SIGGRAPH 2023 Committee

Meet the SIGGRAPH 2023 program chairs.

Erik Brunvand


SIGGRAPH 2023
Conference Chair

I’m a professor of computer science in the School of Computing at the University of Utah, where I’ve been on the faculty since 1990. As a computer engineer, my research interests are generally related to domain-specific computer architectures, most recently for computer graphics. My interests extend from the high-level design of the processor, and the modification of the graphics algorithms to match the hardware, to the implementation on integrated circuits. As a teacher, I’ve won the University of Utah Distinguished Teaching, the College of Engineering Outstanding Teaching, and the School of Computing Outstanding Teaching awards. As an artist, I’m fascinated with arts/technology collaborations, including teaching courses in kinetic sculpture, and showing my work in a variety of venues, including the SIGGRAPH Art Gallery in 2014. I was the SIGGRAPH Education Chair in 2017 and 2018, co-chair of SIGGRAPH Labs in 2020, and chair of the ACM SIGGRAPH Distinguished Educator Award Committee, 2019–2021.

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Yoon Chung Han


Art Gallery Chair

I am an award-winning interaction designer, interactive media artist, and educator. Over the past 15 years, I have created a wide range of interactive designs, data visualization, sonification, mobile application, multimedia installation, and musical interface design. My works have been presented in many international exhibitions, conferences, awards, and academic journals, such as ACM SIGGRAPH Art Gallery, Japan Media Arts Festival, Media City Seoul, ZKM, NIME, ISEA, ACM Multimedia, ACM CHI, TEI, IEEE VIS, Currents New Media, Adobe Design Achievement Award, Information is Beautiful award, and the Leonardo Journal. I earned my bachelor’s (BFA) and my first master’s degrees (MFA) at the Seoul National University and my second master’s degree (MFA) at Design | Media Arts, University of California, Los Angeles. I hold a Ph.D. in media arts and technology at the University of California, Santa Barbara. I was a general chair for the IEEE VIS Arts Program (VISAP) and the IEEE Pacificvis storytelling contest. I am currently an associate professor in the department of design at San José State University.

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Nicolas Henchoz


Art Papers Chair

I am the founding director of the EPFL+ECAL Lab, the Design Research Center of the EPFL (Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne), one of the two Swiss Federal Institutes of Technology. With a career spanning engineering, research, art direction, science reporting, and management, I launched the center 15 years ago in collaboration with the leading art school ECAL (Art and Design University, Lausanne). The EPFL+ECAL Lab brings a unique vision of innovation blending cultural creativity with scientific practices, real-life implantation, and human observation to foster disruptive concepts leading to sustainable adoption. My research outcomes have led to multiple academic contributions at ISMAR, HFES, CHI, SIGGRAPH, DRS, and Leonardo amongst others. My projects have also received several awards including the International Design Festival Berlin, Best app of the year (Splash award), Design Prize Switzerland, and Best User experience (Best of the Web). I am a visiting professor at the Politecnico di Milano and member of the Global Alliance for Media Innovation. I have curated more than 30 exhibitions in institutions like the American Institutes of Architecture (New York), the Royal College of Art (London), the Musée des Arts décoratifs (Paris), and Harvard University. I have been decorated Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres by the French minister for culture and communication.

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Chris Wyman


Courses Chair

I am currently a distinguished research scientist at NVIDIA, where we look to invent real-time graphics algorithms while identifying GPU hardware improvements that push performance further. Recently, I have focused on accelerating GPU ray tracing by redesigning algorithms to amortize ray costs, dramatically reducing the rays needed per pixel. Before moving to industry, I was a faculty member at the University of Iowa for a decade. I have been involved with SIGGRAPH in various capacities, including Late Breaking Submissions in 2012 and General Submissions in 2013. I’ve also organized and participated in Courses on various topic, including introductions to next-generation APIs, DirectX Ray Tracing, real-time ray tracing, and physically based rendering. If you are considering submitting a Course, please do! Feel free to reach out to me before the submission date to discuss the process and brainstorm about your content.

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(she/her)

Eveline Falcão


Creative Development Director

I graduated from the Federal University of Pernambuco (UFPE), in Brazil, with a bachelor’s degree in industrial design, with a one-year program at the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) where I studied motion media design. Nowadays, I’m part of the design team at Underknown where we develop the static and moving branded graphics for their shows. I love the art and math behind all things 2D and 3D and, down the road, I wish to pursue a master’s degree in computer science since I have a special enthusiasm for the design and engineering dialogue.

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Nick Jushchyshyn


Education Chair

My passion for computer graphics and interaction was first sparked by experimenting with a Commodore64 home computer in the late 1900s. This passion ultimately became a career that led me to the 2006 and 2007 SIGGRAPH Conferences, which played a pivotal role in a transition into the feature film visual effects industry. After completing my MFA in animation and visual effects, I began an academic career that continues today as I direct the Digital Media & Virtual Production Program at Drexel University, where I teach immersive media, motion capture, and virtual production. Over these years, SIGGRAPH has been integral to inspiring and enabling my career, teaching, and the students I mentor. I’m honored and excited to be part of the 2023 committee bringing the next iteration of this conference I love to life.

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Kalina Borkiewicz


Electronic Theater Director

I create cinematic scientific visualizations, using computer graphics and filmmaking techniques to make science both beautiful and interesting to the general public. I have contributed visualizations of galaxies, tornadoes, molecular structures, and other scientific phenomena to documentary films and immersive audience experiences. I lead the Advanced Visualization Lab at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where I also serve as the director of the Visualization Program Office. In addition, I teach data storytelling and visualization in the Gies College of Business at the U of I. I have a background in computer science and a passion for design.

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Mashhuda Glencross


Emerging Technologies Chair

I am director for teaching and learning in ITEE and also lead the Graphics and Visualisation theme in the Centre for Energy Data Innovation, where I direct research into tools and technologies to support decision making in the energy sector. With a background in industry-focused research, my work in computer graphics has been supported through industry contracts, UK-EPSRC, and Australian ARENA funding. My work has had commercial impacts across computer games, visual effects, displays, mobile phones, and image-based capture technologies.

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Ginger Alford


Frontiers Chair

I am assistant chair and clinical professor of computer science at SMU Lyle School of Engineering in Dallas, where I focus on computer graphics, augmented and virtual reality, computer vision, and machine learning. My current research focuses on use of novel light field displays in museum settings. I studied at University of Texas, Texas A&M University, and University of Iowa, obtaining a BS in math, a MS in computer science and engineering, and a Ph.D. in electrical and computer engineering. I’ve worked in graphics-related areas as a software engineer and as an intellectual property consultant. I’ve led development of arts-centered engineering education programs in director positions for private K-12 and public museum settings. I’ve been an active SIGGRAPH volunteer since 2013, serving on several conference committees as Education Liaison, General Submissions Chair, and as chair of the Education Committee for the SIGGRAPH organization.

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Josef Spjut


Games Focus Area Chair

As a lifelong gamer, games are what brought me to the field of computer graphics. I pursue my passion for gaming at NVIDIA, where I work as a research scientist. I’ve worked on ray tracing hardware and software, augmented and virtual reality, and most recently have shifted my focus to esports, looking for ways to enable players to achieve the highest levels of performance and skill in gaming. I’m excited by the potential games, and particularly multiplayer games, have to connect people to virtual worlds, and by extension to other people across the world forming new and unique human connections.

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Susan Reiser


General Submissions Chair

I teach at UNC Asheville’s STEAM Studio, our 12,000 square foot making space where we emphasize human-centered design through the melding of art, computing, and engineering in projects with and for community partners. While my academic background is computer-science centric, since grad school I’ve taken a variety of art and machining classes. My graphics-related work has transitioned from writing computer vision applications for the Electrophysiology Lab at Duke Med School to creating data materializations with Courtney Starrett. After a 10-year stint in industry, I landed in academia, teaching classes in computer science and developing classes in new media at North Carolina’s public liberal arts college. I enjoy swimming and hiking — especially in the Blue Ridge Mountains and on the California Coastal Trail.

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Joseph Cychosz


GraphicsNet Chair

I have been an active volunteer with SIGGRAPH since 1981 when I was a Student Volunteer. Since then, I have served on various committees and juries. I have been a member of the GraphicsNet team since 1997 and have chaired several times. I am currently online presentation production manager and content curator for the NSF-funded Network for Computational Nanotechnology (nanoHUB.org) where I lead a team in the production of online seminars and courses. I began my computing career at the University of Illinois where I became an electrical engineer by degree and a programmer by trade while working with the Control Data computer systems which comprised the university’s computing center and PLATO system. I later worked for Control Data as technical liaison between CDC’s Supercomputing and CAD/CAM divisions and various university efforts. I was part of the Purdue University Computer-Aided Design and Graphics Lab (CADLAB) and the NSF-funded ERC for Collaborative Manufacturing. I have a master’s in mechanical engineering from Purdue University, have published a handful of articles on computer graphics, and have authored contributions in the Graphics Gems series. My computer graphics interests are in ray tracing. I am a member of ACM SIGGRAPH and SIGHPC.

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(she/her)

Courtney Starrett


Labs Chair

I am an associate professor at Texas A&M University and the Harold L. Adams ‘61 Interdisciplinary Endowed Professor in Visualization. I currently serve as program director for the MS and MFA in visualization in the new School of Performance, Visualization, and Fine Arts. I am thrilled to be the Labs chair for the 50th SIGGRAPH. I have served as an ACM SIGGRAPH volunteer on conference planning committees and subcommittees for over a decade in roles such as the 2014 Studio Chair, the 2019 Emerging Technologies Chair, and the 2022 Community Engagement Chair. My creative research is at the intersection of computing and the arts with an emphasis on data materialization.

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James Tompkin


Posters Chair

I am the John E. Savage Assistant Professor of Computer Science at Brown University. My research at the intersection of computer vision, computer graphics, and human-computer interaction helps develop new visual computing tools and experiences. My doctoral work at University College London on large-scale video processing and exploration techniques led to creative exhibition work in the Museum of the Moving Image in New York City. My postdoctoral work at Max-Planck-Institute for Informatics and Harvard University helped create new methods to edit content within images and videos. My recent research has developed new techniques for low-level depth reconstruction, view synthesis for VR, and content editing and generation.

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Christine Holmes


Production Sessions Chair

I support Netflix Animation as an artist manager, working closely with incredible talent in the animation industry. With over 12 years of experience as a management professional in creative and collaborative environments, I am passionate about bringing meaningful impact to our amazing community and empowering the future generations through giving back. Since first attending SIGGRAPH in 2008, I’ve been an active SIGGRAPH volunteer and committee member across the years, including spending six years with the Student Volunteer program, serving as the Student Volunteer program chair in 2015, Experience Hall Manager in 2018 and 2019, and Adaptability Co-Chair in 2020. Those who know me know that I try to maintain a high level of integrity and a healthy disregard for the impossible! Looking forward to SIGGRAPH 2023, especially the Production Sessions!

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Cem Yuksel


Real-Time Live! Chair

I am an associate professor in the School of Computing at the University of Utah, a research scientist at Roblox, and the founder of Cyber Radiance LLC, a computer graphics software company. Previously, I was a postdoctoral fellow at Cornell University after receiving my Ph.D. degree in computer science from Texas A&M University. My research interests are in computer graphics and related fields, including physically based simulations, realistic image synthesis, rendering techniques, global illumination, sampling, GPU algorithms, graphics hardware, modeling complex geometries, knitted structures, and hair modeling, animation, and rendering.

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Meaghan Long


Student Volunteer Chair

I am a UX designer within the AWS IoT team at Amazon. Previously, I worked on smart home kitchen appliances and next-generation vehicle cockpits. I am a longtime volunteer with SIGGRAPH, starting as a Student Volunteer in 2014. Since joining, I have served as a UX designer on multiple of SIGGRAPH’s applications and am truly honored to run this year’s Student Volunteer program that I graduated from myself.

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Alla Sheffer


Technical Papers Chair

I am a professor of computer science at the University of British Columbia and an Amazon Scholar at Amazon. I received my BSc (1991), MSc (1995), and Ph.D. (2000) from Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel. I investigate algorithms for geometry processing, focusing on fabrication and computer graphics applications. I am particularly interested in leveraging connections between geometry and perception to enable users to create and manipulate geometric content, including garments, 3D printable artifacts, and other man-made objects. I regularly publish at selective computer graphics venues and have co-authored 50 papers published in ACM Transactions on Graphics, including numerous papers in SIGGRAPH and SIGGRAPH Asia proceedings. I hold six recent patents on methods for garment grading, sketch analysis, and hexahedral mesh generation. I am a Fellow of IEEE, a Fellow of ACM, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, and a member of SIGGRAPH Academy. I am the recipient of the 2018 Canadian Human Computer Communications Society Achievement Award, a UBC Killam Research Award, multiple faculty awards from Adobe, Google and IBM, a Killam Research Fellowship, an NSERC Discovery Accelerator award, two NSERC Idea to Innovation grants, and an Audi Production Award. I am the Technical Papers Chair for SIGGRAPH 2023, have served on the program committees for SIGGRAPH, SIGGRAPH Asia, Eurographics, and other key graphics conferences, and co-chaired the program committees for Eurographics’18, 3DV’18, PG’19, SGP’06, and IEEE SMI’13. I served on the editorial boards of ACM TOG, IEEE TVCG, Computer Graphics Forum, Graphical Models, Computers & Graphics, and CAGD.

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Julia Read


VR Theater Director

I am an experienced creative consultant and artistic producer with a strong track record of originality, innovation, and multidisciplinary thinking within digital and virtual spaces. I have over 10 years of brand integration and creative advisory services within the global technology industry. I am focused on providing optimized, innovative, cross-platform strategy solutions for progressive immersive startups.

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Andres Burbano


SIGGRAPH 2024 Conference Chair

I am a media artist and a technology history scholar, currently an associate professor in the School of Arts and Humanities at the Open University of Catalonia, UOC, in Barcelona, Spain, and I am visiting professor at the Danube University in Krems, Austria. Most of my academic career has been at Universidad de los Andes in Bogota, Colombia. I hold a Ph.D. in media arts and technology from the University of California Santa Barbara and have been appointed as SIGGRAPH 2024 Conference Chair.

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