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.

22 publications

Projects

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)