{"id":20239,"date":"2013-10-10T10:36:43","date_gmt":"2013-10-10T20:36:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/?p=20239"},"modified":"2021-11-16T15:22:59","modified_gmt":"2021-11-17T01:22:59","slug":"visualization-expert-jason-leigh-is-key-new-innovation-initiative-hire","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/2013\/10\/10\/visualization-expert-jason-leigh-is-key-new-innovation-initiative-hire\/","title":{"rendered":"Visualization expert Jason Leigh is key new UH<\/abbr> innovation initiative hire"},"content":{"rendered":"Reading time: <\/span> 2<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>
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Jason Leigh<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In a big boost to the Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> Innovation Initiative<\/a> (HI²), visualization expert Jason Leigh<\/strong> will be joining the information and computer sciences department<\/a> at the University of Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> at Mānoa<\/a> in spring 2014.<\/p>\n

Leigh is currently a professor of computer science and director of the Electronic Visualization Lab<\/a> and Software Technologies Research Center at the University of Illinois at Chicago<\/a>, where he also holds an appointment in the Department of Communication<\/a>.<\/p>\n

“We have identified big data visualization as a critical area in which we need to grow capacity to support the Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> Innovation Initiative and UH<\/abbr>’s own research aspirations,” said UH<\/abbr> Interim President David Lassner<\/strong>. “Jason is one of the best anywhere, with a proven track record of successful innovation and deep collaboration with leading scientists within his institution and around the world.”<\/p>\n

Leigh’s SAGE<\/abbr> (Scalable Adaptive Graphics Environment)<\/a> software is the de facto standard for driving ultra-high resolution display walls around the world, which are fast becoming the lenses through which insight and innovation from big data science and engineering collaborations are brought into focus.<\/p>\n

His most recent invention, CAVE2<\/abbr>, represents the next generation of the highly successful CAVE<\/abbr> immersive virtual reality environment that was also developed at the Electronic Visualization Lab. CAVE2<\/abbr> combines the benefits of both scalable-resolution display walls and virtual-reality systems to create a seamless 2D\/3D environment that supports both information-rich analysis as well as virtual-reality simulation exploration at a resolution matching human visual acuity.<\/p>\n

The timing of a long-intended career move to Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> became right with the focus of the new innovation initiative. Leigh has already been working with UH<\/abbr>’s Center for Microbial Oceanography Research and Education<\/a> and its Director David Karl<\/strong>, and will be expanding on that collaboration once he arrives.<\/p>\n

“I am looking forward to working with my new colleagues in the ICS<\/abbr> department and throughout the UH<\/abbr> system to apply cyberinfrastructure and visualization technologies to improve research and scholarship in support of human insight and understanding,” Leigh said.<\/p>\n

Larry Smarr, founding director of the California Institute for Telecommunications and Information Technology<\/a> and chair of the National Science Foundation’s Advisory Committee for Cyberinfrastructure applauded UH<\/abbr>’s hiring of Leigh.<\/p>\n

“Jason is a world-class innovator with a remarkable ability to collaborate with his colleagues in academia and industry alike,” Smarr said. “Jason has been extremely helpful to us in San Diego, so I know he will be indispensable to Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span>’s goal of developing an innovation economy.”<\/p>\n

Leigh is a Fellow of the Institute for Health Research and Policy<\/a> and he has held research appointments at Argonne National Laboratory<\/a> and the National Center for Supercomputing Applications<\/a>. In addition to his research expertise in large-scale data visualization and virtual reality, his work encompasses high performance networking, human augmentics and video game design. He also enjoys personal interests in Kendo, ʻukulele<\/span> and Samoan language and culture.<\/p>\n

—A UH<\/abbr> System news release<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

National media coverage of Jason Leigh<\/h2>\n