Pixar Animation Studios co-founder Ed Catmull will be one of the featured speakers at the upcoming SIGGRAPH. The 35th International Conference and Exhibition on Computer Graphics and Interactive Techniques will be held Aug. 11-15 at the Los Angeles Convention Center.
President of Walt Disney and Pixar Animation Studios, Catmull is one of the original architects of the RenderMan rendering software system, which has been used to create all Pixar film and other blockbusters, including 44 of the last 47 vfx Oscar nominees.
‘Dr. Catmull’s innovations and leadership encompass his true passion for the computer graphics industry,’ comments Jacquelyn Martino, SIGGRAPH 2008 Conference chair from 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 including four Academy Awards; one in Technical Achievement, 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.
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. He received a bachelor’s degree in Physics, as well as a bachelor’s and PhD in Computer Science from the University of Utah. He also holds an honorary PhD in Engineering from the University of Utah.
SIGGRAPH 2008 is expected to attract an estimated 30,000 computer graphics and interactive technology professionals from six continents to Los Angeles with technical and creative programs focusing on research, science, art, animation, gaming, interactivity, education and the web. The conference also includes a three-day exhibition of products and services from more than 250 international computer graphics and interactive exhibitors. More details are available at www.siggraph.org/s2008.
