Sebastian Kopacz

Hello, I am Sebastian Kopacz and I mainly made this website for archiving all the cool projects and assignments I worked on during my undergraduate degree at the University of Calgary.

Contact Me

The best way of contacting me is by email. To see more of my work you can find me on ArtStation, GitHub, YouTube or Gumroad. Otherwise I try to stay away from social media so don’t expect to see me on LinkedIn or Facebook.

Formal Education

Bachelor of Science at the University of Calgary (2015-2020)

  • Combined degree in computer science and psychology.
    • With a concentration in computer graphics.

Technical Skills

Computer Science

Languages

  • C++
    • My favorite programming language.
    • Usually used it for graphics assignments & projects.
  • GLSL
    • Likewise used for graphics assignments & projects.
  • Python
    • Preferred scripting language.
    • First language I learned.
    • Wrote assignments, helper scripts, games, etc. using it.
  • C#
    • Preferred mid-level language.
    • Used this for several Human-Computer Interaction projects and assignments.
  • ARM Assembly (v7 and v8)
    • In a group of 2 I wrote a clone of the original Super Mario Bros. game using ARMv7 assembly.
      • Also wrote the driver let the Raspberry Pi 2 Model B we were using talk with a NES controller.
    • Also wrote several other less flash assignments in the two courses which taught these languages.
  • Haskell
    • Learned it when learning about functional programming.
    • Functional programming concepts stayed with me but I don’t remember Haskell too well.
  • Java
    • I strongly dislike Java but I guess I technically know the language thanks to several courses using it and its similarity with C#.

APIs

  • OpenGL - Most of my graphics assignments & projects were written using OpenGL.
  • Blender - I wrote scripts to help me make art.
  • Vulkan - Used Vulkan to make use of Nvidia’s RTX technology for ray tracing.
  • PBRT - Most of my rendering assignments used the PBRT library.
  • Keras - The machine learning research I did in summer 2018 used the Keras library.
  • CHAI3D - My haptics assignments were all done using CHAI3D.
  • Unreal Engine 4 - Used CHAI3D as a driver to integrated haptics into UE4.

Tools

  • JetBrains IDEs
    • CLion
    • IntelliJ
    • Rider
  • Visual Studio
  • Visual Studio Code
  • SSH
    • PuTTY
    • WinSCP
  • Terminal editors (if necessary)
    • Vim
    • Nano
    • Vi

Experience

  • Learned programming (Python) in summer of 2015.
  • Worked on dozens of programming assignments and projects throughout my degree.
  • Various personal projects ranging from simple scripts to full projects.
  • Research position during the summer of 2018 where I was tasked with using machine learning to landmark faces for medical purposes.
  • Refer to the projects section of this website for more details.

Art

Workflows

  • Modeling using Blender:
    • Meshes with various modifiers.
    • Parametric modeling using curves and surfaces.
    • Procedural techniques.
    • Particle systems.
  • Materials (shaders):
    • Creating fully procedural materials with procedural textures within Blender.
    • Baking those procedural textures to images for use outside of Blender.
    • Dabbled in creating or tiling image textures using Quixel or Photoshop workflows.
  • Level or scene design in Blender and other engines.
  • Rendering and compositing/post-processing within Blender or Photoshop.
  • Exporting for use in other renderers (games, mods, etc) or 3D printing.

Tools

  • Blender
  • Photoshop
  • Unreal Engine 4
  • Unity

Experience

  • Started with Blender sometime around 2011 to 2012.
  • Contributed 3D models to various modding teams.
  • Participated in Blender competitions.
  • 3D art executive for the Game Design Club at the University of Calgary from 2017 to 2020.
    • Provided teaching materials and assistance for creating 3D art.
    • Created 3D assets for the club’s games.
    • Helped organize and plan what 3D assets needed to be completed.
  • Refer to my ArtStation profile for more details.

Psychology

Focus

  • Neuroscience
  • Learning & Memory
  • Motivation
  • Cognition
  • Perception & Sensation

Tools

  • SPSS for statistical analysis when necessary.
  • Preferred writing my own scripts for data processing and statistical analysis since it was less cumbersome.

Experience

  • Lab work with Sprague Dawley rats as part of a course.
    • Ran various behavioral assessments.
    • Wrote lab reports analyzing those assessments.
  • Read and presented neuroscience research papers to the class.
  • Researched the origins of human interests for the motivation course I took.
    • Presented my findings to the class in a lecture format.
    • Wrote a term paper on the topic.

General

Languages

  • Fully fluent in English.
  • Verbally fluent in Polish.

Math

  • Very comfortable with most linear algebra topics needed for computer graphics.
  • Okay with calculus, statistics, logic, and discrete mathematics.
  • Aware of differential equations and topology.

Interests

Professional

  • Computer graphics
  • Procedural generation
  • Artificial intelligence
  • Neuroscience
  • Game development
  • Robotics
  • Digital haptics
  • Human computer interaction

Hobby

  • Playing & modding games
  • Creating digital 3D art
  • 3D printing
  • Watching shows & movies
  • Reading fiction
  • Staying up to date with science & technology
  • Playing with my dogs