Dr. Marcelli Wein

An international leader in Computer Graphics research, he was born in Cracow, Poland, and immigrated to Canada in 1952. He received his post-secondary education at McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, graduating first with a Bachelor of Engineering degree in Engineering Physics, and then with an M.Sc. and a Ph.D. in Physics. His Ph.D. thesis topic was an analog system for processing, scanning, imaging, and transmission of weather radar maps. This research in CRT displays and photography of CRT displays stimulated his interest in Computer Graphics. He first worked for Canadian Marconi in Montreal, joining the National Research Council (NRC) in 1965. At the NRC, he has participated in many different research activities. An early project was the development of instrumentation for a Black Brant ionosphere-sounding rocket, with 35 mm still cameras. He was a member of the group that initiated Computer Graphics projects at the NRC. This group, a pioneer in the development of interactive graphics systems and computer animation, collaborated with the National Film Board of Canada in the production of computer animated films. The classic film "Hunger" won a prize at Cannes and an Academy Award Nomination in 1974. His areas of research have included graphics for simulation, graphics system architectures, dynamic graphics, user interfaces, interactive systems, multiprocessor workstations for robotics, and multiprocessor workstation architectures. He spent two years as the Head of the Computer Graphics Section of the Division of Electrical Engineering of NRC. Currently [1990] he is a member of the Multiprocessor Architectures Group, which is the development team responsible for the Harmony multiprocessor, real-time operating system. He has also served on many panels and committees, including the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council Grant Selection Panel for Strategic Grants in Computers and Communications; the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Program Review Committee for Computer Sciences and Applied Mathematics; collaborative research with members of the Computer Graphics Laboratory of the University of Waterloo; the NRC Advisory Committee for Stimulation in support of the simulator development for the Shuttle Orbiter Remote Manipulator; and the NRC Advisory Committee for simulation requirements for the Space Station Mobile Servicing Module. He has been heavily involved with industrial activities in his capacity as a member of the scientific staff of the NRC. In particular, he was the scientific authority/advisor for several grants, contracts, or contributions including the design of a geometric 3-D transformation processor using Weitek floating point processor chips; the design of a frame buffer with bit slice processors and graphics rendering microcode; a project to develop a major animation system, based on the Silicon Graphics workstation and a multiprocessor rendering accelerator. He has participated extensively in ACM SIGGRAPH, including the Technical Program Committee and many tutorials. In standards, he has had involvement in working groups in Canada, the United States, and within the International Standards Organization in areas related to computer graphics, activities that ultimately resulted in the Graphics Kernel System (GKS) and the Computer Graphics Metafile Standard (CGM). He was Chairman of the Canadian Working Group on Graphics CAC/TC97//SC21/WG2 and Head of the Canadian Delegation to ISO Working Group on Graphics from 1979 to 1985. He has been a member of the ANSI Technical Committee X3H3 and participated in the X3H3.3 Subgroup on Metafile and Interfaces. Within CMCCS, he has also been very active. He was one of the principals who organized the initial Canadian Man-Computer Communications Conference in Ottawa and has been involved in some capacity or other ever since. When CMCC became Graphics Interface, he continued his participation as Editor of the Proceedings and as a member of the program committee, including the dual position of Editor and Program Chairman in 1989. CMCCS is proud to have benefited from his participation and expertise and would like to honor him for his many contributions to the field of Computer Graphics both in Canada and internationally.