CHICAGO, Feb. 18, 2021 — (PRNewswire) — ACM SIGGRAPH has selected Erik Brunvand, of the University of Utah, as chair of its 50th annual SIGGRAPH conference. Brunvand is a professor in the University of Utah's School of Computing, where he has been on faculty since 1990.

Brunvand first attended the SIGGRAPH conference in 2006 and has since found a home among the community. As a contributor and creator, Brunvand has presented work in many storied programs, including the conference's Courses, Talks, Labs (formerly Studio), Art Gallery, and Educator's Forum venues. As a volunteer, he has served on the SIGGRAPH 2017, 2018, and 2020 committees, and is currently the inaugural chair of ACM SIGGRAPH's Distinguished Educator Award committee.

"Not only does Erik have a passion for the history of our industry, but his background also represents the breadth of subject matter that the conference covers. In his years in computer graphics, Erik has touched everything from research to art to education, which makes him a perfect fit to lead the celebration of 50 years of SIGGRAPH," said SIGGRAPH Conference Advisory Group Chair Mikki Rose.

Fueled by a love of designing and building — whether physical machines or virtual simulations — Brunvand approaches teaching by encouraging his students to explore computer science and engineering from a wide variety of perspectives. His research has involved computer architectures optimized for application-specific tasks and, since the early 2000s, has centered on ray tracing and GPU efficiency. He holds a Ph.D. in computer science from Carnegie Mellon University. Brunvand will follow SIGGRAPH 2022 Conference Chair Munkhtsetseg Nandigjav of Savannah College of Art and Design. The 2022 event is planned for Vancouver next summer.

"I'm a huge fan of computing history and how that informs research and industry practice going forward," shared Brunvand. "I am thrilled to lead the planning of SIGGRAPH's 50th anniversary year, and I am looking forward to finding new ways to bring the community's rich and wonderful history to life."

In addition to Brunvand's appointment as 2023 chair, ACM SIGGRAPH is pleased to announce new dates for the SIGGRAPH 2021 virtual conference. Live events and "can't miss" scheduled sessions will take place throughout the week of 9–13 August; additionally, participants will have the opportunity to explore on-demand content at their convenience from 2 August through 29 October. Submissions for many conference programs, including the Computer Animation Festival Electronic Theater, Real-Time Live!, and Posters, are now open.

For more information on ACM SIGGRAPH visit SIGGRAPH.org.

About ACM, ACM SIGGRAPH and SIGGRAPH Conferences
ACM, the Association for Computing Machinery, is the world's largest educational and scientific computing society, uniting educators, researchers, and professionals to inspire dialogue, share resources, and address the field's challenges. ACM SIGGRAPH is a special interest group within ACM that serves as an interdisciplinary community for members in research, technology, and applications in computer graphics and interactive techniques. SIGGRAPH conferences, held in North America and Asia, are the world's leading annual interdisciplinary educational experiences showcasing the latest in computer graphics and interactive techniques. Learn more about the upcoming SIGGRAPH 2021 conference.

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SOURCE SIGGRAPH