Vincent Sheu

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Vincent Sheu (born October 1, 1990) is an American speedcuber or Rubik's Cube solver from Saratoga, California known for organizing World Cube Association competitions and setting world records in both the Fewest Moves event and the 2x2x2 single solve.[1][2] He currently serves as a Director and Delegate for the World Cube Association (WCA) and has been an organizer of every annual US Nationals Cubing Competition since 2010 (in addition to the World Cube Competition of 2015).[3][4] Sheu previously served as the first Chair of the WCA's Regulations Committee with Lucas Garron from 2012 to 2015, directing a complete redrafting of the official competition regulations and guidelines during his tenure.[5] Recently, he has received media attention as the subject of several viral images and video clips at various college sporting events.[6][7]

Speedcubing[edit]

Vincent Sheu has been an active speedcuber since 2006.[8] He typically uses the CFOP method, a layer-by-layer system popularized by Jessica Fridrich in 1997.[9] In 2011, Sheu tied the existing world record for a 2x2x2 single solve with a time of 0.96 seconds at the Berkeley Winter Cube Competition.[10] During the 2014 US Nationals Competition, Sheu tied the existing world record for the Fewest Moves Competition (FMC), an event that requires participants to solve a 3x3x3 Rubik's Cube in the fewest moves possible, with an average solve of 25 moves among three different solves.[11] At the same competition, he also set the North American Record for a single solve in an FMC event with a solve of 22 moves.[12] As a result, Sheu became the 2014 National Champion in the FMC category.

Media appearances[edit]

In February 2014, Vincent Sheu was filmed at a Haas Pavilion men's college basketball game between rivals California Golden Bears and the Stanford Cardinal as he performed an impromptu Rubik's cube-solve behind sportscasters Bill Walton (color commentator) and Dave Pasch (play-by-play announcer), who were commentating at the game.[13] Given his placement at the front of the California student section directly between and behind the announcers, Sheu's cube-solve was immediately visible to audiences watching the game on ESPN2. A film clip of the solve went viral as a YouTube video on the internet shortly thereafter.[14][15]

After the high popularity of his cube solve, Sheu was subsequently placed by ESPN2 producers to solve additional cubes and puzzles behind sportscasters during live broadcasts of California basketball games against the Utah Utes, Utah Valley Wolverines, and Arkansas Razorbacks. He was also featured by Bill Walton in a short ESPN2 segment about his participation at Rubik's Cube competitions and the Berkeley college experience during the California Golden Bears – Arizona Wildcats game three weeks later.[16]

Following these events, Sheu was featured in a promotional video on student life by the University of California, Berkeley that aired on Pac-12 Networks.[17]

Vincent Sheu was one of several speedcubers to appear in "Will We Become God?," Episode 8, Season 5 of Through the Wormhole, an American science documentary television series by actor Morgan Freeman.[18] The episode aired on July 9, 2014.[19]

During a college basketball game between the Stanford Cardinal and University of California – Los Angeles Bruins on February 5, 2014, Sheu was again the subject of internet and media attention.[20] As Bill Walton commented the Pac-12 game on ESPN2, Sheu was filmed with a fellow student wearing "Stanford Law School" apparel and studying during the first half of the game as they sat in the student section with binders, textbooks, and casebooks.[21] Although the film clip was later determined to have been spliced in shortly before the game actually began, the image proceeded to go viral and reached "meme" status on Reddit, Twitter, Facebook, and AboveTheLaw.com, prompting humorous discussion about the difficult academic workload of first year law students.[22][23][24]

Vincent Sheu was one of several speed cubers to make a cameo in Netflix's documentary, The Speed Cubers, which was released on Netflix on July 29, 2020.

Background[edit]

Vincent Sheu completed a joint degree at Stanford University. He received a J.D. from Stanford Law School and M.S. in Computer Science from the Stanford School of Engineering in June 2018.[25]

He previously graduated from the University of California, Berkeley with a B.A. in Statistics and Molecular & Cell Biology (’12) and an M.Eng. in Bioengineering (’14). At Berkeley, he served as the President of the Berkeley Cube Club. As part of the University of California's Decal program, he taught the popular courses “Learn To Solve the Rubik’s Cube” (Math 98) and “Speedsolving” (Math 198).[26] Vincent is a retired avid sports blogger with California Golden Blogs.[27] He still actively celebrates sports.

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Team, WCA Website. "World Cube Association - Official Results". www.worldcubeassociation.org. Retrieved 2016-01-31.
  2. ^ "'Speed cubers' flock to Hilton Head for national Rubik's Cube championships". islandpacket. Retrieved 2016-01-31.
  3. ^ CubingUSA. "US Nationals 2016 - Rubik's Cube Competition". www.cubingusa.com. Retrieved 2016-01-31.
  4. ^ News, Stanford. "Stanford represented at national Rubik's Cube competition | The Dish". news.stanford.edu. Retrieved 2016-01-31. {{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)
  5. ^ "World Cube Association Regulations Committee - Speedsolving.com Wiki". www.speedsolving.com. Retrieved 2016-01-31.
  6. ^ Cal student & CGB writer Vincent Sheu solves Rubik's Cube on ESPN, retrieved 2016-01-31
  7. ^ "VIDEO: Student does Rubik's Cube during Cal-Stanford". CBSSports.com. Retrieved 2016-01-31.
  8. ^ "Vincent Sheu - Speedsolving.com Wiki". www.speedsolving.com. Retrieved 2016-01-31.
  9. ^ Venkataraman, Bina (2008-12-15). "Jessica Fridrich Specializes in Problems That Only Seem Impossible to Solve". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2016-01-31.
  10. ^ Team, WCA Website. "World Cube Association - Official Results". www.worldcubeassociation.org. Retrieved 2016-01-31.
  11. ^ Team, WCA Website. "World Cube Association - Official Results". www.worldcubeassociation.org. Retrieved 2016-01-31.
  12. ^ Team, WCA Website. "World Cube Association - Official Results". www.worldcubeassociation.org. Retrieved 2016-01-31.
  13. ^ Cal student & CGB writer Vincent Sheu solves Rubik's Cube on ESPN, retrieved 2016-01-31
  14. ^ "VIDEO: Student does Rubik's Cube during Cal-Stanford". CBSSports.com. Retrieved 2016-01-31.
  15. ^ "@johnbreech Video of a Cal student solving a Rubik's Cube behind ESPN booth". Mobypicture. Retrieved 2016-01-31.
  16. ^ Blogs, California Golden. "Cal student & CGB writer Vincent Sheu solves Rubik's Cube on ESPN". www.chatsports.com. Retrieved 2016-01-31.
  17. ^ Cal Bears (2014-02-27), Cal Men's Basketball: The Rubik's Cube, retrieved 2016-01-31
  18. ^ Through the Wormhole, 2010-06-09, retrieved 2016-01-31
  19. ^ "Through the Wormhole with Morgan Freeman: Season 5 Episode 8 | LocateTV". LocateTV.com. Retrieved 2016-01-31.
  20. ^ "High expectation Asian father is proud on this day • /r/funny". reddit. Retrieved 2016-01-31.
  21. ^ "Stanford Basketball: Students Study During UCLA Game With Rubik's Cube (PHOTO) - Lost Lettermen". Lost Lettermen. Retrieved 2016-01-31.
  22. ^ "Caption Contest: Law School Ruins Sporting Events". Above the Law. Retrieved 2016-01-31.
  23. ^ "Caption Contest Finalists: Law School Ruins Sporting Events". Above the Law. Retrieved 2016-01-31.
  24. ^ "Caption Contest Winner: Law School Ruins Sporting Events". Above the Law. Retrieved 2016-01-31.
  25. ^ News, Stanford. "Stanford represented at national Rubik's Cube competition | The Dish". news.stanford.edu. Retrieved 2016-01-31. {{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)
  26. ^ "DeCal: How to Solve the Rubik's Cube/Speedcubing Decal". DeCal. Retrieved 2019-10-24.
  27. ^ "Vincent S Profile, Activity and Communities". www.sbnation.com. Retrieved 2016-01-31.
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