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Ryan Schmidt

Former Head of Design & Fabrication
  • Location:
    Toronto
  • Group:
    Design and Fabrication
Ryan Schmidt Header Image

  • Biography
  • Publications
  • Projects
  • Background / CV
  • Credits
  • Service / Affiliations
  • Contact
Biography

Ryan Schmidt is a scientist, inventor, software developer, and accomplished typist. He recently abandoned his post as Head of the Design and Fabrication research group at Autodesk to start a new venture (details forthcoming). He is also Adjunct Faculty in the Department of Computer Science at the University of Toronto. 

Ryan's research focuses on interactive 3D design systems, with the goal of making them more expressive and efficient. This work involves aspects of Computer Graphics (geometry processing, surface representations, interactive rendering) and Human-Computer Interaction (2D/3D interaction techniques, workflow optimization), as well as problems in software architecture. Ryan's graduate work resulted in several novel 3D tools, including the sketch-based implicit surface modeler ShapeShop, the easy-to-use mesh cleanup/composition/sculpting tool meshmixer, and a computer-aided 3D perspective drawing system. Ryan explores design interfaces in the context of emerging personal 3D fabrication workflows.

Ryan received a BSc in Computer Science from the University of Calgary in 2002, where as a student researcher he developed a spinal surgery simulation kernel and designed tiled multiprojector display walls. After a brief experiment with commercial software development in Montreal, he returned to the University of Calgary to complete an MSc in 2006, followed by a PhD at the University of Toronto in 2011.

23 publications
Pineal: Bringing Passive Objects to Life with Embedded Mobile Devices

David Ledo, Fraser Anderson, Ryan Schmidt, Lora Oehlberg, Saul Greenberg, Tovi Grossman (2017)

Pineal: Bringing Passive Objects to Life with Embedded Mobile Devices
CHI 2017 Conference proceedings:
ACM SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems
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Details
Geometric Modeling of Multi-Material Printed Objects

Tyson Brochu, Ryan Schmidt (2017)

Geometric Modeling of Multi-Material Printed Objects
2017 Conference proceedings:
Eurographics Short Papers
4 pages
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Details
Printone: Interactive Resonance Simulation for Free-form Print-wind Instrument Design

Nobuyuki Umetani, Athina Panotopoulou, Ryan Schmidt, Emily Whiting (2016)

Printone: Interactive Resonance Simulation for Free-form Print-wind Instrument Design
ACM Transactions on Graphics (SIGGRAPH Asia Proceedings)
September 2016, Volume 35, Issue 6
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Details
Adaptive Mesh Booleans

Ryan Schmidt, Tyson Brochu (2016)

Adaptive Mesh Booleans
Whitepaper arXiv.org
May 05, 2016

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Details
ChronoFab: Fabricating Motion

Rubaiat Habib, Tovi Grossman, Cory Mogk, Ryan Schmidt, George Fitzmaurice (2016)

ChronoFab: Fabricating Motion
CHI 2016 Conference proceedings:
ACM SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems
10 pages
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Details
Meltables: Fabrication of Complex 3D Curves by Melting

Andy Sageman-Furnas, Nobuyuki Umetani, Ryan Schmidt (2015)

Meltables: Fabrication of Complex 3D Curves by Melting
SIGGRAPH Asia Technical Briefs 2015 Conference proceedings:
ACM SIGGRAPH Asia - Technical Briefs Program
4 pages
Download PDF

Details
Designing for AM: Integrating Mesh-Based Modelling Techniques with Parametric CAD

Ryan Schmidt (2015)

Designing for AM: Integrating Mesh-Based Modelling Techniques with Parametric CAD
Presentation
SIAM Conference on Geometric & Physical Modeling
October 14, 2015
Details
3D-Printed Prosthetics for the Developing World

Ryan Schmidt, ginger coons, Vincent Chen, Timotheus Gmeiner, Matt Ratto (2015)

3D-Printed Prosthetics for the Developing World
2015 Extended Abstracts:
ACM SIGGRAPH - Studio Talks Program
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Details
Branching Support Structures for 3D Printing

Ryan Schmidt (2015)

Branching Support Structures for 3D Printing
RAPID 2015 Extended Abstracts:
RAPID Conference & Expo

Details
Position-based Elastic Rods

Nobuyuki Umetani, Ryan Schmidt, Jos Stam (2014)

Position-based Elastic Rods
SCA 2014 Conference proceedings:
ACM SIGGRAPH/Eurographics Symposium on Computer Animation
10 pages
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Details
Branching Support Structures for 3D Printing

Ryan Schmidt, Nobuyuki Umetani (2014)

Branching Support Structures for 3D Printing
Presentation
ACM SIGGRAPH - Talks Program
July 01, 2014
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Details
Pteromys: Interactive Design and Optimization of Free-formed Free-flight Model Airplanes

Nobuyuki Umetani, Yuki Koyama, Ryan Schmidt, Takeo Igarashi (2014)

Pteromys: Interactive Design and Optimization of Free-formed Free-flight Model Airplanes
ACM Transactions on Graphics (SIGGRAPH Proceedings)
July 2014, 33(4)
10 pages
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Details
A Series of Tubes: Adding Interactivity to 3D Prints Using Internal Pipes

Valkyrie Savage, Ryan Schmidt, Tovi Grossman, George Fitzmaurice, Björn Hartmann (2014)

A Series of Tubes: Adding Interactivity to 3D Prints Using Internal Pipes
UIST 2014 Conference proceedings:
ACM Symposium on User Interface Software & Technology
10 pages
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Details
History Assisted View Authoring for 3D Models

Hsiang-Ting (Tim) Chen, Tovi Grossman, Ryan Schmidt, Björn Hartmann, George Fitzmaurice, Maneesh Agrawala (2014)

History Assisted View Authoring for 3D Models
CHI 2014 Conference proceedings:
ACM SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems
10 pages
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Details
Design-to-Fabricate: Maker Hardware Requires Maker Software

Ryan Schmidt, Matt Ratto (2013)

Design-to-Fabricate: Maker Hardware Requires Maker Software
IEEE Computer Graphics & Applications
December 2013, Volume 33. Issue 6.
pp. 26-34
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Details
Cross-sectional Structural Analysis for 3D Printing Optimization

Nobuyuki Umetani, Ryan Schmidt (2013)

Cross-sectional Structural Analysis for 3D Printing Optimization
SIGGRAPH Asia Technical Briefs 2013 Conference proceedings:
ACM SIGGRAPH Asia - Technical Briefs Program
4 pages
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Details
Stroke Parameterization

Ryan Schmidt (2013)

Stroke Parameterization
Computer Graphics Forum (Eurographics Proceedings)
May 2013, 32(2)
8 pages
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Details
Design Tools for the Rest of Us: Maker Hardware Requires Maker Software

Ryan Schmidt, Matt Ratto (2013)

Design Tools for the Rest of Us: Maker Hardware Requires Maker Software
Workshop FAB at CHI Workshop
April 28, 2013
4 pages
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Details
Interactive Modeling with Mesh Surfaces

Ryan Schmidt (2012)

Interactive Modeling with Mesh Surfaces
2012 Extended Abstracts:
ACM SIGGRAPH - Studio Talks Program
1 page
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Details
Consensus Meshing

Ryan Schmidt, Patricio Simari (2012)

Consensus Meshing
SMI 2012 Conference proceedings:
Shape Modeling International
13 pages
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Details
On the Velocity of an Implicit Surface

Jos Stam, Ryan Schmidt (2011)

On the Velocity of an Implicit Surface
ACM Transactions on Graphics (SIGGRAPH Proceedings)
May 2011, 30 (3); Article 21
7 pages
Details
Analytic Drawing of 3D Scaffolds

Ryan Schmidt, Azam Khan, Karan Singh, Gord Kurtenbach (2009)

Analytic Drawing of 3D Scaffolds
ACM Transactions on Graphics (SIGGRAPH Asia Proceedings)
December 2009, 28(5)
10 pages
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Details
On Expert Performance in 3D Curve-Drawing Tasks

Ryan Schmidt, Azam Khan, Gord Kurtenbach, Karan Singh (2009)

On Expert Performance in 3D Curve-Drawing Tasks
SBIM 2009 Conference proceedings:
EUROGRAPHICS Symposium on Sketch-Based Interfaces and Modeling
pp. 133-140
Download PDF

Details
Projects
3D Freeform Design project image
3D Freeform Design

Details
3D User Interfaces

Details
Mesh Processing

Details
meshmixer
meshmixer

Details
Dasher project image
Project Dasher

Details
Chronofab

Details
Background / CV

Education

Ph.D. Computer Science, U. of Toronto (May 2011). Supervisor: Karan Singh, Thesis title: "Part-Based Representation and Editing of 3D Surface Models"

MS.C. Computer Science, U. of Calgary (May 2006). Supervisor: Brian Wyvill, Thesis title: "Interactive Modeling with Implicit Surfaces"

B.Sc. Computer Science, Minor in Pure Math, U. of Calgary (May 2002).

Awards

NSERC Postdoctoral Fellowship (2010, $80,000 over 24 months)
MITACS Elevate Postdoctoral Fellowship (2010, $70,000 over 12 months, declined)
INRIA Postdoctoral Fellowship (2010, 15,000 euro over 12 months, declined)
NSERC PGS-D (2006, $63,000 over 36 months)
NSERC PGS-M (2005, $17,300 over 12 months)
MITACS Award for Best Novel use of mathematics in technology transfer (2007)
Okino Computer Graphics Award (2007)

Work History

Research Intern, Autodesk, 2008 to 2010
Developed 3D drawing interface based on traditional analytic perspective drawing techniques used in architectural and design drawing. Conducted perceptual studies on expert artists. Advised product teams on current state-of-the-art in academic research.

Research Consultant, Autodesk, Summer 2006
Explored 3D navigation issues relevant to large-scale architectural models. Developed novel 3D navigation and camera-control interfaces. Assisted with development of Maya Nucleus/nCloth physical simulation software.

Software Consultant, GlobalFlow, 2005
Designed multi-threaded UI framework for Windows Mobile devices. Developed control & reporting applications for oil & gas flow-control devices.

Research Assistant, Interactions Lab, University of Calgary, 2003-2005
Designed high-resolution multi-projector display walls, created multi-user input system for large displays. Developed user interface for detail-in-context exploration of high-resolution imagery.

Software Developer, Cimmetry Systems Inc, 2003-2004
Maintained and developed 2D and 3D graphics engines. Responsible for architectural optimization, new 2D/3D features.

Research Assistant, Graphics Jungle Lab, University of Calgary, 2001-2003
Maintained and developed 3D implicit surface modeling/rendering/animation system. Implemented raytracing techniques for implicit surfaces.

Assistant Developer, Software Engineering Research Network, University of Calgary, 2000
Developed J2EE-based project management web applications.

Credits

Images

  • ACM Transactions on Graphics 25(5) / SIGGRAPH Asia 2009 Proceedings (back cover)
  • SBIM 2009 Proceedings (back cover)
  • SBIM 2005 Proceedings (front cover)

Film

  • The Spine (2009) - Additional R&D Programming
Service / Affiliations

Technical Paper Reviewer

  • ACM SIGGRAPH (2008-2011)
  • ACM SIGGRAPH ASIA (2009-2010)
  • ACM Transactions on Graphics (2008,2009)
  • Eurographics (2008-2011)
  • ACM UIST (2010)
  • ACM CHI (2011)
  • Computers & Graphics (2008,2009)
  • IEEE Virtual Reality (2008)
  • IEEE Computer Graphics & Applications (2005-2011)
  • IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics (2006,2009)
  • IEEE 3DUI (2009)
  • Graphics Interface (2006,2009)
  • ACM SIGGRAPH Posters (2006)

Teaching

  • CSC320 - Intro To Visual Computing (Winter 2009, University of Toronto)
  • CSC491 - Capstone Design Couse (Fall 2007, University of Toronto)
  • CSC418/2504 - Intro to Computer Graphics (Fall 2007, Winter 2008, University of Toronto)
  • CPSC231 - Intro to Computer Science I (Fall 2002, University of Calgary)
  • CPSC355 - Computer Architecture and Low-Level Programming (Fall 2002, University of Calgary)

Invited Talks

  • University of Calgary (March 2011) — "Part-Based Representation and Editing of 3D Surface Models"
  • University of Calgary (March 2011) — "Analytic Drawing and Perception of Line Drawings"
  • Adobe CTL (February2011) - "Analytic Drawing and Perception of Line Drawings"
  • UC Berkeley (May 2010) - "Analytic Drawing and Expert Drawing Performance"
  • JST/ERATO Design UI Project (December 2009) - "Analytic Drawing"
  • University of Victoria (November 2009) - "Drawing Perception, Analytic Drawing"

Demos

  • DCS Research In Action (November 2009) - Analytic Drawing Demo
  • UIST 2009 (November 2009) - Analytic Drawing Demo
  • DGPis40 Workshop (May 2008) - ShapeShop Demo
  • TTI/Vanguard (April 2008) - ShapeShop Demo
  • DCS Research In Action (February 2008) - ShapeShop Demo
  • DemoCamp16 Toronto (November 2007) - ShapeShop Demo
  • Google "Gr8 Designs for Gr8 Girls" (May 2007) - ShapeShop Demo

Paper Presentations

  • SIGGRAPH 2010 (meshmixer: an interface for rapid mesh composition)
  • SIGGRAPH Asia 2009 (Analytic Drawing of 3D Scaffolds)
  • SBIM 2009 (On Expert Performance in 3D Curve-Drawing Tasks)
  • Eurographics 2008 (Sketching and Composing Widgets for 3D Manipulation)
  • Eurographics 2008 (Sketch-Based Procedural Surface Modeling and Compositing with Surface Trees)
  • NPAR 2007 (Sketching, Scaffolding, and Inking: A Visual History for Interactive 3D Modeling)
  • ACM SIGGRAPH 2006 (Interactive Decal Compositing with Discrete Exponential Maps)
  • Sketch-Based Modeling Workshop 2005 (ShapeShop: Sketch-Based Solid Modeling with BlobTrees)
  • ACM SIGGRAPH Sketches 2005 (Sketch-Based Modeling with the BlobTree)
  • Shape Modeling International 2005 (Interactive Implicit Modeling with Hierarchical Spatial Caching)
  • Workshop on Ubiquitous Display Environments @ UBICOMP 2004 (Reconfigurable Displays)
Contact

http://www.rms80.com

Recent Blog Posts See All Posts

  • June 13, 2016

    Practicing Brain Surgery with 3D Printing

  • October 31, 2015

    Make with Melting

  • Mentioned in the News
    • Meshmixer 2.7 Makes it Easier to 3D Print Multiple Objects
    • Meshmixer 2.6 on the loose. Tubes!
    • See All
    Mentioned in the Blog
    • Meshmixer Saves Lives. Part 1: Heart Healers
    • Practicing Brain Surgery with 3D Printing
    • Surgical Training and Planning with Meshmixer
    • 3D PrintAbility: Lower Leg Prosthetics
    • Optimize your 3D Printing for Structural Integrity
    • Make with Melting
    • Designing for Advanced Manufacturing
    • A Repeatable 3D Printing Process for Low-Cost Prosthetics
    • $100 Million 3D Printing Investment Fund Plus Meshmixer API and Scripting
    • Meshmixer 2.7 Makes it Easier to 3D Print Multiple Objects
    • Meshmixer 2.6: Add Tubes for 3D Printing!
    • Tubes Can Help You Make Interactive 3D Printed Objects
    • 3D Printing Trophies for SIGGRAPH Real-Time Live!
    • Come see Autodesk Research at SIGGRAPH 2014 in Vancouver
    • See All
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