MPS Staff Profiles

Michael Faber

Multimedia Specialist and Lab Manager Michael is a 2005 Duke grad and a longtime patron and staff member of the Multimedia Project Studio. After working as a consultant for the MPS for two years as a student and producing a multitude of multimedia-related projects for his visual arts degree, Michael graduated with a B.S. in Math and no idea what to do with his life. So he spent the next year continuing to work as a Senior Consultant at the MPS and refine his design skills. In July 2006, he assumed the post as Multimedia Computing Specialist for OIT and took over control of the Multimedia Project Studio.  He is the project manager for Froshlife, is on the DDI Operations committe and generally has his hands in anything multimedia-related on campus.  He's got big plans for the lab, and is always looking for suggestions.  Outside of Duke, he spends his free time pushing vectors and pixels around for his freelance design business, cooking up a storm, or practicing brazen acts of charcuterie.
Expertise: Illustrator, Photoshop, iMovie, Digital Photography

Xing Su

Civil Engineering, Economics, 2013

Ever since I took a Digital Graphics and Animation class in my freshman year of high school, I have been absolutely obsessed with multimedia production. Over the years, I have messed around with and taught myself a variety of different software packages for 2D and 3D graphics design, web design, film editing, animation, and etc. I am currently involved with an art history project called Visualizing Venice here at Duke and with a non-profit organization in Guatemala for web and graphics design. I also work for the DiVE (Duke Immersive Virtual Environment) with the Duke Visualization Group. Feel free to ask me about anything, I’d love to help.
Expertise: Adobe Bridge, Dreamweaver, Photoshop, Illustrator, Premier Pro, iMovie, iDVD, 3DS MAX, HTML, CSS

Tim Yoon

Economics, Public Policy, 2012 Tim is from the San Francisco Bay Area. He loves to chill - from playing Jack Johnson tunes on his guitar to snowboarding down the slopes of Lake Tahoe. Since middle school, Tim has been fascinated with multimedia in all forms. From making high school tribute videos for his friends to Photoshopped pictures of various nature scenes to making music recordings with Garageband – Tim is always down to explore new software that speak to his eclectic passions.
Expertise: Adobe Photoshop, iMovie, Garageband

Angie Yu

Visual & Media Studies, Markets & Management Studies, ISIS, 2013

Angie is a Visual and Media Studies major from Dallas, Texas. She loves bright colors, Mad Men, and the Illustrator pen tool. Additionally, she is a designer for the Duke Innovative Design Agency (DiDA) and is involved with the Duke University Union (DUU).
Expertise: Illustrator, Photoshop, Web Design (HTML/CSS)

Lawrence Evalyn

English major, Arts of the Moving Image certificate, 2012

Lawrence’s interests careen wildly from the ancient to the cutting-edge. His first venture into multimedia was an iMovie documentary about the Latin epic the Aeneid. His most recent was a Final Cut film short inspired by Petrarch, the Italian Renaissance poet who coined the sonnet form. In between he’s hand-coded a website about Jane Austen’s Northanger Abbey, and used Illustrator to draw poster interpretations of favourite poems. He also has fond memories of Photoshop and InDesign from high school journalism, and burns a mean DVD.
Expertise: iMovie, Final Cut Pro, iDVD, InDesign, Illustrator, Photoshop, HTML/CSS

Alikiah Barclay

Public Policy, 2013

When he took the elective Movies in 8th grade, Alikiah world was opened by the joys possible through in multimedia production. As the years passed on he also found it to be a useful at communication tool. He’s excited to share what he has picked up along the way, and gaining more skills. If you’re at MPS West laying down a track he’d be happy to be featured or background vocal. He’s also a member of the SLG Ubuntu, an America Reads and Counts Tutor at Carter Community School, and a member of a host of finance related organizations at Duke.
Expertise: Final Cut Pro, Photoshop

Stephen Zhu

Economics, 2012

Stephen loves making movies for personal and class projects, and taking pictures to document all his travel adventures. His companion for beautiful shots and high-def video footage is a trusty Pentax K-x dSLR. Recent works have included his dorm’s Froshlife video, projects for classes in television and experimental film, and a series chronicling his time abroad.
Expertise: Final Cut Pro, Adobe Premiere, Adobe Photoshop

Billy Baumgartner

Economics, 2014

Three of my biggest hobbies are film production, music production, and photography. I have made many films, ranging in topic from a 30 minute short horror film about zombies to a documentary illustrating conditions and culture in rural Haiti. I also produce classical, hip-hop, dubstep, and house music, and DJ at parties around campus and Durham. I also play club lacrosse at Duke and my favorite color is purple.
Expertise: Advanced in Final Cut Pro, Motion, Logic Pro, Photoshop, Garageband. Proficient in After Effects, Color, Illustrator, Soundtrack Pro.

Likhita Kommidi

Economics, Markets and Management, 2013

Likhita first started working with web design and desktop publishing tools in high school as editor of the school newspaper. It quickly developed into a passion, and she has since been finding new ways to creatively apply her skills and learn more about multimedia software. She was assistant design editor for the Chronicle for a while and helped design layouts for some undergraduate journals on campus. Currently, she works for DiDA (Duke Innovative Design Agency) and is Publicity Chair for Duke Habitat for Humanity. Eventually, she’d like to end up working for Disney.
Expertise: Adobe Creative Suite, Dreamweaver, HTML/CSS

Fola Omofoye

Chemistry, 2012

I got interested in multimedia back in middle school when I first discovered POWERPOINT! and its ability to do animations, transitions aka a slideshow! This led to a love for making slideshows that continued through HS and even here at Duke! It wasn’t long till that grew into combining all forms of media leading to a new found hobby of production, editing, and playing with cool software. I am a wannabe AMI certificate student, and so I’ve taken a couple of the Arts of Moving Image classes. I haven’t done too many projects except videos for classes, or videos with Duke Africa etc. I’m new at this game, but I’ve had my share of problems with iMovie, Final Cut Pro, so I’d be more than happy to assist with anything, and if I can’t figure it out, we can certainly google it together
Expertise: iMovie, Final Cut Pro

Amanda Peralta

International Comparative Studies, Political Science, Media and Journalism, 2012

I’ve only been swept away by the world of multimedia while at Duke, but I’ve been learning eagerly. I’m in the Media and Journalism certificate program because I love how new forms of journalism are intersecting with technological development. I’ve taken production classes in film, TV journalism and podcasts, and love making my Powerpoints and Prezi’s beautiful. My current personal project is web design, so if you ask me something that I don’t know we can find the answer together. I’m also currently working on a thesis about digital activism in Latin America, and working on a flash-lecture series to help change the climate of Duke’s extra-curriculars on the side.
Expertise: Pro Tools, Final Cut, iMovie, Microsoft Office

Samir Rao

Economics, Psychology, Finance, 2013

Samir has been enjoying multimedia production since he was handed the camcorder on his first family vacation. From lightsaber wielding soap opera video editing for Spanish class to website design for a video game studio to animated motion logos for a local company, Samir has explored a range of creative multimedia projects. Whatever your project, Samir is happy to lend a hand.
Expertise: Adobe Photoshop, Premiere, After Effects, Web Design (HTML5/CSS3), Final Cut Pro, iMovie

Joel Wanek

MFA Experimental Documentary Arts, 2013

When not baking vegan pastries or simmering Thai curries for hours, Joel enjoys deepening his Photoshop and Final Cut Pro knowledge or making wish lists of the latest digital cameras. A recent transplant to Durham, Joel has spent the past 13 years teaching photography and video to high school and elementary students in public schools throughout Chicago. Check out some of his and his students' work at joelwanek.com.
Expertise: Adobe Photoshop/Lightroom/Bridge, iMovie, Audacity, Indexhibit

Toni Wei

Economics major, Policy Journalism and Media Studies Certificate, 2012

Hi! I’m a Chapel Hill native who is interested in media, business, travel and food. (Ask me for restaurant recommendations in Durham!) I also love baking, dogs and AP style. I got my start in multimedia while serving as managing editor for The Chronicle, laying out each day’s paper in InDesign and creating graphics in Photoshop.
Expertise: InDesign, Photoshop

Michael Gay

Public Policy, Economics, 2013

Growing up in Eastern NC, I enjoyed taking photographs wherever I was. At Duke, I have learned to use my hobby as a communication tool for documentary and policy advocacy work. I hope to continue learning and integrating multimedia projects with my work in Public Policy. I also have experience designing journal publications through my work with RELIGIO, an undergraduate journal of Christian thought. My other hobbies include tennis and guitar.
Expertise: Lightroom, Photoshop, InDesign, Dreamweaver, Amadeus Pro, SoundSlides, Snapz Pro X

Richard Cao

Undecided, 2015

My first experience with filming and editing movies (my forte if you will) occurred while I was a young fish in high school and since then have fallen in love with art of making movies. I taught myself Photoshop in order to fulfill a nerd fantasy; Superman teaming with Spiderman anyone? Football is another one of my life passions, so when I’m not watching or playing football somewhere, I’ll help any of your MPS questions.
Expertise: iMovie, Photoshop

Austin Powers

Undecided, 2015

Austin has been editing video on computers since third grade and working in television since fourth grade. He’s produced quite a few videos since then, including silly PSAs, dryly informative news pieces, and even his boss’ wedding. In middle school, he was a television weatherman. He’s worked in every position from anchor to director, cameraman to editor. He’s also an award-winning theatrical lighting designer. Along the way he’s picked up fluency in Apple’s Final Cut Studio suite, Adobe Photoshop, and a smattering of other tools you might call his “digital toolbox”. He is interested in a major somewhere in the realm of history, law, and political science. Austin has always enjoyed helping others with their multimedia projects, and yes, he was born before the movies.
Expertise: Final Cut Pro, DVD Studio Pro, Compressor, Soundtrack, Handbrake, Adobe Photoshop

Chris Dieguez

Masters in Divinity, 2014

Chris is a grad student at Duke Divinity and a long-time lover of photography. He is experienced with Photoshop, Final Cut, and Power Point, and can put a sleek edge on any presentation. In his free time, he enjoys photographing landscapes and wildlife, biking, and (of course) surfing Wikipedia for hours on end.
Expertise: Final Cut, Audio Hijack, Handbrake, iTunes, Power Point, Photoshop

Isalyn Connell

Visual & Media Studies Major, Neuroscience Minor, Markets and Management Certificate, 2014

Isalyn is a sophomore from New York City. She absolutely loves anything that allows her to be creative—from doodling on all the margins of her notebooks, to designing her own clothes. She is a self-taught graphic designer and photo editor working primarily with Adobe Photoshop and InDesign, but is always down to explore the unknown as well. Her love for the medium stems from magazines, of which she devotes an entire closet to at home. Her two idols in life are Grace Coddington and Sofia Coppola, and her dream is to be either a creative director of a publication or an indy filmmaker. In addition to working in the MPS, she is an editor of DMIX magazine on campus and a member of Delta Gamma.
Expertise: Photoshop, InDesign, Illustrator, iMovie, FinalCut Pro, iTunes, iPhoto, Garageband