Research Guru / Moderator
Posted:
Mar 27, 2008, 3:56 PM
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Pixar co-founder Ed Catmull to speak at SIGGRAPH
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Pixar Animation Studios co-founder Ed Catmull, a pioneer in the entertainment and film industry, will be one of the featured speakers at SIGGRAPH 2008, the 35th International Conference and Exhibition on Computer Graphics and Interactive Techniques, ACM SIGGRAPH announced Thursday.
Catmull, president of Walt Disney and Pixar Animation Studios, has played a major role throughout the past 30 years in the invention of some of today's most fundamental computer graphics practices used widely across the motion picture industry. He is one of the original architects of the RenderMan rendering software system, which has been used to create blockbuster animated hits such as Toy Story and Finding Nemo, as well as 44 of the last 47 Visual Effects nominations to the Academy Awards.
SIGGRAPH 2008 will bring an estimated 30,000 computer graphics and interactive technology professionals from six continents to Los Angeles for the industry's most respected technical and creative programs focusing on research, science, art, animation, gaming, interactivity, education and the Web from August 11 to 15 at the Los Angeles Convention Center.
"Dr. Catmull's innovations and leadership encompass his true passion for the computer graphics industry," said SIGRRAPH 2008 conference chair Jacquelyn Martino of IBM T.J. Watson Research Center. "A great deal of what is done today with animation and computer graphics in motion pictures would not be possible without his inventions and contributions. Given that SIGGRAPH is celebrating its 35th conference, we could think of no one individual that could represent the evolution of the industry better than Dr. Catmull."
Catmull has been honored with numerous industry awards for his contributions, including four Academy Awards: one in Technical Achievement and two in Scientific and Engineering, as well as one Academy Award of Merit. He is a Fellow of ACM, and has been involved with SIGGRAPH conferences for more than 30 years serving as chair of the Papers, Awards and Technical Program committees. In 1993, he was awarded ACM's Steven A. Coons Award honoring his lifetime contributions to the computer graphics industry.
In addition to his own professional achievements, Catmull founded three of the most renowned computer graphics research centers in the world, including the computer graphics laboratory at the New York Institute of Technology and the computer division of both Lucasfilm, Ltd. and Pixar Animation Studios.
Catmull received a bachelor's degree in physics, as well as a bachelor's and PhD in computer science from the University of Utah. He is also holds an honorary PhD in engineering from the University of Utah.
Based on overwhelming positive feedback provided after the switch from a single keynote speaker format to multiple featured speakers in 2007, SIGGRAPH will once again provide focused content by offering presentations from different prominent industry leaders and technology experts. Each featured speaker will provide key insights on the future of computer graphics and interactive techniques.
More than 250 international exhibiting companies are expected at SIGGRAPH. Registration for the conference and exhibition is open to the public. More details are available at www.siggraph.org/s2008.
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"Oh boy." -- Allan Sherman
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