Alla Sheffer's Home Page

2007_0303_UBCAlla_005a

         

Alla Sheffer

Professor & Associate Head Research and Faculty Affairs
Computer Science
University of British Columbia

sheffa@cs.ubc.ca

www.cs.ubc.ca/~sheffa

 
 

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phone: +1-(604)-822-4030

Office: X651 ICICS/CS

Mail:

Dept. Computer Science, UBC
201-2366 Main Mall
Vancouver, V6T 1Z4, Canada

News and Updates:

 

Recent Awards:

 

Bio:

I investigate algorithms for shape modeling and analysis in the context of computer graphics applications and had made major contributions to the state of the art research in mesh parameterization, hexahedral meshing, and perception driven shape modeling. I joined the CS department at UBC in 2003, and was promoted to full professor in 2013. My prior places of study/work included: Technion (Israel), University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC), and Hebrew University (Jerusalem).  My recent awards include the Canadian Human Computer Communications Society 2018 Achievement Award,   a UBC CS Faculty Mentoring Award, a Killam research fellowship, and an Audi Production Award. My past and present funding sources include NSERC I2I grants, faculty awards from IBM, Google and Adobe, an NSERC Discovery Accelerator award, and an NSERC DND Supplement. I am an Associate Editor of ACM Transactions on Graphics, and have served as an associate editor ot the two other major computer graphics journals (IEEE TVCG, and Eurographics CGF). I was a program co-chair for the Eurographics 2018 conference, and a general co-chair for the Pacific Graphics 2018 and GMP 2019 conferences. Previously, I have been a program co-chair for both of the top-ranked specialized geometry processing conferences (SGP 2006, SMI 2013). I have co-authored over 100 peer-reviewed publications, many highly cited. These include 42 papers in ACM Transactions on Graphics (including 38 papers in SIGRAPH/SIGGRAPH Asia Proceedings), the top most competitive CG venue; 22 of these were published in the last five years. I hold six recent patents on methods for sketch analysis and hexahedral mesh generation. 

  

alla_cows

Research  

My research addresses geometric modeling and processing problems, both in traditional computer graphics settings and in multiple other application domains including product design, mechanical and civil engineering, and fashion. I have published numerous papers addressing core geometry processing topics, such as hexahedral meshing and developable surface manipulation. My mesh parameterization methods, particularly the ABF (angle-based flattening) algorithm, are referenced in most books and surveys on geometry processing and are taught in many advanced modeling courses worldwide.

My recent research applies insights about human perception and communication of shapes to algorithmic shape processing and has yielded novel modeling methods targeted at a broad user base. The algorithms I developed accelerate and simplify the creation of virtual models across multiple domains, including fashion and product design. My research in this space has benefited from funding from industry-leading companies, including Adobe, IBM, and Google. My recent work addresses geometric challenges that arise in advanced digital fabrication settings. I am also exploring the use of virtual and augmented reality interfaces for shape communication.

 

To learn more about my research check my  publications list (It may also explain why I love meshed cows...)

 

Other:  I am passionate about travel and good food (cooking and eating). Once upon a time, I danced salsa and had time to read serious books...