Iowa Alumna Crafts Digital Worlds as Video Game Animator

PHOTO COURTESY JU LI KHAW Ghost of Yōtei

Growing up admiring Disney movies, Ju Li Khaw (08BA) always knew she wanted to be an animator. Now she’s living her dream in the competitive video game industry.

Khaw’s journey began at the University of Iowa, where she double majored in art and computer science. She credits her computer science courses for teaching her the fundamentals of coding that she still uses today.

PHOTO COURTESY JU LI KHAW University of Iowa art and computer science grad Ju Li Khaw now brings characters to life as a video game animator.

Khaw furthered her education in 3D animation and visual effects at the Vancouver Film School, where she was introduced to the complex worldbuilding within video games. “You are the player’s connection to the virtual world,” she explains.

In a typical day, Khaw spends a lot of time at her computer in Bellevue, Washington, putting art in motion while paying close attention to detail. Khaw has contributed to video games like Wolfenstein, Redfall, and most recently Ghost of Yōtei, where she animated extra characters and animals such as foxes, chickens, and crows.

As a child in Mount Pleasant, Iowa, Khaw remembers being asked, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” She says, “Those questions never really go away as you get older. I would tell young people to find what really speaks to you and go for it.”