Women Who Inspire Us
Software

Ellen Poon

Ellen Poon is a visual effects supervisor at Industrial Light & Magic, the award-winning special effects division of Lucas Digital Ltd. LLC. Her work ranges from supervising computer graphics crews to creating character animation and doing the lighting for feature films and commercials.

Poon obtained her undergraduate degree in computer science from the University of Essex in England. She continued her Ph.D. studies at the University of London and subsequently published two books on her research in theoretical computer science.

While in college, Poon had the opportunity to work on various fine-arts graphics projects and decided to pursue a career in computer graphics. She joined the Moving Picture Company and Rushes Post Production Ltd. in London, producing work that won numerous international awards. Poon was also invited to be a part-time lecturer at the Royal College of Art and the University of Middlesex in England, where she taught graduate-level computer graphics courses.

Poon joined Industrial Light & Magic in 1991 and has since worked on a number of ground-breaking projects. Her film credits include "Jurassic Park," "The Mask," "Men in Black," "Star Wars: Episode 1" and "The Green Mile."

Also: Read the transcript of the GirlGeeks chat with Ellen Poon.