Gerald Farin, computer science professor and internationally renowned geometric modeling researcher, passed away Jan. 14. He pioneered the field of geometric modeling and helped elevate the Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering’s computer science program to be one of the best during his 29 years at Arizona State University. He is survived by his wife and collaborator, Dianne Hansford, and left lasting impressions on those who knew him throughout his career.

Geometric modeling beginnings and early career

Farin’s introduction to geometric modeling was serendipitous. While working on his doctorate at Technical University Braunschweig under Professor Wolfgang Boehm, Farin was assigned to read and present a paper written in French, chosen because Farin could read French. It was a paper about 3-D modeling for car design by mathematician Paul de Casteljau of the French automaker Citroen. This simple assignment launched a lifelong career. Gerald Farin Download Full Image

Upon obtaining his doctorate in mathematics from Technical University Braunschweig, Farin set out on his geometric modeling path. He went where the action was for computer graphics in the 1970s: the University of Utah.

After joining the mathematics department as a teaching fellow in 1978, Farin began what would become a nearly 20-year collaboration on geometric design with Robert E. Barnhill, then professor at the University of Utah.

“Gerald developed his very important research on how to develop Bernstein-Bezier polynomial patches over arbitrarily shaped triangles,” Barnhill said. “Smooth sets of triangular patches are essential for interpolation and approximation of real-world data.”

With this work and in collaborating with others, Farin helped the field known as Computer Aided Geometric Design (CAGD) rise to prominence by the 1980s.

Farin’s skills were put to use in the automotive industry in 1980 when he went to work in the CAD/CAM development team at Mercedes Benz in Stuttgart, Germany. Mercedes had some of the most advanced tools in the automotive industry. Here Farin created complex mathematical tools for designers who had no mathematical training. Farin was able to study designers’ methods and translate them into mathematics and software tools — a skill that would help him bring geometric design to many scientific disciplines later in his career.

Though he worked in industry, Farin remained devoted to his research. He stayed up late to write papers, which led him to return to the University of Utah in 1984 as an assistant professor in the mathematics department. Here he rejoined Barnhill, who had become the head of the university’s Mathematics CAGD research group. This influential team moved to ASU in 1987.

Arrival at Arizona State University

Before Farin and Barnhill’s team arrived at ASU, CAGD wasn’t a topic researched or taught much at the university, said Anshuman Razdan, professor at the School of Computing, Informatics, and Decision Systems Engineering, who was both a student and a colleague of Farin’s. But once the internationally recognized Farin arrived, the topic area took off as students flocked to take his classes.

“Gerald had a way to set the bar high for his expectations from the graduate students without conveying as much; we all knew we did not want to disappoint Dr. Farin with our results,” Razdan said. “At the same time he was compassionate and understanding, spending as much time on the whiteboard with his beautiful sketches to help explain away the complications and complexities of the topic of the day.”

His reputation as a leader in his field helped encourage more faculty to join and expand ASU’s computer science program. He was influential in growing and improving the academic quality of the graduate program as part of the graduate committee. Today the computer science program is ranked 22nd in the 2015 Academic Ranking of World Universities in the U.S. and 32nd internationally by the Center for World-Class Universities at Shanghai Jiao Tong University.

Sharing his expertise with the CAGD community

His prominence in the CAGD field also was helped by his involvement in leading journals and groups. Farin’s journal-editing career began when he helped Barnhill and Boehm on the “Computer Aided Geometric Design Journal” the pair created in 1984, serving as what Boehm called “the undercover editor” — essentially managing it behind the scenes.

Later he became co-editor-in-chief of the CAGD Journal, a position he held for two decades and left a lasting impression on his partner, co-editor-in-chief Hartmut Prautzsch, who remarked, “Gerald, with his books and long service for the journal, has been a personification of the CAGD field. He had a unique ability to present things simply with a distinct sense of aesthetics, a clear opinion and a certain humor. His emails were beautifully minimalistic and to the point.”

In addition to CAGD Journal, he served on the editorial boards of the “Computer-Aided Design,” “The Visual Computer” and the Springer series “Mathematics and Visualization.” At the start of his ASU career, he was a key figure in starting a special interest group in Geometric Design within the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM) and served as secretary and later chair; he also was managing editor of SIAM’s book series, “Frontiers in Geometric Design.” He was a member of scientific boards including the Arizona Alzheimer’s Research Center and, most recently, the scientific board for mathematics research center MATHEON in Berlin.

His own publishing record is impressive, with Barnhill and his University of Utah colleagues commenting that Farin is probably the most published person in CAGD and related fields. He published more than 100 papers, and nearly 30 books, of which his “Curves and Surfaces for CAGD” is considered a seminal work.

Farin and Hansford, also a geometric modeling and CAD/CAM researcher, wrote other widely used books together, including “Practical Linear Algebra — A Geometry Toolbox,” “The Essentials of CAGD” and “Mathematical Principles for Scientific Computing and Visualization.”

Daniel Collins, professor at ASU’s School of Art whom Farin would work with later, saw firsthand how important and widespread Farin’s textbooks were to others in geometric modeling.

“When talking with one of the principal computer scientists at 3-D laser scanning company Cyberware in the 1990s, I asked them what texts were the important references in their field,” Collins recalled. “Without prompting and without hesitation, the scientist reached up above his desk and pulled down Gerald Farin’s early book from 1987 entitled ‘Geometric Modeling: Algorithms and New Trends.’ Gerald’s early insights at the intersection of computation and mathematics were appreciated by researchers across many fields.”

Farin even held a patent with Razdan and Liyan Zhang for 3-D face authentication based on bilateral symmetry analysis.

Farin was committed to passing along his knowledge of CAGD in person as well. He taught many geometric modeling tutorials and gave more than 100 lectures worldwide. At ASU he taught classes on introductory and advanced CAGD, theoretical computer science and informatics.

Hansford and many colleagues remember him as being a great educator who could simplify complex ideas.

“Gerald was a really good speaker,” Hansford said. “He had a good way of getting the essence of ideas and thinking about different ways to teach ideas.”

Bringing computer science to other disciplines

His ability to translate highly complicated ideas and create tools for designers without computer science or mathematical expertise made him a pioneer in bringing CAGD far beyond the computer science department. Through founding the Partnership for Research in Spatial Modeling (PRISM) research center at ASU with Collins, he brought geometric modeling to the arts, anthropology, and other scientific disciplines.

Barnhill assisted the PRISM effort in bringing together five deans for the initial funding while Farin thought of ways for others to use the tools of computer science to accomplish their goals.

“From the beginning, Gerald was central to PRISM’s research agenda and, along with myself, served as PRISM’s co-director for many years,” Collins said. “The lab, building on the significant work of the CAGD lab, continues to attract research from discipline specialists across campus and the private sector.”

Out of the PRISM research lab he was influential in creating the Decision Theater with ASU President Michael Crow. This center helps researchers and leaders to visualize solutions to complex problems.

“He was way ahead of what is taken for granted today — that computer sciences can play a great role in advancing research by making horizontal connections with other disciplines, thus lifting the level of computer science and other disciplines working collaboratively in an interdisciplinary manner,” Razdan said.

The interdisciplinary nature of PRISM allowed Farin to really use his skills as a theorist and idea person. This also helped in his work with Hansford as consultants. Here Farin worked to describe and understand shape in many application areas including prosthetic modeling, bifocal/trifocal lens design and tactile laser scanning software.

Farin’s research throughout his career and with PRISM was supported through more than $15 million across more than 40 grants.

Loved and remembered by faculty and students

Colleagues and students at ASU remember Farin fondly as a true visionary and role model who devoted his life to scientific research. He was a mentor who supported those who needed his help with generous advice and encouragement.

He not only taught and gave advice — and supervised around 60 student theses and dissertations — he also learned from his students, Hansford said.

“He was always inspired by working with his students,” Hansford said. “He designed well-crafted homework assignments that would stimulate research ideas. And a student’s mistake might spark a new way of thinking about a problem.”

It wasn’t all geometric modeling all the time for Farin either. He enjoyed running, which he did with Hansford wherever they went. And as with everything else, he helped others exercise. Barnhill recalls Farin setting soccer goalposts in concrete at a field in Salt Lake CIty.

He and Hansford also loved to cook and enjoyed gourmet dining, traveling and attending the Arizona Opera. He met up with friends from his college dorm in Germany every year and took the time to cook and enjoy good food and wine with colleagues. Collins remembered a time when visiting Farin in Germany for a talk that Farin took him on a “foodie” tour as well.

“In addition to our time exploring the intersection of art and computer science, we spent some memorable days driving around the German countryside, sampling the wines, pâtés and cheeses from some of his favorite outdoor restaurants,” Collins said.

And still as he took the time to meet with his students and colleagues for academics and for fun, he maintained an international reputation as a geometric modeling leader. People who design cars and many other things through computer-aided modeling in the future will depend on his work.

“Those of us who came to know him personally, studied under his guidance and worked with him as a colleague created a lasting bond with him,” Razdan said. “We hope that all of us, through that immense bond, continue to be inspired to make scholarly and personal advances as he would have motivated us to do.”

The “Gerald Farin Memorial Fellowship” has been created to assist deserving graduate students. Anyone who wishes to contribute to this fellowship can send gifts payable to the ASU Foundation to:

Margo Burdick, Development Officer, Sr.
Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering
Arizona State University
PO Box 879309
Tempe, AZ 85287-9309

When contacting Margo, please state if the gift is going to the Gerald Farin Memorial Fellowship.

Media contact:
Monique Clement, monique.clement@asu.edu
Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering

If you haven’t already noticed, Arizona is a popular hangout for hummingbirds.

In an interview with KJZZ radio in Phoenix, Arizona State University research professor David Pearson explained that habitats in Arizona attract the most hummingbird species in the U.S. The most common hummingbird in Arizona is Anna's hummingbird, which is named after an Italian duchess.
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As an ornithologist with the School of Life Sciences, Pearson is familiar with more than 300 hummingbird species and where they call home. While most are found in more tropical regions, such as South America, Pearson said several species have moved north and settled in Arizona.

“If you go down to the Huachuca, the Chiricahua, the Santa Rita mountains in say, late July or early August, the canyons have feeders where they use up quarts and quarts of sugar water every day,” Pearson said. “There are hundreds of hummingbirds coming in.”

Pearson also said the most common species found in the Phoenix metropolitan area are Anna’s hummingbird, named after an Italian duchess. He added that putting up a feeder with water and sugar almost guarantees a visit by the tiny birds.

ASU physics professor Richard Kirian has been awarded the Fonda-Fasella prize, which is given to a young researcher who has obtained important results while working at Elettra Sincrotrone Trieste, an international research center located in Italy.

The award was given during an annual ceremony at the "Resonance 2015" workshop in Trieste, Italy. ASU physics professor Richard Kirian giving his talk on "Direct phasing of nanocrystals using coherent FEL pulses." Download Full Image

Kirian presented his work on solving the age-old "crystallographic phase problem" using the unique properties of a new breed of X-ray sources known as free-electron lasers (FELs). His experiments at the FERMI FEL provided the first proof-of-principle demonstration that the extremely high coherence of this laser-like X-ray source can provide sufficient information to form images from microcrystals without the need for prior information or resolution restrictions. 

The recent development of X-ray FEL-based "serial femtosecond crystallography" has allowed unprecedented views of biomolecules at physiological temperature and with time-resolved dynamics down to the sub-picosecond timescale. Kirian's results add to the appeal of this rapidly developing methodology.

Before joining Arizona State University's Department of Physics in 2014, Kirian held a position at the Center for Free-Electron Lasers at the Deutsches.

Arizona State University’s innovation winning streak has continued among its next generation of talented faculty. Three ASU researchers — more than any other university in the nation — have been awarded part of $20.6 million in total grants funded through the U.S. Air Force’s Young Investigator Research Program (YIP).

ASU assistant professors Ximin He, Nicholas Stephanopoulos and Yu Yao will use the three-year YIP awards to pursue groundbreaking discoveries and develop new building blocks and high-performance devices for nanotechnology applications.

“Our faculty’s innovative approaches to grand challenges have placed them among the top tier of researchers nationally,” said Sethuraman “Panch” Panchanathan, senior vice president for Knowledge Enterprise Development at ASU. “The technologies and techniques they create could spark entirely new solutions in biomedicine and energy.”

Ximin He and Nick Stephanopoulos are new faculty under ASU Biodesign Institute’s Center for Molecular Design and Biomimetics, directed by Hao Yan, a past Air Force YIP recipient and recognized leader in bio-nanotechnology. Yan uses DNA and other basic building blocks to build novel nanotechnology structures at a scale 1,000 times smaller than the width of a human hair.

“The goal of the Center for Molecular Design and Biomimetics is to use nature’s design rules as an inspiration in advancing biomedical, energy and electronics innovation through self-assembling molecules to create intelligent materials for better component control and for synthesis into higher-order systems, said Yan, who also holds the Milton Glick Chair in Chemistry and Biochemistry. “The AFOSR (Air Force Office of Scientific Research) YIP award will facilitate both Ximin and Nick’s research agenda in this direction, and is a significant recognition of their creativity and track record at the early stage of their careers.” (From left) ASU assistant professors Ximin He, Nicholas Stephanopoulos and Yu Yao have been awarded grants through the U.S. Air Force’s Young Investigator Research Program to advance their research. Download Full Image

Yu Yao is a new faculty member in the Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering, in the School of Electrical, Computer and Energy Engineering, and also a member of the Center for Photonics Innovation. Her current research focuses on developing nanoscale devices with unprecedented performance and unique properties based in part on semiconductor technology and emerging materials.   

“Yu is very innovative and has many outstanding ideas,” said Yong-Hang Zhang, director of the Center for Photonics Innovation and the associate dean of research at the Fulton Schools of Engineering. “We are so pleased that we were able to recruit her to ASU. Should her proposed research in this particular program be successful, new infrared lasers will be available for chemical sensing, environmental monitoring and even medical applications.”

During her doctoral studies at Princeton, she developed novel designs for chemical sensing in the environment, a technology called mid-infrared quantum cascade lasers. More recently, she successfully demonstrated high-speed infrared detectors and modulators based on optical nano-antennas and graphene during her postdoctoral work at Harvard.

The individual project awards are:

• Ximin He, Biodesign Institute’s Center for Molecular Design and Biomimetics, assistant professor of Materials Science and Engineering in the School for Engineering of Matter, Transport and Energy, Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering, “Bioinspired Artificial Homeostatic Multifunctional Material Microsystems (AHM3) based on Self-sustaining Autonomic Adaptive Structures.”
• Nicholas Stephanopoulos, Biodesign Institute’s Center for Molecular Design and Biomimetics, assistant professor, School of Molecular Sciences, “Peptide-DNA Tiles as Building Blocks for Complex Nanostructures.”
• Yu Yao, Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering, School of Electrical, Computer and Energy Engineering, “Mid-Infrared Laser Frequency Comb Generation Based on Ultrafast All-Optical Graphene-metasurface Modulators.”

The Air Force’s YIP program is open to scientists and engineers at research institutions across the United States who received PhD or equivalent degrees in the past five years and who show exceptional ability and promise for conducting basic research.

The YIP program fosters creative basic research in science and engineering, enhance early career development of outstanding young investigators, and increase opportunities for the young investigators to recognize the Air Force mission and the related challenges in science and engineering.

ASU received three awards out of 56 scientists and engineers from 41 research institutions and small businesses. AFOSR received more than 265 proposals in response to the AFOSR YIP broad agency announcement solicitation in Engineering and Information Science and Physical and Biological Science research areas. These vital areas of research include: Engineering and Complex Systems, Information and Networks, Physical Sciences and Biological and Chemical Sciences.