Wenzel Jakob wins ACM SIGGRAPH Significant New Researcher Award

In IC's Realistic Graphics Lab, Prof. Jakob develops open-source software for research. © 2019 ACM SIGGRAPH

In IC's Realistic Graphics Lab, Prof. Jakob develops open-source software for research. © 2019 ACM SIGGRAPH

Professor Jakob, who has led the Realistic Graphics Lab (RGL) in the EPFL School of Computer and Communication Sciences (IC) since 2016, received the award for his exceptional work in rendering and geometry.

ACM SIGGRAPH is the world-leading conference in the area of computer graphics. Its Significant New Researcher Award is given each year to an early-career researcher who has already made significant contributions to the field.

This year’s award was officially announced on July 29 at the 2019 ACM SIGGRAPH conference in Los Angeles, California, USA, where Jakob also regularly presents his research.

In its online announcement, ACM SIGGRAPH said Jakob was selected for the prestigious prize in recognition of his theoretical and algorithmic contributions to the field, as well as for his work in developing open-source software for research.

“[Wenzel Jakob] is leading by example in helping to move our field towards viewing solid, practical implementations as an integral part of graphics research,” the association said.

Jakob joined EPFL in 2016, after completing a PhD at Cornell University in the United States and a postdoctoral fellowship at ETH Zurich. His research in the RGL aims to improve the realism and efficiency of computer-generated images.

Watch a video about Wenzel Jakob’s recent work on hyper-realistic computer graphics

Interested in learning more about computer graphics research at EPFL? The RGL will open its doors to the public in September as part of the EPFL open house event "Portes Ouvertes".