Computer Science Alums 
Current or prospective students in the Computer Science program are welcome to email these alums for more information about their work or their education at UNH.
Please note: the purpose of this exchange is to answer questions about career and educational experiences--not to provide assistance with science projects, research, or other issues.
Marc Stevens, B.S. 1989
Development Leader, Softimage, Inc., Montreal
After graduating from UNH in '89 and working a few years at Digital Equipment Corporation, Marc Stevens returned to complete a master's degree focusing on
3D graphics at Brown University. From there he went on to work at Softimage, developing SOFTIMAGE 3D, a high end 3D animation/modeling/rendering package
that is widely use in the film, video, and computer games markets. Softimage 3D provides state-of-the art computer animation tools which have enabled the
current explosion of Computer Graphics effects in the entertainment industry. This dates back to films like Jurassic Park and more recently Titanic
and Godzilla. You can bet if the main character of the film was computer generated it was animated with SOFTIMAGE 3D. Most recently Marc has been focused
on the software architecture for the next generation of Softimage products.
on a Softimage 3D screen.
Email: mstevens@Exchange.Softimage.com
Click on the image to enlarge it and get a glimpse of an animated character in progress.
Scott Ross, B.S. 1984
Co-Founder and V.P. of Engineering, Zydacron, Manchester, N.H.
After receiving his degree, Scott got a job at a scanner manufacturer called ImagiTex, where he spent 3 years as a software engineer, tried one year in marketing, and became a group leader.
Then he spent two years consulting, mostly for Termiflex, making hand-held terminals, and Keyfile, which makes a product similar to Lotus Notes. He took a job with Keyfile in software engineering.
Next, Scott helped start Zydacron, which makes products that turn a PC into a videophone. He started as a principal engineer and is now vice president of engineering.
"UNH prepared me for the business world by giving me diverse experience in programming," says Scott. "That gave me the confidence to try new areas of software engineering. In the process, I made lots of good contacts.
Because of these contacts, I never had to interview for a job (after my first one), and I've been able to hire many prior co-workers. I have hired both permanent employees and summer interns from UNH.
I would be happy to talk with students about what makes a good engineer, what I look for when hiring, or other topics."
Email: sross@zydacron.com
Click on the image to enlarge.
Craig Smith, B.S. 1993, M.S. 1997
Researcher, University of Trier, Trier, Germany
Craig Smith started his senior year at UNH with a semester abroad in Budapest, Hungary. From this experience a seed was planted deep within him.
After returning a better person, he graduated and went to work at Xyplex, Inc. He grew weary of the quest for the almighty buck (the paycheck was great,
the learning hindered by economic necessity) and returned to graduate school. After a brief stop at the University of Oregon in beautiful Eugene, Craig
returned to his alma mater in '95 to satisfy his love of teaching and a practical based Computer Science education. In '97 he graduated with his M.S. and
is now living out his dream as a researcher in Programming Languages and Compilers group at the University of Trier, in Trier, Germany.
Craig's work focuses on automatic program comprehension (currently the problem domain of sparse matrix computations in FORTRAN77) for code optimization.
Email: smith@eowyn.uni-trier.de
Home page: www.informatik.uni-trier.de/~smith
Click on the image to enlarge.
Karen Jourdenais, B.S. 1984, M.S. 1988
Software Engineering Manager, Sun Microsystems, Burlington, Massachusetts
Karen Jourdenais spends her time managing a group of twenty or so people
who develop High Performance Computing products. High Performance Computing,
or HPC, is the high-end of the computer industry. This is the area of the
market where people are trying to solve BIG problems involving LARGE amounts
of data. These applications typically require supercomputers or clusters
of machines containing thousands of processors. As machines have become
bigger and faster the definition of HPC changes; PCs today can accomplish
what only a supercomputer do could previously. But one thing remains constant, HPC is always
pushing and defining the limits of computing.
Email: karen.jourdenais@east.sun.com