Erik Brunvand
Most Recent Affiliation(s):
- University of Utah, School of Computing, Computer Science, Associate Professor
Location:
- Salt Lake City, Utah, United States of America
Bio:
Erik Brunvand is an Associate Professor of Computer Science at the University of Utah, Salt Lake City, where his research and teaching interests include the design of application-specific computers, graphics processors, asynchronous systems, and VLSI.
As an artist, he is fascinated by connections between arts and technology, and by how the benefits of these connections flow in both directions. This interest in arts/tech collaborations has led him to explore and show a variety of kinetic mixed media artworks, many involving electronic control. He is also a printmaker, and co-founder of Saltgrass Printmakers, a non-profit printmaking studio and gallery in Salt Lake City since 2003. He works in relief (woodcut, photopolymer), letterpress, etching, experimental media (including electronics and micro-silicon art), and kinetic mixed media.
SIGGRAPH 2022
I’m a professor of computer science in the School of Computing at the University of Utah, where I’ve been on the faculty since 1990. As a computer engineer, my research interests are generally related to domain-specific computer architectures, most recently for computer graphics. My interests extend from the high-level design of the processor, and the modification of the graphics algorithms to match the hardware, to the implementation on integrated circuits. As a teacher, I’ve won the University of Utah Distinguished Teaching, the College of Engineering Outstanding Teaching, and the School of Computing Outstanding Teaching awards. As an artist, I’m fascinated with arts/technology collaborations, including teaching courses in kinetic sculpture, and showing my work in a variety of venues, including the SIGGRAPH Art Gallery in 2014. I was the SIGGRAPH Education Chair in 2017 and 2018, co-chair of SIGGRAPH Labs in 2020, and chair of the ACM SIGGRAPH Distinguished Educator Award Committee, 2019–2021.
SIGGRAPH 2013
Erik Brunvand is an Associate Professor in the School of Computing at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, Utah. His research and teaching interests include the design of application-specific computers, graphics processors, ray tracing hardware and software, asynchronous systems, and VLSI. Starting in 2009 he has co-developed and taught an arts/tech collaborative course with a colleague, Paul Stout, in the Department of Art and Art History at the University of Utah entitled Embedded Systems and Kinetic Art (www.eng.utah.edu/~cs5789/). As an artist he is a printmaker, co-founder of Saltgrass Printmakers (a non-profit printmaking studio and gallery in Salt Lake City: www.SaltgrassPrintmakers.org), and also works in mixed-media computer-controlled kinetic arts.
Conference Chair:
Experience Organizing Committee Chair:
Course Organizer:
- SIGGRAPH 2013, "Lights! Speed! Action! Fundamentals of Physical Computing for Programmers"
- SIGGRAPH 2014, "Why Graphics Programmers Need to Know About DRAM"
Artwork(s):
Experience(s):

Type: [Studio (SIGGRAPH Labs)]
A Noise-Based Curriculum for Technological Fluency
Organizer(s): [Brunvand]
[SIGGRAPH 2015]

Type: [Studio (SIGGRAPH Labs)]
Kinetic Sculptures: Creating Programmable Art
Organizer(s): [Brunvand]
[SIGGRAPH 2015]

Type: [Studio (SIGGRAPH Labs)]
Arduino Drawing Machine Workshop and Contest
Organizer(s): [Brunvand] [Stout] [Alford]
[SIGGRAPH 2014]

Type: [Studio (SIGGRAPH Labs)]
Drawing Machines
Organizer(s): [Alford] [Brunvand] [Stout]
[SIGGRAPH 2013]
Learning Presentation(s):

Type: [Educator’s Forum]
LED Paper: Physical Computing with Handmade Paper Presenter(s): [Brunvand]
[SIGGRAPH 2021]

Type: [Educator’s Forum]
Image Glitching: Manipulating Images with Audio Effects Presenter(s): [Brunvand]
[SIGGRAPH 2019]

Type: [Educator’s Forum]
Curriculum Matters: Melding Art + Computer Science Presenter(s): [Brunvand] [Conrad] [Starrett] [Reas]
[SIGGRAPH 2017]

Type: [Courses]
Why Graphics Programmers Need to Know About DRAM Organizer(s): [Brunvand]
Presenter(s): [Brunvand] [Chatterjee] [Kopta]
Entry No.: [21]
[SIGGRAPH 2014]

Type: [Courses]
Lights! Speed! Action! Fundamentals of Physical Computing for Programmers Organizer(s): [Brunvand]
Presenter(s): [Brunvand]
Entry No.: [13]
[SIGGRAPH 2013]
Learning Moderator Presentation(s):

Type: [Educator’s Forum]
CS + X : Cross Campus Collaborations Presenter(s): [Goldman] [McGuire] [Weishar]
[SIGGRAPH 2016]
Role(s):
- Art Show Artist
- Art Show Jury Member
- Conference Chair
- Course Organizer
- Course Presenter
- Education Liaison
- Educator's Forum Organizing Committee Chair/Co-Chair
- Educator's Forum Presenter
- Studio (SIGGRAPH Lab) Presenter
- Studio (SIGGRAPH Labs) Organizing Committee Chair/Co-Chair