Youngjun Kim, known as Jun, is a Research Tech II at the Digital Humanities Core Facility (DHCF) and plays a role in nearly every project the core undertakes. Or, as he humbly puts it, he "like[s] to help around."

"My official role, I guess, if I were to describe it in my own words, is to help facilitate various projects in the DH core," Jun said. "I support the infrastructure and also help manage the software we have—not just for students and faculty, but for anyone who needs to do research."

He is a senior at the University of Houston, studying Digital Media with a minor in Technological Leadership and Innovation Management (TLIM), which focuses on skills like project management, communication, problem-solving, teamwork, and bringing new ideas into traditional roles.

Jun has always been interested in computers. His curiosity grew in middle school when he started playing Minecraft. In sixth grade, inspired by mods and maps, Jun began learning Java by studying and experimenting with mod code, comparing it to building Lego.

"I learned to program by taking a product, even if it barely worked, and taking it apart little by little to see what broke when I removed something," Jun said. "Then I’d kind of correlate: OK, this is the function, most likely. That’s how I learned to program. It was very difficult. I was never like, 'Oh yeah, I’m gonna snowball and get really, really good at this.' Even though I started in 6th grade, it was more like I’d start a project, work on it really religiously for a week or two, then lose interest for a couple of months. Later, I’d remember, 'Oh wait, I have that,' and pick it up again. Six months down the line, I’d make a little progress.

"It wasn’t until I was in high school that I took it more seriously," he continued. "I did a game jam where we had to make a game in three days. I worked with a group of people from the Internet—we were in a similar community. We didn’t do anything for the first two days and crammed during the last 24 hours. But that’s when I had fun and started to think, 'Oh, I know how this works.'"

Jun described TLIM as straightforward, unlike the open-ended nature of Digital Media classes. He explained that while they learn graphic design principles, they are encouraged to break them intentionally and justify their choices—a sharp contrast to traditional education's strict guidelines. Jun noted that the freedom in digital media is both creatively rewarding and challenging.

He admitted, "I didn’t take my major seriously. I felt there was no real-world application outside of a very specific category." So, early in his college career, Jun considered becoming a plumber or tradesman when he graduated. He explained that it seemed difficult to secure a job in the field unless he started his own company, which offered no guarantee of success. "It was nerve-wracking," he said, and it didn’t fully "click" until he began working part-time at the Digital Research Commons.

"I remember exactly what happened," Jun said. Dr. Garcia Merchant, Director of the Digital Humanities Core (DHC), happened to notice Jun’s screen while he was working on an Intro to C++ course. She asked if he knew Python and if he’d be interested in doing a consultation. "I said, 'Sure, I don't know what that entails, but that sounds cool.' And that was the start of it. Yeah, from there, it snowballed really quickly. At times, it was a bit hectic, but I don't regret any of it. I think it was a lot of fun."

"Then it was like, well, there’s a lot of software here—why don’t I just play around with it?" Jun continued. "During the internship in the summer, that’s when it kind of clicked for me. I realized there’s definitely a crossroad between the humanities, arts, and STEM."

Jun plans to develop a Python for Humanities workshop series in the Fall of 2025. For now, his day at the Digital Research Commons begins at 8 a.m., preparing for open hours at 8:30 a.m. His mornings include updates with Dr. Merchant to review progress and projects. He collaborates on a SharePoint Migration Project with DHCF staff, Will Ngo and Carolyn Ngo. Jun also manages Optical Character Recognition (OCR) for the DH literary project The Year 1771, adapting models for serif-based calligraphy.

"With the 1771 project, I tried to tackle it the same way everybody else was tackling it, which is to feed it more data and hope eventually it'll work. But I realized that with the short amount of time we had and how specific our application was, there was no dataset—and no time to create one. So, what else could I do? Why don't I, instead of treating this as a block of text, treat it simply as black-and-white paintings? And why don't I treat the whole thing, instead of individual checks, just as one artwork? And how can I segment it into sections, similar to how you would cut a magazine page into different sections?"

However, the project that is currently drawing the most attention is Jun's work with Artec’s professional 3D scanners, which digitize real-world objects in high resolution for the US Latino Digital Humanities Center (USLDH) and TSU Art Museum.

"Essentially, it’s like a really, really large barcode scan," Jun said. "The way I like to describe it is kind of like that scene in WALL-E, where the little robot scans things with the laser. It’s essentially that, except you don’t see the laser. So, my goal right now is to teach them how to operate the scanners and experiment with the various issues we're running into, like glare and texturing mishaps. Glare is the biggest one."

"The reason it's difficult is that the documentation for the scanners says if you have glare, just spray anti-glare spray," Jun continued. "We can't really spray anti-glare spray on century-old pottery or artifacts because we're just gonna destroy it. So, one of the things I'm looking into right now is lighting technologies that are actually being used in surgery rooms because the overhead lights in surgery rooms shoot lights at various angles. It's never just straight down. It's at various angles. That's why, in operating theaters, there's never a shadow, despite the surgeons being right over the patient. And so I'm seeing if we can recreate that, or if there's a product that can recreate that. And if so, maybe we can utilize that with the scanners to evenly light things while at the same time mitigating glare entirely."

He explained that many universities with art departments house incredible artifacts often overlooked in university museums, and scanning them could help bring these treasures to light. Jun connected this idea to the mission of the Digital Research Commons, which he believes helps the UH community by showing students the broader, real-world applications of their studies. While it’s often said that not using your major in your career is acceptable, Jun worries this mindset can discourage students from finding value in their skills.

Jun highlighted the connections between the disciplines, how Engineering’s precision can improve data visualization, and how graphic design principles like color theory and accessibility apply across fields. He noted that elements like color choice, user experience (UX), and photography angles are important for communication in Journalism.

For Jun, the DHCF shows UH students that their degrees are valuable. They just need to find the connections.