CLEMSON –– For a third year in a row, Jay Steele, a Ph.D. student in computer graphics in the School of Computing, has received the prestigious NVIDIA Fellowship Program award for his work to solve complex visual computing challenges. NVIDIA Corp. is recognized as a world leader in visual computing technologies.
“A third consecutive NVIDIA Fellowship is unprecedented at Clemson and speaks volumes about the quality of Jay Steele’s research and our computer graphics faculty and students,” said School of Computing professor and acting director Robert Geist. “There were several hundred applicants vying for this fellowship and only ten were selected.”
Steele's research centers on the use of Lattice-Boltzmann (LB) computational modeling methods to chart fluid flows and high performance computing with graphics processing units (GPUs). These methods allow accelerated computation of realistic lighting which improves the realism of rendered scenes. An example of an application is the development of realistic, virtual renderings of trees.
The NVIDIA Fellowship Program attracts an elite group of researchers and scientists from around the world. As an award winner, Steele will receive $25,000 to further his research. Along with Steele, other 2008-2009 recipients include Ph.D. students from Cornell University, Texas A&M, University of California at Berkley, Georgia Institute of Technology and University of Maryland, among others.
The School of Computing at Clemson (http://www.cs.clemson.edu/SoC_Fl07/index.html) was formed in 2007 as part of a mission to prepare students for all aspects of computing and as part of a university-wide emphasis on information technology and high-performance computing to allow for rapid development of emerging, interdisciplinary research and academic programs.
Editor’s Note: Steele is the son of John and Jean Steele of Greenville, S.C.