Grizelda Ambriz
Project Manager
Grizelda Ambriz was born in California but raised between Mexico and California allowing them to fully immerse themselves in two cultures. As a latinx between two cultural identities they studied Chicano History and Spanish at the University of California, Davis where they explored the concept of localization and translation while working for California Center for Cooperative Development and Davis school district. These opportunities sparked their interest in attending MIIS, where they now study Translation and Localization Management. Grizelda is always daydreaming probably about their science fiction shows and books and they love napping with their dog Coco after food comas.
AVL Committee
Olivia Plowman
Audio Engineer
Olivia Plowman was born and raised in Maine, but studied Japanese Language and Literature at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, studied abroad at Nanzan University in Nagoya, Japan, and worked for a year in a small city in Gifu Prefecture, Japan as an Assistant Language Teacher. This winding path led her to MIIS, where she studies Translation and Localization Management. She loves cute creatures and aspires to live somewhere where she can own a cat (or multiple).
Keqiu Zang
Audio Engineer
Keqiu Zang (goes by Kiki) comes from Beijing, China. She works on translation and localization management at MIIS. The professional background made her proficient in various types of translation and design software, able to meet clients’ needs. She has taken over localization projects in various verticals, including but are not limited to games, media, finance, law, and information technology. Years of study and work experiences overseas also enable her to catch a deeper understanding of translation and cultural integration. She spent much time studying and travelling around the world because she strongly believes that a person wants to be an excellent translator can’t be fixed to one place. She has been to many great cities in Europe, Asia and Africa while did some freelance jobs along the way, like interpreting meetings in the UK and Germany, translating some documents online, and doing some part-time subtitling jobs with great passion and enjoyment.
Baoze Zhang
Transcript / Audio assistant
Born and raised in China, Baoze Zhang loves languages and obtained his bachelor’s degree in Translation and Interpretation at Beijing Foreign Studies University. He also likes the video game, League of Legends, whose translation is the topic of his undergraduate thesis. Yeah, interest is always a powerful drive! Now he wants to explore more in the language services industry and chooses to study in Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey pursuing his master’s degree in Translation and Localization Management with a specialization in Translation (Chinese <> English). He enjoys taking challenges and is always eager to learn something new. Oh, guess which animal he loves most? (Sadly, it doesn’t always love him back.)
Xinxin Huang
Transcript / Audio assistant
Xinxin Huang is a high school teacher turned translator and localizer. After teaching English in high school for several years, she decided to shift her focus from language education to translation and localization, with the belief that communication in different languages among different cultures can be easier and more efficient with her efforts to help connect the world better. Xinxin is currently pursuing her Master’s degree in translation, localization and management in Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey (MIIS). With her learning at one of the best professional graduate schools in terms of localization or language industry, she would hope to share with you her understanding of the localization industry, and hope you could find it useful to some degree, get inspired by her adventure in the localization industry. Plus, she is also a podcast lover and would like to bring more interesting stories and insights from the localization world through this amazing podcast to you.
Marketing Committee
Yutong Du
Social Media Lead
Yutong Du, majoring in Translation and Localization Management, is proficient in English and Japanese as a Chinese native speaker. Growing up in Chengdu, a city that enjoys a long history, Du has always been passionate about art and classic literature. She is responsible for projects in entertainment domains with her working experience in media companies. She served as an editor (traditional Chinese) of the official tourism website of Sichuan with a multilingual website localization team. Also, Du is skilled in visual design and multilingual desktop publishing with her aesthetic intelligence and experience as an e-book designer. After volunteering as a captioner in TED translator teams she has gained insight into visual-audio localization. Today, she is looking forward to achieving a balance of technology, translation and design in work.
Shiyu Zhang
Graphics
Born and raised in China, Shiyu Zhang holds a Bachelor of Italian Literature degree and is currently enrolled in Translation and Localization Management at Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey. Previously, she studied Drama, Art and Musical Studies at University of Bologna as an exchange student. After interpreting at HOMI, COSMOPROF and CERSAIE exhibitions in Italy, she felt the charm and power of language and decided to pursue all the things she loved: the integration of language, technologies and business. She had three years of educational experience in programming and two years of professional experience in marketing. She developed abilities of data analysis and project management when working with Italy Chamber of Commerce and Byte Dance. Shiyu has a passion for language services industry and is dedicated to combining her expertise in localization with her multilingual abilities.
Yijun Wu
Graphics
Yijun is a Translation and Localization Management major student at Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey. She was born and raised in China, along the way she picked up English for life, Korean for college, and German for fun. As a dedicated language learner and theater nerd, she is eager to explore a niche market between both passions.
Hanchun Wang
Visual designer
Born and raised in a family where both her parents work in the field of computer engineering, Hanchun naturally picked up an interest in computer science, while she also gradually developed her own interest in foreign languages. These led her way to the field of translation and localization. Having graduated from Beijing Language and Culture University with a bachelor’s degree in Translation and Localization, Hanchun decided to continue this path and finally came to MIIS. Hanchun is a native Mandarin Chinese speaker and is also available in some Japanese and a little Spanish. In her free time, she loves playing video games, drawing and listening to music. Games are her best friends in learning foreign languages and this is exactly how she picked up Japanese.
Ruby Lee
Visual designer & Audio Engineer
Ruby Lee was born, raised, and educated (mostly) in Taiwan. She had the chance to study for one and a half years in England 11 years ago, where she developed her interest in cross-cultural communication and language. Such interests led her to major in English Language and Literature in college, and took French as her second foreign language. That path was later specialized into the localization field. Ruby believes the works of localization not only opens opportunities, but also brings people together, whether social distanced or not. Other things she likes include humor, food, and travel. After all, the world is our oyster.
Deep Dive / Speedbump
Andrew Taylor
Outreach Lead
Born in rural Southern Illinois, but raised in Denver, Colorado, Andrew Taylor came to the Middlebury Institute of International Studies directly from his undergraduate studies at Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota. Although he began studying Japanese there as a casual interest, he soon became fascinated by the intricate political and cultural landscape of Japanese Social Linguistics and, after completing a semester of study abroad at Sophia University in downtown Tokyo, graduated from Macalester in May 2020 with a major in Japanese Language and Culture and a double minor in Computer Science, and English Literature. With linguistic analysis, computer technology, and storytelling being at the forefront of his specialties, Andrew has enrolled in the Translation and Localization Management program at MIIS in hopes that the localization field will give him an outlet to pursue all of his diverse passions and interests.
Geyu Chen
Outreach Committee
Geyu Chen was born and raised in China. Before got into the language service industry, he was an electrical engineering student. All he focused on was electric bulbs and power grids. He thought that would become normal in his life. However, Geyu unexpectedly got a chance to work for The Palace Museum thanks to his language proficiency. Finally, the experience and his passion to languages lead him to MIIS. Now he is a second-year student in Chinese TI program. Geyu wishes to add more flavors to his learning experience just as what he likes doing in kitchen.
Xiao Chen
Outreach Committee
Born and raised in Beijing, China, Xiao Chen decided to pursue a degree in translation and localization management at Middlebury institute of international Studies after receiving a bachelor’s degree studying economics. With her love for language learning and translations, taking this leap was not surprising. After her first year at MIIS, she dived into an internship during the summer working as a localization manager at a client-side company where she was in charge of handling app updates in over ten languages. Equipped with multi-tasking skills, translation skills as well as hands-on localization project management experiences, Xiao is ready for more challenges coming back as a second-year student. She loves snowboarding, surfing, hiking…now scuba diving is added to her bucket list!
Ekaterina (Katya) Chudinova
Outreach Committee
Katya was born and raised in a small town in Russia. She discovered her interest in languages relatively late — during the first year of high school when she took her first real English class. This interest eventually brought her all the way to the West Coast of the U.S., to MIIS, where she studies Translation and Localization Management. She is excited to learn about the language industry every day and uncover countless new possibilities. She enjoys being active, playing with her dog, and picking up a new crafting hobby every month just to abandon it after a few weeks.