PolyDoc Careers Seminar: Engineering in Film

The PolyDoc Careers Seminar aims to expose students and postdoctoral researchers to a variety of jobs for which a science or engineering degree is highly valuable. Speakers provide personal perspective about their work, which would not be accessible otherwise, and questions are highly encouraged. The EPFL community at bachelor, master, doctoral, and postdoctoral levels are all equally encouraged to attend.

Zoom link: https://go.epfl.ch/engineeringinfilm

Speaker 1 – Professor Christopher Batty (University of Waterloo, Canada)

Christopher Batty received his PhD in computer science from the University of British Columbia in 2010, and was a Banting Postdoctoral Fellow at Columbia University from 2011-2013. He is now an Associate Professor in the David R. Cheriton School of Computer Science at the University of Waterloo, where he directs the Computational Motion Group. His research is focused on developing physics-based fluid simulation techniques for computer graphics and computational physics applications. He has worked with major visual effects studios and software companies in the film industry, including collaborative research for Side Effects’ Houdini (FLIP fluid solver) and consulting for Weta Digital. Prior to his academic career, he developed physics-based animation software at former Canadian visual effects studio Frantic Films from 2003-2005, and contributed to films such as Scooby-Doo 2, Cursed, and Superman Returns.

https://cs.uwaterloo.ca/~c2batty/

Speaker 2 – Derek Bradley, PhD (DisneyResearch|Studios, Zürich, Switzerland)

Derek Bradley has a PhD in computer science and is now a Director of Research & Development at DisneyResearch|Studios in Zürich, Switzerland, where he leads the Digital Humans research team. He is interested in various problems that involve creating digital humans, including digital scanning, facial performance capture, facial animation, and visual effects for films. His team has been creating high quality digital humans for over a decade, and his work has driven the visual effects in over 30 Hollywood feature films and TV shows, including blockbusters like Avengers, Aladdin, and The Jungle Book. He has over two dozen patents for computer graphics technology that he developed. In 2019, he won a Sci-Tech Oscar for the Medusa Performance Capture System.

http://zurich.disneyresearch.com/derekbradley/