Jack van Wijk
Encyclopedia
Jarke J. van Wijk is a Dutch computer scientist, a professor in the Department of Mathematics and Computer Science at the Eindhoven University of Technology
, and an expert in information visualization
.
in 1982. His master's thesis, on simulation of traffic collisions, led him to become interested in computer visualization, and he remained at Delft for his doctoral studies, completing a Ph.D. in 1986 under the supervision of Dennis J. McConalogue. He worked at the Energy Research Centre of the Netherlands
from 1988 until 1998, when he joined the Eindhoven faculty; he was promoted to a full professorship in 2001.
As well as being a faculty member at TU Eindhoven, van Wijk is the vice president for scientific affairs at MagnaView, a Dutch information visualization company.
, treemaps
, and flow visualization
. His work on map projection
won the 2009 Henry Johns Award of the British Cartographic Society
for best cartographic journal article.
He has twice been program co-chair for IEEE Visualization, and once for IEEE InfoVis. In 2007, he received an IEEE Technical Achievement Award for his visualization research.
In graph drawing
, van Wijk has worked on the visualization of small-world network
s and on the depiction of abstract trees as biological trees. He has also conducted user studies
that showed that the standard depiction of directed edges
in graph drawings using arrowheads is less effective at conveying the directionality of the edges to readers than other conventions such as tapering. He was one of two invited speakers at the 19th International Symposium on Graph Drawing
in 2011.
Eindhoven University of Technology
The ' is a university of technology located in Eindhoven, Netherlands. The motto of the university is: Mens agitat molem . The university was the second of its kind in the Netherlands, only Delft University of Technology existed previously. Until mid-1980 it was known as the...
, and an expert in information visualization
Information visualization
Information visualization is the interdisciplinary study of "the visual representation of large-scale collections of non-numerical information, such as files and lines of code in software systems, library and bibliographic databases, networks of relations on the internet, and so forth".- Overview...
.
Biography
Van Wijk received his M.S. from the Delft University of TechnologyDelft University of Technology
Delft University of Technology , also known as TU Delft, is the largest and oldest Dutch public technical university, located in Delft, Netherlands...
in 1982. His master's thesis, on simulation of traffic collisions, led him to become interested in computer visualization, and he remained at Delft for his doctoral studies, completing a Ph.D. in 1986 under the supervision of Dennis J. McConalogue. He worked at the Energy Research Centre of the Netherlands
Energy Research Centre of the Netherlands
The Energy research Centre of the Netherlands is the largest energy research institute in the Netherlands and has a strong international position. ECN develops knowledge and technology with and for the market that enables a transition to a sustainable energy system. The head office is located in...
from 1988 until 1998, when he joined the Eindhoven faculty; he was promoted to a full professorship in 2001.
As well as being a faculty member at TU Eindhoven, van Wijk is the vice president for scientific affairs at MagnaView, a Dutch information visualization company.
Research
In information visualization, Van Wijk is known for his research in texture synthesisTexture 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...
, treemaps
Treemapping
In information visualization and computing, treemapping is a method for displaying hierarchical data by using nested rectangles.- Main idea :...
, and flow visualization
Flow visualization
Flow visualization in fluid dynamics is used to make the flow patterns visible, in order to get a qualitative or quantitative information on them.- Overview :...
. His work on map projection
Map projection
A map projection is any method of representing the surface of a sphere or other three-dimensional body on a plane. Map projections are necessary for creating maps. All map projections distort the surface in some fashion...
won the 2009 Henry Johns Award of the British Cartographic Society
British Cartographic Society
The British Cartographic Society is an association of individuals and organisations dedicated to exploring and developing the world of maps. It is a registered charity...
for best cartographic journal article.
He has twice been program co-chair for IEEE Visualization, and once for IEEE InfoVis. In 2007, he received an IEEE Technical Achievement Award for his visualization research.
In graph drawing
Graph drawing
Graph drawing is an area of mathematics and computer science combining methods from geometric graph theory and information visualization to derive two-dimensional depictions of graphs arising from applications such as social network analysis, cartography, and bioinformatics...
, van Wijk has worked on the visualization of small-world network
Small-world network
In mathematics, physics and sociology, a small-world network is a type of mathematical graph in which most nodes are not neighbors of one another, but most nodes can be reached from every other by a small number of hops or steps...
s and on the depiction of abstract trees as biological trees. He has also conducted user studies
Usability testing
Usability testing is a technique used in user-centered interaction design to evaluate a product by testing it on users. This can be seen as an irreplaceable usability practice, since it gives direct input on how real users use the system...
that showed that the standard depiction of directed edges
Directed graph
A directed graph or digraph is a pair G= of:* a set V, whose elements are called vertices or nodes,...
in graph drawings using arrowheads is less effective at conveying the directionality of the edges to readers than other conventions such as tapering. He was one of two invited speakers at the 19th International Symposium on Graph Drawing
International Symposium on Graph Drawing
The International Symposium on Graph Drawing is an annual academic conference in which researchers present peer reviewed papers on graph drawing, information visualization of network information, geometric graph theory, and related topics.-Significance:...
in 2011.
External links
- Home page at TU Eindhoven