Maneesh Agrawala
Maneesh Agrawala (born 1972) is a professor of
computer science at Stanford University. He returned Maneesh Agrawala
to Stanford in 2015 as the director of the Brown Alma mater Stanford University
Institute for Media Innovation, after nearly a decade on Father Ashok Agrawala
the faculty at the University of California, Berkeley.[1] Awards MacArthur Fellowship
(2009)
Scientific career
Life and work
Fields Computer scientist
Maneesh Agrawala was born to computer-science Institutions Berkeley, Stanford
professor Ashok Agrawala from the University of Doctoral Pat Hanrahan
Maryland.[2] He attended the Science, Mathematics, advisor
and Computer Science Magnet Program at
Montgomery Blair High School in Silver Spring, MD, where he was part of a team (including Howard
Gobioff) that won a supercomputer in the 1988 SuperQuest competition.[3] He was a finalist in the 1990
Westinghouse Science Talent Search.[4]
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 Bug's
Life.[5] After graduating, Agrawala worked at Microsoft Research for three years, before joining the
faculty at the University of California, Berkeley.[6]
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
spatial relationships between elements. His user-centric approach is viewed as having broad applicability
in the fields of computer graphics and user interfaces.[7]
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.[8] He was named to the 2022 class of ACM
Fellows, "for contributions to visual communication through computer graphics, human-computer
interaction, and information visualization".[9]
References
1. "UC-Berkeley Professor Named Next Director of Brown Institute" ([Link]
[Link]/news/berkeley-professor-named-next-director-brown-institute). 4 March 2015.
2. "Celebrating Ashok Agrawala's 50th Anniversary at UMD" ([Link]
0). UMD Department of Computer Science. Retrieved 7 August 2023.
3. Deng, Sophia (1 October 2009). "Blair alumnus named MacArthur Fellow" ([Link]
[Link]/story/9499). Silver Chips Online. Retrieved 18 October 2013.
4. Bates, Steve (January 26, 1990). "Science's Brightest Young Stars: Six Area Students Make
Finals of Prestigious Contest". The Washington Post. p. C1.
5. "A Bug's Life (1998) - Full cast and crew" ([Link]
[Link]. Retrieved 28 February 2010.
6. "Maneesh Agrawala" ([Link]
eesh_Agrawala.htm). John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. Retrieved
2010-02-27.
7. Sanders, Robert (2009-09-22). "UC Berkeley Press Release" ([Link]
a/releases/2009/09/21_genius.shtml). [Link]. Retrieved 2010-02-28.
8. Maneesh Agrawala awarded the 2009 MacArthur Fellow "Genius" Grant ([Link]
[Link]/newsfeed2009/maneesh-agrawala-awarded-the-2009-macarthur-fellow-genius-grant/)
Archived ([Link]
009/maneesh-agrawala-awarded-the-2009-macarthur-fellow-genius-grant/) 2009-10-15 at
the Wayback Machine, SIGGRAPH, September 22, 2009.
9. "Global computing association names 57 fellows for outstanding contributions that propel
technology today" ([Link]
Association for Computing Machinery. January 18, 2023. Retrieved 2023-01-18.
External links
Maneesh Agrawala ([Link] at DBLP Bibliography Server
Retrieved from "[Link]
