Greg Turk
Encyclopedia
Greg Turk is an American-born researcher in the field of computer graphics
and a Professor at the School of Interactive Computing
in the College of Computing
at the Georgia Institute of Technology
(Georgia Tech). His paper "Zippered polygon meshes from range images," concerning the reconstruction of surfaces from point data, brought the "Stanford Bunny
," a frequently used example object in computer graphics research, into the CGI lexicon. Turk actually purchased the original Stanford Bunny, and performed the initial scans on it. He is also known for his work on simplification of surfaces, and on reaction-diffusion based texture synthesis
. In 2008, Turk served as the technical papers chair of SIGGRAPH
2008.
under the supervision of Henry Fuchs
in 1992, Turk was a postdoctoral researcher at Stanford University
from 1992 to 1994 before he returned to UNC-Chapel Hill as a research professor from 1994 to 1996. He joined the Georgia Tech faculty in 1996. The following year, Turk was awarded an NSF
CAREER Award, one of the most prestigious awards granted by the NSF to new faculty.
It was while Turk was at Stanford that he first brought the "Stanford Bunny" back to the lab for scanning, which he recounts in a "had I but known" fashion:
in the 1970s, where he was a member of the nonmusical group "The Olive Starlight Orchestra," along with David Linden
, Keith Goldfarb, David Coons
, Sandra Tsing Loh
, Susan P. Crawford
, Eric Enderton, and Jan Steckel
. He performed his undergraduate work at UCLA.
A guitarist in a short-lived band while he attended UCLA, Turk performed with the group as "Industrial Waist," which also featured Jack Watt (on drums; he was Jackie Watt, a female, back then), mathematician and teacher Paul Lockhart (lead vocals, guitar; Lockhart later became known for writing the internet sensation—and later, book-A Mathematician's Lament), Rhythm and Hues Studios
co-founder Keith Goldfarb (bass player), and Alex Melnick (the band's original drummer). Turk and Lockhart were roommates together in Santa Monica for a couple of years while they attended UCLA.
Turk now lives with his wife, two children, multiple cats and peach tree in Atlanta, GA.
Computer graphics
Computer graphics are graphics created using computers and, more generally, the representation and manipulation of image data by a computer with help from specialized software and hardware....
and a Professor at the School of Interactive Computing
Georgia Institute of Technology School of Interactive Computing
The School of Interactive Computing is an academic unit located within the College of Computing at the Georgia Institute of Technology . It conducts both research and teaching activities related to interactive computing at the undergraduate and graduate levels...
in the College of Computing
Georgia Institute of Technology College of Computing
The College of Computing at the Georgia Institute of Technology has roots stretching back to an Information Science degree established in 1964. In 1988, Georgia Tech president John Patrick Crecine elevated the School of Information and Computer Science to become the College of Computing, making...
at the Georgia Institute of Technology
Georgia Institute of Technology
The Georgia Institute of Technology is a public research university in Atlanta, Georgia, in the United States...
(Georgia Tech). His paper "Zippered polygon meshes from range images," concerning the reconstruction of surfaces from point data, brought the "Stanford Bunny
Stanford Bunny
The Stanford Bunny is a computer graphics 3D test model developed by Greg Turk and Marc Levoy in 1994 at Stanford University.The Bunny consists of data describing 69,451 triangles determined by 3D scanning a ceramic figurine of a rabbit. The data can be used to test various graphics algorithms;...
," a frequently used example object in computer graphics research, into the CGI lexicon. Turk actually purchased the original Stanford Bunny, and performed the initial scans on it. He is also known for his work on simplification of surfaces, and on reaction-diffusion based texture synthesis
Texture synthesis
Texture synthesis is the process of algorithmically constructing a large digital image from a small digital sample image by taking advantage of its structural content...
. In 2008, Turk served as the technical papers chair of SIGGRAPH
SIGGRAPH
SIGGRAPH is the name of the annual conference on computer graphics convened by the ACM SIGGRAPH organization. The first SIGGRAPH conference was in 1974. The conference is attended by tens of thousands of computer professionals...
2008.
Education and computer graphics research
After receiving his Ph.D. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel HillUniversity of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is a public research university located in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States...
under the supervision of Henry Fuchs
Henry Fuchs
Prof. Henry Fuchs is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the Association for Computing Machinery and the Federico Gil Professor of Computer Science at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill . He is also an adjunct professor in biomedical engineering...
in 1992, Turk was a postdoctoral researcher at Stanford University
Stanford University
The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
from 1992 to 1994 before he returned to UNC-Chapel Hill as a research professor from 1994 to 1996. He joined the Georgia Tech faculty in 1996. The following year, Turk was awarded an NSF
National Science Foundation
The National Science Foundation is a United States government agency that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering. Its medical counterpart is the National Institutes of Health...
CAREER Award, one of the most prestigious awards granted by the NSF to new faculty.
It was while Turk was at Stanford that he first brought the "Stanford Bunny" back to the lab for scanning, which he recounts in a "had I but known" fashion:
Personal life
Turk was born in 1961, and grew up in Southern California. He attended Santa Monica High SchoolSanta Monica High School
Santa Monica High School, informally known as SAMOHI, is located in Santa Monica, California. Founded in 1884, it is one of the oldest high schools in the state....
in the 1970s, where he was a member of the nonmusical group "The Olive Starlight Orchestra," along with David Linden
David Linden
David J. Linden is an American professor of neuroscience at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, and the author of The Accidental Mind: How Brain Evolution Has Given Us Love, Memory, Dreams, and God....
, Keith Goldfarb, David Coons
David Coons
David B. Coons is an Academy Award-winning computer graphics professional who is perhaps best known as the inspiration for the title of Po Bronson's The Nudist on the Late Shift, but is also a longtime CGI expert of near-"Pioneer" status.-Biogrphy:...
, Sandra Tsing Loh
Sandra Tsing Loh
Sandra Tsing Loh is a Los Angeles, California-based writer, actress, performance-artist, pop-culture analyst, and radio commentator.-Biography:Loh is the daughter of a Chinese father and a German mother...
, Susan P. Crawford
Susan P. Crawford
Susan P. Crawford was until December 2009 President Barack Obama's Special Assistant for Science, Technology, and Innovation Policy...
, Eric Enderton, and Jan Steckel
Jan Steckel
Jan Steckel, M.D. is a San Francisco Bay Area-based writer of poetry, fiction and creative nonfiction, who is also known as an activist in the bisexual community and an advocate on behalf of the disabled and the underprivileged....
. He performed his undergraduate work at UCLA.
A guitarist in a short-lived band while he attended UCLA, Turk performed with the group as "Industrial Waist," which also featured Jack Watt (on drums; he was Jackie Watt, a female, back then), mathematician and teacher Paul Lockhart (lead vocals, guitar; Lockhart later became known for writing the internet sensation—and later, book-A Mathematician's Lament), Rhythm and Hues Studios
Rhythm and Hues Studios
Rhythm & Hues Studios is a visual effects studio serving the major film studios. It is known for its computer-generated 3D character animation. Recognized as one of the top facilities of its kind in the world, Rhythm & Hues has contributed to more than 150 feature films...
co-founder Keith Goldfarb (bass player), and Alex Melnick (the band's original drummer). Turk and Lockhart were roommates together in Santa Monica for a couple of years while they attended UCLA.
Turk now lives with his wife, two children, multiple cats and peach tree in Atlanta, GA.
Selected publications
- Turk G, Levoy M. (1994) Zippered polygon meshes from range images. In: Proceedings of the 21st Annual Conference on Computer Graphics and Interactive Techniques, pp. 311–318 (ISBN 0-89791-667-0) (cited 627 times)
- Turk G. (1992) Re-tiling polygonal surfaces. ACM SIGGRAPH Computer Graphics 26: 55–64 (cited 576 times)
- Cohen J, VarshneyVarshneyVarshney, Varshnei, Varshnai, Varshnaya, Varshni, Vrishni or Vrushni are family names from India. They are variant spellings of the name Varshneya, first recorded in the Mahābhārata as used by Arjuna to address Vasudeva Krishna...
A, Manocha D, Turk G et al. (1996) Simplification envelopes. In: Proceedings of the 23rd Annual Conference on Computer Graphics and Interactive Techniques, pp. 119–128 (ISBN 0-89791-746-4) (cited 464 times)
External links
- Greg's homepage
- Greg Turk's publications at DBLPDBLPDBLP is a computer science bibliography website hosted at Universität Trier, in Germany. It was originally a database and logic programming bibliography site, and has existed at least since the 1980s. DBLP listed more than 1.3 million articles on computer science in January 2010...
. - The Stanford Bunny