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Ulrich Neumann Named IMSC Director

USC Engineering Dean C.L. Max Nikias has appointed Prof. Ulrich Neumann as Director of the School's Integrated Media Systems Center, effective March 15, 2002. Neumann is a USC faculty member in computer science and, in his new post, will also hold the Charles Lee Powell Chair in Engineering.

"I am honored to be named the new Director," Prof. Neumann said, "and I look forward to working closely with IMSC faculty, staff and students as well as with NSF and our corporate partners in meeting the challenges of multimedia and Internet research in this new century."

The Integrated Media Systems Center, with an $11 million annual budget, is the National Science Foundation's only Engineering Research Center for multimedia and Internet research. The Center provides an environment where academia and industry can work together on complex, next-generation engineering systems important to the nation's future.

Established in 1996, the Center has earned wide recognition for its pioneering research in "Immersipresence," its vision of the future of the Internet. The USC Center regards Immersipresence as the next great breakthrough in this Digital Age that will dramatically transform today's two-dimensional world of computers, TV, film and audio into three-dimensional, all-encompassing immersive environments in living rooms, offices, schools, theaters and workplaces.

These transforming technologies include panoramic, high-definition video and multichannel Immersive Audio streamed together over the more advanced Internet 2; haptics (devices providing the realistic touch or feel of remote objects, whether cotton puff or ball bearing); 3D face modeling and animation; data compression; and wireless communications. Multichannel Immersive Audio uses multiple loudspeakers and algorithms to generate a true three-dimensional sound field that can immerse a group-rather than just an individual-in extremely realistic audio environments.

Nikias, who founded the Center in 1996 and directed it until becoming the USC Engineering Dean in July 2001, chose Neumann after an eight-month nationwide search conducted by a USC Engineering Search Committee.

"Professor Neumann was by far and away the best qualified candidate to lead IMSC," Nikias said. "He has the special knowledge and ability needed to head an Engineering Research Center and to satisfy the distinctive requirements of the ERC charter. The National Science Foundation wants the Center to continue making great progress, while simultaneously becoming self-sufficient, and I'm confident Ulrich Neumann is up to this challenge."

Neumann has been with USC since 1994 and with IMSC from its inception. He played a pivotal role in developing USC's proposal for the creation of IMSC and Nikias lauded him "for articulating the Center's vision and research agenda."

The 46-year-old Neumann earned a Master of Science in Electrical Engineering at the State University of New York at Buffalo in 1980 and completed a Ph.D. in Computer Science at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1993, where his focus was on parallel algorithms for interactive volume-visualization.

His research in video-based tracking systems for Augmented Reality applications in manufacturing and training earned him a National Science Foundation CAREER award at USC and his work in 3D modeling and animation systems earned him the Junior Faculty Research Award at USC.

Within the Integrated Media Systems Center, Neumann has overseen research into computer interfaces, interactive media, 3D computer graphics and immersive environments. He directs the Computer Graphics and Immersive Technologies Laboratory at USC and his work on motion tracking is a key component for producing special effects for movies and creating interactive augmented realities for training and navigation applications. His research on animating 3D facial expressions and human hair modeling advances the realism of these simulations and the ease with which they are created.

Neumann, an Associate Editor for the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Transactions on Multimedia, has published extensively in peer-reviewed journals and conference proceedings and is active in conference organization and technical committees.

Neumann has worked in industry as well. He designed multiprocessor graphics and digital signal processing systems, co-founded a video game corporation and independently developed and licensed electronic products.

Dr. Karl Weiss, Chairman of IMSC's Board of Councillors and Chairman of the Board of the Massachusetts Technology Park Corp. in Westborough, MA, praised the appointment, saying he was "delighted with Ulrich's selection. He has excellent leadership qualities, high integrity, creativity and vision and all this augurs well for a bright future for IMSC."

Neumann's chair is endowed by the Charles Lee Powell Foundation of La Jolla, CA, which awards grants primarily for research in engineering sciences, computer science, applied mathematics and biotechnology. The USC School of Engineering is a major recipient of Powell Foundation grants.

"I am so gratified," Dean Nikias said, "that the Powell Foundation has seen fit to recognize IMSC's success in defining the future of the communications revolution by providing this chair for the Director of IMSC."

Neumann, his wife, Patricia, and their three children, reside in Manhattan Beach, CA.