Q&A: Amazon Scholar Ming Lin Discusses Fashion Technology

Tell us about your Amazon career journey. I have been with Amazon as a Scholar since 2020.  Although I have worked closest to my teammates in Fashion Technology, I have also worked with AWS and Imaging Sciences Teams on designing and developing various technologies for image-based retrieval, 3D body and geometry (including garment) reconstruction, material recovery, personnel promotions, and more. I also work with the Amazon Science team to help recruit scholars, postdocs, and interns and to evaluate proposals on novel technology concepts and center activities.

Tell us about your team and your current role. I am an Amazon Scholar in Fashion Technology under Amazon Retail.  Our team focuses on inventing and developing 3D Virtual Try-On technologies for garments, shoes, and accessories.

I believe that digital avatar technologies can create a personalized retail experience without having to visit a physical store. Customers get a fit-accurate try-on experience based on their individual bodies and personal preferences. This technology can help reduce return rates and improve online shopping experiences – a win for customers and Amazon.

The research and design work I do contributes to a new frontier where digital avatar technology will have meaningful applications of social good.

What is your proudest moment at Amazon? Working with the Fashion Technology Engineering Team to ship Amazon’s first, real-time 3D virtual try-on system for Merch by Amazon (based on a novel learning algorithm we invented) in 2021.

It was so satisfying and exhilarating that the work and time we put in became a real product to help millions of people shop online more efficiently and effectively.

What are the things you like about working at Amazon? The Amazon Leadership Principle, “Customer Obsession,” reminds me that whatever we do we should always keep in mind why we are here and who we are serving. It reminds me that my work should focus on what really matters:  to make a difference for our customers, i.e. the people! We should always be “people-centered”. It makes my work so much more meaningful.

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