Ivan Sutherland facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Ivan Sutherland
|
|
|---|---|
Sutherland in 2008
|
|
| Born |
Ivan Edward Sutherland
May 16, 1938 Hastings, Nebraska, U.S.
|
| Alma mater | |
| Known for | Father of computer graphics Direct linear transformation Interactive computing Sketchpad Zooming user interface Cohen–Sutherland algorithm Sutherland–Hodgman algorithm |
| Spouse(s) |
Marly Roncken
(m. 2006) |
| Awards |
|
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Computer science Internet Computer graphics |
| Institutions | Harvard University University of Utah Evans and Sutherland California Institute of Technology Carnegie Mellon University Sun Microsystems Portland State University Advanced Research Projects Agency (1964–1966) |
| Thesis | Sketchpad, a Man–Machine Graphical Communication System (1963) |
| Doctoral advisor | Claude Shannon |
| Doctoral students |
|
Ivan Edward Sutherland (born May 16, 1938) is an American computer scientist. Many people see him as a pioneer, or a very early leader, in the world of computer graphics. His early work and teaching at the University of Utah in the 1970s helped create modern computer graphics. He worked with David C. Evans and their students to build the basic ideas for computer graphics today.
In 1988, he won the Turing Award. This award is like the Nobel Prize for computing. He won it for inventing Sketchpad. Sketchpad was an early version of the graphical user interface (GUI) we use on computers today. He is also a member of important groups like the National Academy of Engineering. In 2012, he received the Kyoto Prize in Advanced Technology. This was for his amazing work in computer graphics and interactive computer systems.
Contents
Early Life and Education
Ivan Sutherland's father was from New Zealand. His mother, Anne Sutherland, was from Scotland. His family moved around for his father's job. They lived in Wilmette, Illinois, and Scarsdale, New York. His older brother was Bert Sutherland.
Ivan studied electrical engineering. He earned his first degree from the Carnegie Institute of Technology. He then got his master's degree from Caltech. Finally, he earned his Ph.D. from MIT in 1963.
The Sketchpad Invention
While at MIT, Ivan Sutherland invented Sketchpad in 1962. His professor, Claude Shannon, helped supervise his work. Sketchpad was a groundbreaking computer program. It changed how people interacted with computers.
Sketchpad could understand rules for drawing. For example, it could keep lines horizontal or vertical. It could also make sure circles had a certain size. Users could draw figures and shapes. They could also copy, move, rotate, or resize them. The program would remember their original properties. Sketchpad also had the first window-drawing system. It could even zoom in and out of drawings. This amazing program ran on the Lincoln TX-2 computer.
Career and Research in Computer Graphics
After getting his Ph.D., Ivan Sutherland served in the U.S. Army from 1963 to 1965. He was a first lieutenant. He then took over from J. C. R. Licklider at the Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA). This agency is part of the U.S. Defense Department.
From 1965 to 1968, Sutherland was a professor at Harvard University. There, he worked with his student Danny Cohen. Together, they created the Cohen–Sutherland line clipping algorithm. This is a method used in computer graphics.
Creating Virtual Reality
In 1968, Sutherland and his students made the first head-mounted display. This device could show images that changed as the viewer moved. It used a system called "The Sword of Damocles" to sense movement. This was the very first virtual reality (VR) system. An earlier system, Sensorama, played static videos. But Sutherland's system was truly interactive. The head-mounted display was actually a standard item used by military helicopter pilots.
Teaching at the University of Utah
From 1968 to 1974, Sutherland taught at the University of Utah. Many of his students became famous in computer science. These included:
- Alan Kay, who invented the Smalltalk programming language.
- Henri Gouraud, who created the Gouraud shading technique.
- Frank Crow, who developed methods for making computer images look smoother.
- Jim Clark, who founded Silicon Graphics.
- Edwin Catmull, who co-founded Pixar Animation Studios.
Founding Evans & Sutherland
In 1968, he started a company called Evans & Sutherland. He co-founded it with his friend and colleague David C. Evans. The company became a leader in real-time hardware. They also worked on fast 3D computer graphics and printer languages. Many future leaders in tech worked there. These included the founders of Adobe and Silicon Graphics.
After leaving the University of Utah, Sutherland became a professor at California Institute of Technology. He led the computer science department there. Later, he started a consulting firm. This firm was bought by Sun Microsystems in 1990. It became the start of their research division, Sun Labs.
Sutherland also worked as a fellow and vice president at Sun Microsystems. He was a visiting scholar at the University of California, Berkeley. Since 2009, he has been doing research at Portland State University.
Awards and Honors
Ivan Sutherland has received many important awards for his work. These include:
- Turing Award (1988)
- Computer Pioneer Award (1985)
- IEEE John von Neumann Medal (1998)
- Kyoto Prize (2012)
- National Academy of Engineering member (1973)
- National Academy of Sciences member (1978)
- Computer History Museum Fellow (2005)
- National Inventors Hall of Fame Inductee (2016)
Famous Quotes
Ivan Sutherland is known for some insightful quotes:
- "A display connected to a digital computer gives us a chance to gain familiarity with concepts not realizable in the physical world. It is a looking glass into a mathematical wonderland."
- "The ultimate display would, of course, be a room within which the computer can control the existence of matter. A chair displayed in such a room would be good enough to sit in."
- When asked how he did so many firsts in one year, he replied: "Well, I didn't know it was hard."
- "It’s not an idea until you write it down."
- "Without the fun, none of us would go on!"
Personal Life
Ivan Sutherland married Marly Roncken on May 28, 2006. He has two children. His older brother, Bert Sutherland, was also a computer science researcher.
