€4.5m SFI Investment in Creative Technologies Research

Posted on: 04 July 2016

Trinity College Dublin has appointed Professor Aljosa Smolic, a world-renowned creative technologies researcher to lead a cutting-edge research programme that will increase Ireland’s capability as a global centre of creative industries and production.

Professor Smolic has been awarded €4.5 million in funding under the Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) Research Professorship Programme to work on the V-SENSE project.

He joins Trinity from Disney Research in Switzerland where he was a Senior Research Scientist, leading the Advanced Video Technology Group.

He brings to the role an impressive track record, combining leading academic research with the development and commercialisation of technology. He is a recognised leader in his field of visual computing, with particular expertise in computer graphics, computer vision, multimedia and video signal processing. His work has had a significant practical impact on industrial technologies in the areas of 3D video technology, forming the basis for 3D Blu-ray and stereo 3D production technology.

At Disney Research he led over 50 industrial R&D projects that have resulted in technology transfers to a range of Disney business units. They include film studios, TV broadcasters, consumer products and are used in professional production today.

Commenting on his appointment as SFI Professor of Creative Technologies, Professor Smolic said:

 “This is a very exciting opportunity to be joining Computer Science at Trinity College Dublin where we will develop a centre of excellence in Creative Technologies. This is part of an even bigger endeavour to establish Dublin and Ireland as a global hub in this field.”

Announcing the award and welcoming the appointment Professor Mark Ferguson, Director General of Science Foundation Ireland and Chief Scientific Adviser to the Government of Ireland said: “Professor Smolic is recognised internationally as a leading researcher in the field of visual computing. He has an exceptional track record both in terms of scientific publications and industry collaboration and his appointment will enhance both Trinity College Dublin and Ireland’s standing as a location for research in creative technologies.”

Before his time at Disney Research he was Scientific Project Manager at the Fraunhofer Heinrich-Hertz-Institut (HHI), Berlin, also heading a research group. He has been involved in many national and international research projects, where he conducted research in various fields of video processing and visual computing, and published more than 130 refereed papers in these fields. He has been granted 11 patents and currently has 23 patents filed with Disney.

Contact Professor Smolic directly tel: 8961384, or smolica@tcd.ie