During October 2024, Peak Zhu focused on optimizing HEVC encoding performance for the intel/media-driver repository, specifically targeting the Xe HPM architecture. He delivered architecture-aware tuning by updating HEVC encoding settings and refining lookup tables for encoding parameters, using C++ and leveraging his expertise in hardware optimization and low-level programming. This work enabled faster and more efficient HEVC encoding on Xe HPM platforms, directly benefiting media processing pipelines by increasing throughput and potentially reducing energy consumption. Peak’s contribution addressed a clear performance bottleneck, demonstrating a deep understanding of both video encoding workflows and the underlying hardware architecture involved.