Keynote lecture: aesthetic engineering

Over the last 30 years I have had the opportunity to participatein the design of solid-state cameras, computer chips, mechanicalassemblies, two large research buildings, as well as various toys,puzzles, and mathematical models. Most of these efforts wereassisted by various computer programs, and in most cases, I foundthis assistance to be insufficient. These experiences have had astrong influence on the course of my research in computer-aideddesign tools. For an even longer time, I also have been interestedin abstract geometrical art and sculpture. Eight years ago Istarted to collaborate with Brent Collins, a wood sculptor whocreates fascinating abstract geometrical forms. This gave me achance to merge these to interest domains. Creating maximally satisfactory forms for mathematical models orfor geometrical sculptures poses different requirements andconstraints than developing an optimized airplane wing or designingthe most attractive hood shape for a sports car. In thispresentation I will show some recent problem tasks that havecaptured my attention and which are currently guiding my researchin curve and surface optimization, such as the search for a "beautyfunctional" and for efficient approximations to such a globalfunctional that may offer interactive design speeds, or thereal-time generation of curves of linearly varying geodesiccurvature on smooth surfaces of high genus. I will show how mystudents and I are currently attacking these problems and will alsopresent a wish list and a requirements catalog for better CAD toolsfor this kind of aesthetic design. Carlo H. Séquin is a professor of Computer Science at theUniversity of California, Berkeley. He received his Ph.D degree inexperimental physics from the University of Basel, Switzerland in1969. His subsequent work at the Institute of Applied Physics inBasel concerned interface physics of MOS transistors and problemsof applied electronics in the field of cybernetic models. From 1970 till 1976 he worked at Bell Telephone Laboratories,Murray Hill, N.J., on the design and investigation ofCharge-Coupled Devices for imaging and signal processingapplications. At Bell Labs he also got introduced to the world ofComputer Graphics in classes given by Ken Knowlton. In 1977 he joined the faculty in the EECS Department atBerkeley. He started out by teaching courses on the subject of verylarge-scale integrated (VLSI) circuits, thereby trying to build abridge between the CS division and the EE faculty. In the early1980's, jointly with D. Patterson he introduced the 'RISC' conceptto the world of microcomputers. He was head of the Computer ScienceDivision from 1980 till 1983. Since then he has concentrated oncomputer graphics, geometric modeling, and on the development ofcomputer aided design (CAD) tools for circuit designers,architects, and for mechanical engineers. During the last fiveyears he has collaborated with P. Wright in Mechanical Engineeringon the CyberCut/CyberBuild project with the goal to streamline thepath from creative design to rapid prototyping. Séquin's work in computer graphics and in geometricdesign have also provided a bridge to the world of art. Incollaboration with a few sculptors of abstract geometric art, inparticular with Brent Collins, Sequin has found a new interest andyet another domain where the use of computer-aided tools can beexplored and where new frontiers can be opened through the use ofsuch tools. Dr. Séquin is a Fellow of the ACM, a Fellow of the IEEE,and has been elected to the Swiss Academy of EngineeringSciences.