2003

The 75th Scientific & Technical Awards 2002 | 2003
Regent Beverly Wilshire Hotel
Friday, February 28, 2003
Host: Kate Hudson

Honorees

John A. Bonner Medal of Commendation

Curt Behlmer and Richard Glickman were the 2002 recipients of the John A. Bonner Medal of Commendation, presented during the Scientific and Technical Awards presentation 

Technical Achievement Award (Academy Certificate)

To Dick Walsh for the development of the PDI/ Dreamworks Facial Animation System.

This effective software simulation system is used to create and control natural, expressive, highly-nuanced facial animation on a wide range of computer-generated characters. 

To Thomas Driemeyer and to the Team of Mathematicians, Physicists and Software Engineers of Mental Images for thier contributions to the Mental Ray rendering software for motion pictures. Mental Ray is a highly programmable computer-graphics renderer incorporating ray tracing and global illumination to realistically simulate the behavior of light in computer-generated imagery.

Mental Ray is a highly programmable computer-graphics renderer incorporating ray tracing and global illumination to realistically simulate the behavior of light in computer-generated imagery.

To Eric DanielsGeorge KatanicsTasso Lappas and Chris Springfield for the development of the Deep Canvas rendering software.

The Deep Canvas software program captures the original brush strokes of the traditional background artist to render elements in three dimensions for animated films.

To Jim Songer for his contributions to the technical development of video-assist in the motion picture industry. 

The work of Jim Songer from 1968 through 1973 led directly to the more widespread acceptance of video-assist in the motion picture industry.

To Pierre Chabert of Airstar for the introduction of balloons with internal light sources to provide set lighting for the motion picture industry. 

These helium-filled balloons with internal arrangements for tungsten halogen and HMI light sources are usable indoors or out, quick to set up, require essentially no rigging and provide a soft light that can cover a very large area.

To Rawdon Hayne and Robert W. Jeffs of Leelium Tubelite for their contributions to the development of internally lit balloons for motion picture lighting.

Scientific and Engineering Award (Academy Plaque)

To Glenn Sanders and Howard Stark of Zaxcom for the concept, design and engineering of the portable Deva Digital Audio Disk Recorder.

This innovative design employs advanced hard disk recording technology and digital audio techniques for use in both production and post-production recording applications.

To Mark ElendtPaul H. BreslinGreg Hermanovic and Kim Davidson for their continued development of the procedural modeling and animation components of their Prisms program, as exemplified in the Houdini software package.

Through a procedural building-block process, the Houdini software is used to simulate natural phenomena using particle effects and complex three-dimensional models.

To Dr. Leslie GutierrezDiane E. KestnerJames Merrill and David Niklewicz for the design and development of the Kodak Vision Premier Color Print Film, 2393.

This film stock provides filmmakers with enhanced color saturation, higher contrast and darker blacks, producing a bold, colorful "look" on the theater screen.

To Dedo Weigert for the concept, Dr. Depu Jin for the optical calculations, and Franz Petters for the mechanical construction of the Dedolight 400D.