Priyanka Pardasani
Hannah Bollar, alumna in Computer and Information Science who studied Computer Graphics and Game Technology, grew up close to the booming tech industry of her native Mountain View, California.
She is a self-proclaimed pragmatist and says that, at four years old, her biggest life dream was to be a bubblegum salesman. Her logic behind this career choice? A stable income and an unlimited supply of her favorite candy.
Since then, Hannah’s independent and logical spirit has carried her through her academic and professional career. While she may not be a bubblegum salesman, she chose to pursue a path in Computer Graphics at Penn where she has excelled in taking on independent projects, such as trying to build a game engine from scratch, and leading within her department as the first Head Teacher’s Assistant in CIS’s Intro to Computer Graphics course in six years.
Hannah says that one of the most important lessons she has learned since coming to Philadelphia is how to say no to opportunities that aren’t a good fit for her. This skill, she admits, is still a work in progress but her leadership in and out of the classroom proves that by carefully selecting the right opportunities, she has built an academic and professional career in which she can thrive.
What does Hannah say yes to? Many exciting opportunities, including a position as a Rendering Pipeline Software Engineer with Pixar.
Read more about Hannah on Penn Engineering’s Instagram page.