Jos Stam

Biography

Jos Stam is a citizen both of The Netherlands and Canada. He was born in The Hague in the Netherlands but grew up in Geneva, Switzerland. Jos grew up in a post-card setting. The prettiness soon wore off and the skiing was just too good. Therefore Jos moved to Canada to study at the University of Toronto where he met his wife Pam and obtained a PhD in computer science specializing in computer graphics. At the same time Jos hooked up with a Toronto-based computer graphics company called Alias. All of the sudden Jos' research was used in Hollywood.

With a PhD under his belt from a top North American University Jos decided to move back to Europe and spend nine months in Paris and nine months in Helsinki. After visitig every museum and metro station in Paris and trying to learn Finnish Jos moved to post-grunge "black hole sun" Seattle. Jos got a full-time job with Alias which had an office in downtown Seattle and he moved into a loft in Pioneer Square nearby. Jos admits he did one of his best research in between replacing wind torn umbrellas, hanging out in bookstores, sipping lattes, drinking craft brews and exploring the funky alternative scene. His daughter Gillian was born there in 2002.

In 2003 Jos said goodby to Seattle and moved back to Toronto and bought an old Victorian house in the downtown area which he calls home since then. All of the sudden the awards were pouring in. The Computer Graphics Achievement Award in 2005 and two Academy Awards in 2006 and 2008. Jos now works for Autodesk as a Senior Principal Research Scientist after Autodesk's aquisition of Alias in 2006. Jos is also affiliated with the University of Toronto as an adjunct Professor in the department of Computer Science.

Education

BSc Computer Science University of Geneva (1988)
BSc Pure Mathematics University of Geneva (1989)
MSc Computer Science University of Toronto (1991)
PhD Computer Science University of Toronto (1995)

Areas of Research / Professional Expertise

My main area of research is computer graphics: the art of creating animated digital imagery. Especially the modeling of natural phenomena such as fire, smoke, liquids and capturing the motion of complicated behaviors. I have also done research in shape modeling, especially subdivision surfaces, and rendering. I have published my research in many computer graphics journals especially at our annual SIGGRAPH conference. I am one of the pioneers in the field of computer graphics. My contributions have also been implemented in many softwares and are being used by the special effects industry, the game industry and in the computational design of shapes. I have given talks on these topics on all continents except Antarctica and Africa.

Personal Interests

I am interested in anything that is intellectually stimulating with a visual slant. Be it Mathematics, Art, Physics, Philosophy or exploring the world. I like random walks in strange places.

Websites

• Autodesk Home page

• Permanent Home page

• University of Toronto Home Page

Books

Articles

Photos