell you what I am up to in Beijing, even though I cannot join you myself.

If you have a chance to visit Beijing, please let me know so that I could introduce you to some genuine Beijing restaurants.

I am leaving around mid of June.