| Biography | James Oliver holds the title of University Professor at Iowa State University of Science and Technology (ISU) and serves as Larry and Pam Pithan Professor of Mechanical Engineering. He is Director of ISU’s Virtual Reality Applications Center (VRAC) – an interdisciplinary research center focused on emerging interface technologies serving 40 faculty, 160 graduate and 120 undergraduate student researchers. Professor Oliver also directs ISU’s Interdepartmental Graduate Program in Human Computer Interaction (HCI) that complements the VRAC’s research mission by providing PhD, MS, and Professional Certificate degrees in HCI, with more than 200 students currently enrolled. At the VRAC, Oliver recently led fund raising, technical specification, and management of a $5M upgrade to the C6 – now the world’s highest resolution (100M pixel) fully immersive VR room.
Professor Oliver’s research, teaching and economic development activities span a wide array of emerging interface technologies, encompassing computer graphics, geometric modeling, virtual and augmented reality, and collaborative networks for applications in product development, manufacturing and complex system operation. He is an internationally recognized expert with more than 25 years of academic and industrial experience, and over 100 papers published in peer-reviewed conferences and journals. Through the course of his career, has secured more than $27M in funding to support his research from federal sources including NSF, NASA, ONR, AFRL, the US Army, as well as numerous industrial sponsors, and has advised 15 PhD and 60 MS graduates.
From 1997-2000 Oliver headed product development for Engineering Animation Inc. (NASDAQ:EAII, now part of Siemens PLM), where he led the creation of a unique Internet-based visual collaboration tool for supply chain integration. He also served as Vice President of Product Development at Cognicity, Inc. a Minneapolis-based startup focused on Internet-based entertainment marketing. More recently, Professor Oliver co-founded BodyViz, a high technology startup focused on low cost, easy to use medical visualization with sales in the medical, education, veterinary and legal markets.
Professor Oliver received his Ph.D. from Michigan State University in 1986. He is a Fellow of the ASME, holds three U.S. patents, and is the recipient of numerous professional honors and awards. | |