Tom DeFanti
Director, Electronic Visualization Laboratory
University of Illinois at Chicago
Electronic Visualization Laboratory
851 South Morgan St.
Room 1120, (MC 152)
Chicago, IL 60607-7053
Thomas A. DeFanti, PhD, is a distinguished professor in the department of Computer Science, director of the Electronic Visualization Laboratory (EVL), and director of the Software Technologies Research Center at the University of Illinois at Chicago.
He is principal investigator of the NSF/ANIR Science, Technology And Research Transit Access Point (STAR TAP/StarLight) and Euro-Link initiatives to provide a persistent infrastructure to facilitate the long-term interconnection and interoperability of advanced international networking. He is also co-principal investigator of the NSF OptIPuter project and the NSF PACI Alliance.
DeFanti is an internationally recognized expert in computer graphics, visualization, and virtual reality, as well. In the 29 years he has been at UIC, DeFanti has amassed a number of credits, including: use of EVL hardware and software for the computer animation produced for the 1977 "Star Wars" movie; contributor and co-editor of the 1987 National Science Foundation-sponsored report "Visualization in Scientific Computing;" recipient of the 1988 ACM Outstanding Contribution Award; an ACM Fellow; a Fellow of the International Engineering Consortium; and appointed one of several USA technical advisors to the G7 GIBN activity in 1995.
He shares recognition along with EVL director Daniel J. Sandin for conceiving the CAVE virtual reality theater in 1991.
