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CIS Seminar: “A Geometric Perspective on Computing Motion”
October 3, 2019 at 3:00 PM - 4:00 PM
Abstract:
The connections between geometry and mechanics have been explored for centuries. How these connections shape computation is a question we are just beginning to explore.
If computers can predict how materials move and deform, they can help us to understand, anticipate and manipulate the physical world. Our group develops models and algorithms that capture the characteristic behavior of a mechanical system. We focus on a geometric interpretation of the physics. Building a discrete geometric picture from the ground up, we mimic the axioms, structures, and symmetries of the smooth setting. The result is a readily computable model that preserves invariants and conservation laws.
We develop models for elastic rods, thin shells, liquid threads, droplets, soap films, and granular media. As we explore applications ranging from flagellar propulsion and robotics to fashion design, we learn about the potential for impact on art, medicine, engineering and scientific research.
Eitan Grinspun
Professor of the of Computer Science Dept., Columbia University and Co-Director of the Columbia Computer Graphics Group.
Eitan Grinspun is a Professor of Computer Science at the University of Toronto. He is on leave from Columbia University, where he has been on the faculty since 2004, serving as Co-Director of the Columbia Computer Graphics Group. He was Professeur d’Université Invité at l’Université Pierre et Marie Curie in Paris in 2009, a Postdoc at the Courant Institute from 2003-2004, a graduate student at the California Institute of Technology from 1997-2003, and an undergraduate in Engineering Science at the University of Toronto from 1993-1997. He was named an NVIDIA Fellow in 2001, Everhart Distinguished Lecturer in 2003, NSF CAREER Awardee in 2007, Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellow in 2010-2012, one of Popular Science magazine’s “Brilliant Ten Scientists” in 2011, and one of Fast Company magazine’s “Most Creative People in Business” in 2013. Technologies developed by his lab are used in products such as Adobe Photoshop & Illustrator, at major film studios, and in soft matter physics and engineering research. He has been profiled in The New York Times, Scientific American, New Scientist, and mentioned in Variety. His film credits include The Hobbit, Rise of the Planet of the Apes, and Steven Spielberg’s The Adventures of Tintin.