Maneesh Agrawala
Encyclopedia
Maneesh Agrawala is an associate professor at the University of California, Berkeley
, in the Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Department, where he leads the Visualization Lab.
He received a MacArthur Foundation Fellowship in 2009.
. He received a B.S. in mathematics
in 1994 and a Ph.D. in computer science
in 2002, both from Stanford University
. While attending Stanford, he worked as a software consultant at Vicinity Corporation and in the rendering software group at Pixar Animation Studios. He received a film credit for Pixar's A Bugs Life. After graduating, Agrawala worked at Microsoft Research
for three years, working in its Document Processing and Understanding Group. In 2006, he joined the faculty at the University of California, Berkeley.
Agrawala's work focuses on the design of visual interfaces that help a user process digital information, often using cognitive design concepts. For instance, LineDrive, a program developed by Agrawala, creates route maps that resemble hand-drawn maps, adapting cognitive and map-making techniques to help a computer user process information on a route. This work was the focus of his 2002 Ph.D. dissertation, "Visualizing Route Maps". He has also adapted cognitive science
into visual interfaces for complex 3D models. Agrawala has also developed a system that creates step-by-step assembly instructions for complex machines, using the idea of exploded views to help the user understand the spacial relationships between elements. His user-centric approach is viewed as having broad applicability in the fields of computer graphics and user inferfaces.
Agrawala is the recipient of multiple awards, including an Okawa Foundation Research Grant in 2006, a Sloan Fellowship
and NSF
CAREER Award in 2007, a SIGGRAPH
Significant New Researcher Award in 2008, and a MacArthur Foundation Fellowship in 2009.
He also developed LineDrive, a directions-mapping technology.
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...
, in the Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Department, where he leads the Visualization Lab.
He received a MacArthur Foundation Fellowship in 2009.
Life and work
Maneesh Agrawala attended the Science, Mathematics, and Computer Science Magnet Program at Montgomery Blair High SchoolMontgomery Blair High School
Montgomery Blair High School is a public high school located in unincorporated Silver Spring in Montgomery County, Maryland, United States...
. He received a B.S. in mathematics
Mathematics
Mathematics is the study of quantity, space, structure, and change. Mathematicians seek out patterns and formulate new conjectures. Mathematicians resolve the truth or falsity of conjectures by mathematical proofs, which are arguments sufficient to convince other mathematicians of their validity...
in 1994 and a Ph.D. in computer science
Computer science
Computer science or computing science is the study of the theoretical foundations of information and computation and of practical techniques for their implementation and application in computer systems...
in 2002, both from 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...
. While attending Stanford, he worked as a software consultant at Vicinity Corporation and in the rendering software group at Pixar Animation Studios. He received a film credit for Pixar's A Bugs Life. After graduating, Agrawala worked at Microsoft Research
Microsoft Research
Microsoft Research is the research division of Microsoft created in 1991 for developing various computer science ideas and integrating them into Microsoft products. It currently employs Turing Award winners C.A.R. Hoare, Butler Lampson, and Charles P...
for three years, working in its Document Processing and Understanding Group. In 2006, he joined the faculty at the University of California, Berkeley.
Agrawala's work focuses on the design of visual interfaces that help a user process digital information, often using cognitive design concepts. For instance, LineDrive, a program developed by Agrawala, creates route maps that resemble hand-drawn maps, adapting cognitive and map-making techniques to help a computer user process information on a route. This work was the focus of his 2002 Ph.D. dissertation, "Visualizing Route Maps". He has also adapted cognitive science
Cognitive science
Cognitive science is the interdisciplinary scientific study of mind and its processes. It examines what cognition is, what it does and how it works. It includes research on how information is processed , represented, and transformed in behaviour, nervous system or machine...
into visual interfaces for complex 3D models. Agrawala has also developed a system that creates step-by-step assembly instructions for complex machines, using the idea of exploded views to help the user understand the spacial relationships between elements. His user-centric approach is viewed as having broad applicability in the fields of computer graphics and user inferfaces.
Agrawala is the recipient of multiple awards, including an Okawa Foundation Research Grant in 2006, a Sloan Fellowship
Sloan Fellowship
The Sloan Research Fellowships are awarded annually by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation since 1955 to "provide support and recognition to early-career scientists and scholars". This is distinct from the Sloan Fellows in business....
and 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 in 2007, a 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...
Significant New Researcher Award in 2008, and a MacArthur Foundation Fellowship in 2009.
He also developed LineDrive, a directions-mapping technology.