CARL VILBRANDT, Associate Professor/Visiting Researcher, Computer Arts Lab

UNIVERSITY OF AIZU, Tsuruga Ikki-machi, Aizu-Wakamatsu, Fukushima-ken, 965-8580 Japan
Phone:+81-(0)242-37-2792 Fax: +81-(0)242-37-2772
e-mail: carl@cgpl.org / vilb@u-aizu.ac.jp / http://www.u-aizu.ac.jp/~vilb


EDUCATION:

1964/67 - Undergraduate/Apprentice to the Conservator - Chicago Art Institute
Chicago, Illinois, USA

1968/74 - BA/MFA (Masters of Fine Art) - San Francisco Art Institute
San Francisco, California, USA

1973/75 - Master course work in Psychology/Art Therapy - John F. Kennedy University
Walnut Creek, California, USA
 

PROFESSIONAL HISTORY:

1973/75 - Art Therapist, National Institute of Mental Health at Emmanuel, Turlock, California, USA

1976/79 - Manufacturing Research Engineer/Aerospace, Rohr Industries, Riverside, California, USA; responsible for development, planning and reporting in:

1979/82 - Manufacturing Technology Engineer/Aerospace, Nonmetals Technology Department, General Dynamics, Fort Worth, Texas, USA; Program Manager of Technical Modernization Fabrication of Skin to Core, responsible for development, planning and reporting in:

1982/83 - Senior Manufacturing Engineer/Automation, Cooper Petroleum Equipment Division of Gardner Denver, Dallas, Texas, USA

1984/90 - President, Applied CAD/Applied 3D, Fort Worth, Texas, USA; Computer Aided Design Consultants, System Analysis for development of:

1990/99 - President, Applied CAD/Art, Eugene, Oregon, USA; company's focus is virtual reality construction for advanced tooling designs, historical and environmental restoration. Projects include:

1991/99 - Teacher for advanced 3D-CAD, Lane Community College, Eugene, Oregon, USA; authored textbook, Applied 3D CAD.

1999 to June 2005 - Associate Professor, Computer Arts Lab, University of Aizu
June through December 2005 - Visiting Researcher, University of Aizu, Aizu-Wakamatsu, Fukushima, JAPAN; recent publications attached.

July 2005 - Researcher, Mythworks, Inc., Simulation and Modeling Development and Software Systems, Eugene, Oregon, USA

GRANTS:
Japan Society for the Promotion of Science 2005 Grant-In-Aid for Scientific Research - Desktop Manufacturing from Easily Transmitted High Resolution Digital Files, a two year collaborative project with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology : Center for Bits and Atoms and the HyperFun Consortium in personal fabrication research.

SOCIETIES and COMMITTEES:

HyperFun Consortium - Language and Software Tools for F-rep Geometric Modeling - International research development team
Electronic Cultural Atlas Initiative - member
Virtual Systems and Multimedia - member
Society of Manufacturing Engineers - Senior Member and Chairman Educational Committee
Robotics International Society of Manufacturing Engineers - Charter Member and Pro-Tem Program Chairman
Society for the Advancement of Material and Process Engineering - Vice Chairman
National Management Association - Teacher of Management Development Series
Texas A & M University Manufacturing Support Association - Chairman of Committee for Productivity as a representative of General Dynamics Inc.
United States Institute for Theater Technology - member
Technical Advisory Committee/Applied Engineering - Lane Community College, Eugene, Oregon 

FINE ART SHOWS, COMMISSIONS, HONORS:

Exhibitions and awards in mixed media paintings, ceramic, resin, fiberglass, aluminum, bronze and welded steel sculpture from 1970 to the present:

IN SUMMARY:

Carl has devoted his life to the study of 3D spatial perception, understanding materials and processes in the real world and their representation in the virtual world.

Carl's emphasis while a graduate student at the San Francisco Art Institute was in sculpture. He mastered the technique of moulage moldmaking, such as is used in medical models, and is noted for his complex 3D molds (some over one hundred pieces) of realistic and imaginary, original wax sculptures. He has cast in ceramic, resin, fiberglass, aluminum and bronze; built ceramic kilns and bronze tilt furnaces. He created monumental sculpture in welded sheet steel and is a master ceramicist, studying pottery from around the world with a special love for Japanese ceramic techniques. Carl has had a lifelong goal of automating complex compound contours such as found in the architectural forms of the Catalonian architect Antonio Gaudi in Barcelona, Spain.

Because of such interests, Carl found a match in industry in aerospace, creating manufacturing processes for the complex compound forms of airplane construction. In this environment, he mastered the use of computer-aided design to create mechanical and eventually architectural virtual designs and numerical control manufacturing processes in three dimensions. He was one of the first to transfer this technology to PCs (personal computers) and facilitate small to mid size companies in their ability to use this technology with its powerful virtual 3D design capabilities. He has taught seminars at NASA and, in conjunction with Holte Mfg. of Eugene, Oregon, designed and patented an advanced geobit (earth drilling underreamer) which is currently being used to bore holes for earth anchors on skyscrapers in Hong Kong.

In 1992, Carl was joined by his son, Turlif Vilbrandt . Together, they have created three companies Applied CAD/Applied 3D, Applied Vector Modeling, and Mythworks, Inc., with a network of engineers and artists specializing in animated films and VRMLs of virtual industrial designs, historical restorations and artistic/fantasy animation. In 1995, they worked with the University of Aizu in the creation of the Aizu History Project, studying under mia daiku (Japanese temple carpenter), Mr. Yamagishi. They completed the first virtual reconstruction, animated walkthrough of Enchiji. Utilizing archaeological data and information from ancient scrolls provided by Prof. Janet Goodwin's research (http://www.cs.ucla.edu/~jmg/ah/menu.html), the animated model was based on as accurate numerical data as possible in contrast to just an artistic rendering. At that time, Carl joined the HyperFun Consortium (http://www.hyperfun.org), an international research group for geometric modeling with implicit objects using function representation; Carl's research contribution focuses on accurate multi-dimensional modeling and digital persistence for the digital preservation of historical artifacts. In pursuit of his work, Carl became convinced of the necessity for free software and open computing standards and paradigms with ethical considerations. In that regard, he initiated the Common Good Public License Agreement (http://www.cgpl.org). Most recently, Carl is collaborating with the MIT Center for Bits and Atoms FabLabs (http://fab.cba.mit.edu) in 3D desktop printing using implicit objects and function representation.

Finally, Carl has been happily married for 38 years with two children: his son, Turlif, mentioned above and his daughter, Teha Vilbrandt Kordich, a former apprentice ballerina with the Kirov Ballet and Masters of Science and Philosophy in Physics from Yale University.