Curriculum Vitae
Education
- Ph.D., Computer Science, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2005
Thesis: Scalable Methods for Processing Massive Geometric Meshes. Advisor: Michael Garland - M.S., Computer Science, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, 1996
- B.S., Mathematics and Computer Science, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1992
Appointments
Siebel School of Computing and Data Science, University of Illinois
- Associate Director of Academics Apr 2026 – present
- Director of Undergraduate Programs Aug 2024 – Apr 2026
- Associate Director of Undergraduate Programs Aug 2022 – Aug 2024
- Teaching Professor Aug 2026 – present
- Teaching Associate Professor Aug 2020 – Aug 2026
- Teaching Assistant Professor Aug 2016 – Aug 2020
- Lecturer Aug 2014 – Aug 2016
Computational Science and Engineering, University of Illinois
- Assistant Director Jan 2013 – Aug 2014
- Technical Program Manager Aug 2010 – Jan 2013
- Research Scientist Aug 2007 – Aug 2010
Earlier positions
- Postdoctoral Research Associate, Center for Simulation of Advanced Rockets, University of Illinois 2005 – 2007
- Research Programmer, Pablo Research Group, University of Illinois 1996 – 2002
- Programmer, IBM, Rochester, MN 1992 – 1994
Teaching Awards
- Rose Award for Teaching Excellence, Grainger College of Engineering 2024
- Scott H. Fisher Computer Science Teaching Award, Department of Computer Science 2024
- List of Teachers Ranked as Excellent by Their Students: Fall 2013, 2016, 2017; Spring 2016, 2017, 2023; Summer 2022, 2025
Patents
- Gaze-depth Interaction in Virtual, Augmented, or Mixed Reality. U.S. Patent Application No. 63/617,821, filed January 5, 2024. Inventors: C. Zhang, T. Chen, R. Nedungadi, E. Shaffer, E. Soltanaghai.
Grants
- UIUC SIIP: Virtual Reality as a Vehicle for Education in the Domains of Building Systems and Construction Materials 2024 – 2025
- UIUC–Insper: Leveraging Focal Depth for Gaze-based Interaction in Extended Reality 2024
- UIUC SIIP: Game for Community Resilience-Based Decision-Making Education 2023 – 2025
- DPI Science Team Award: Bridge Deck Rapid Assessment Using AI Structural Sensing and Augmented Reality 2021 – 2022
- UIUC SIIP: Learning by Immersion: VR Labs for Electromagnetism Courses 2019 – 2022
- Microsoft: Gift of 30 HMDs for the VR Lab 2018
- UIUC SIIP: Implementing Process Oriented Guided Inquiry Learning 2018 – 2019
- ExxonMobil: Computational Tools for Analysis of Disparate Reservoir Models 2013 – 2018
- U.S. Department of Energy: 3-D Visualization and Analysis of Oil and Gas Resources 2011 – 2015
- The Boeing Company: Boeing–UIUC Uncertainty Quantification for CFD 2012 – 2013
- The Boeing Company: Boeing–UIUC Meshing Collaboration 2007 – 2012
- The Boeing Company: Fluid-Structure Interaction Coupling for Aeroelastic Simulations 2010
- Caterpillar Inc.: Meshing and Visualization for Cut-Cell Methods 2007 – 2008
Thesis Committees
- Kristen Schumacher, Ph.D. Physics, University of Illinois 2025
- Zoufu Cheng, Ph.D. Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Illinois 2014
Service
- Director of Undergraduate Programs, Siebel School of Computing and Data Science 2024 – 2026
- Associate Director for Undergraduate Programs, Department of Computer Science 2022 – 2024
- Undergraduate Study Committee 2020 – present
- Game Studies and Design Curriculum Committee 2022 – present
- INFO Minor Education Committee 2022 – present
- CS CARES Committee 2021 – 2024
- Associate Director for Education, IMMERSE Center for Immersive Computing 2022 – 2023
- Capricious Grading Committee 2022 – 2023
- Faculty Senate 2021 – 2023
- Undergraduate Awards Committee 2021 – 2022
- Maker Space Committee 2021 – 2022
Professional Activities
- Reviewer: ACM SIGCSE (2020–2023), ASEE IL-IN (2021, 2022), International Meshing Roundtable (2012, 2015, 2016), ACM SIGGRAPH (2003, 2010), IEEE Visualization (2004–2007), InfoVis (2004–2007), Parallel Computing (Elsevier), IEEE Computer Graphics and Applications
- Member, IEEE Computer Society