By Jane Putnam
A BYU professor who has devoted much of his research to developing groundbreaking computer animation software will be honored with a prestigious award at a national computer graphics conference July 30, 2006, in Boston.
Professor Thomas Sederberg, who teaches computer science and is also an associate dean of the College of Mathematical and Physical Sciences, is the 2006 recipient of the Computer Graphics Achievement Award. He will receive his award at the annual conference, known as ACM SIGGRAPH.
Each year, the top research on computer graphics is presented at the conference, in addition to several other events, such as courses, panel discussions and animation competition, Sederberg said. Upwards of 25,000 people attend the conference annually.
“This is the most prestigious annual award given from this organization,” said Debi Blickfeldt, an undergraduate program assistant for computer science. “It”s probably the highest award you can get in the field.”
The award came as a surprise to Sederberg, who has been attending the conference for 25 years.
“I never seriously imagined receiving the Computer Graphics Achievement Award, so it came as a very pleasant shock,” he said.
Sederberg, who has taught at BYU for 25 years, is admired by many of his colleagues at BYU.
“His research is world-class research,” said Parris Egbert, a graduate coordinator in computer science. “The papers he”s published are very well-known and many people have attempted to do follow up research. His research has been very beneficial and influential.”
Hank Christiansen, professor of civil and environmental engineering, agreed with Egbert.
“I think he”s about the best guy in the world,” Christiansen said. “You can”t overstate how I feel about Tom Sederberg – I just love him.”
Christiansen said he will attend the conference in Boston and emphasized that he wouldn”t miss it for the world.
Sederberg is nationally recognized as a pioneer in computer graphics for his contributions to free-form deformation, known as FFD. Sederberg”s name is known throughout the industry.
Pixar came to BYU to recruit students, and when Sederberg”s name was mentioned, the Pixar staff was very familiar with him and his work, Blickfeldt said.
His work on new technology called “T-Splines” has allowed artists and designers more freedom in their work.
T-Spline technology is a new mathematical formulation for creating geometric models for use in animation and computer aided design, Sederberg said.
The current industry standard methods for designing manufactured objects, like cars or airplanes, or creating figures for computer animation have some significant limitations and T-Splines addresses these issues, he added.
“Several outstanding students have done T-Splines research with me, including Tom Finnigan, David Cardon, Nick North and Heather Ipson,” Sederberg said.
The T-Spline research has turned into a family affair for the Sederberg family. While a student at BYU, Sederberg”s son Matt co-wrote a business plan for a company to commercialize T-Splines.
“The plan was a finalist in three different business plan competitions,” Sederberg added.
Currently, all of Sederberg”s computer graphics research is focused on T-Splines. He also advises several students who are working on various family history technology projects.
Beyond his research, Sederberg is admired and well liked by students. After Sederberg earned his Ph.D., Christiansen, who was chair of the civil engineering department at the time, recruited Sederberg back to BYU.
Sederberg”s 25 years at BYU have been divided, spending 15 of those years in the department of civil engineering and 10 in the computer science department.
He said he owes his introduction to computer graphics to Hank Christiansen.
“I was very fortunate to have done my master”s thesis under Hank”s direction,” Sederberg said. “That experience launched my career in computer graphics.”
