Feb 02, 2005 - Claremont, Calif. -

David Salesin, professor of computer science and engineering at the University of Washington, will discuss "Next Frontiers in Graphics: Unleashing the Computer's Potential for Communication" in an address at Harvey Mudd College's Galileo Auditorium on Wednesday, Feb. 9, at 7 p.m.

"So far, computers are used largely just to emulate the appearance of existing, physical media," Salesin said. He claims that the real market for personal computers lies in their vast potential to create more powerful communications media than exist today. His talk will draw on examples that range from computer-generated illustration and virtual cinematography to adaptive document layout and animated presentations.

Salesin's research interests are in computer graphics, and include, in particular, non-photorealistic rendering, image-based rendering, and various topics in 2-D graphics like color reproduction, digital typography and compositing. He has been a member of the University of Washington faculty since 1992 and is also a senior researcher in the Document Processing and Understanding Group at Microsoft Research, where he has worked since 1999.

He received his Sc.B. from Brown University in 1983, and his Ph.D. from Stanford University in 1991. From 1983-87, he worked at Lucasfilm and Pixar, where he contributed computer animation for the Academy Award-winning short film, "Tin Toy," and the feature-length film "Young Sherlock Holmes." In 1996, he co-founded two companies, where he served as chief scientist: Inklination and Numinous Technologies (acquired by Microsoft in 1999).

Salesin has received numerous awards and fellowships, including the NSF Young Investigator award in 1993; an ONR Young Investigator Award, Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellowship, and an NSF Presidential Faculty Fellow Award in 1995; the University of Washington Award for Outstanding Faculty Achievement in the College of Engineering in 1996; the University of Washington Distinguished Teaching Award in 1997; The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education Washington Professor of the Year Award in 1998; the ACM SIGGRAPH Computer Graphics Achievement Award in 2000; and he became an ACM Fellow in 2002.

Salesin's lecture is part of The Dr. Bruce J. Nelson '74 Distinguished Speaker Series, which was created by Nelson's family to honor the memory of the late HMC alumnus. For more information about Bruce J. Nelson and the series, visit the Web site at: www.hmc.edu/speaker/.