Timothy McLaughlin

Most Recent Affiliation(s):

• Texas A&M University

Location:

• College Station, Texas, United States of America

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Bio:

• Tim McLaughlin joined the faculty of Texas A&M in Fall 2007 and became the Department of Visualization’s first Department Head in January 2008. Prior to coming to Texas A&M Tim worked in the movie industry at Industrial Light & Magic, a division of Lucasfilm Ltd. in San Francisco, California where he led teams of artists and engineers developing computer graphics techniques for digital creatures in groundbreaking award winning visual effects for films. His credit list includes 15 theatrically released feature film projects including Mars Attacks! (1996) Star Wars: Episode I (1999), Van Helsing (2004) and War of the Worlds (2005). The work of Tim’s technical artists contributed directly to Science & Technology Awards from the Academy of Motion Picture Sciences being given to teams of ILM researchers in 1998, 2001, and 2013. These awards represent the highest film industry recognition for technical excellence.

  At Texas A&M, Tim’s undergraduate teaching area involves collaborative student projects that include computer animation production techniques and visual storytelling. His graduate teaching and research work focuses on developing animation systems for character articulation and deformation. As Head of the Department of Visualization he has overseen the creation of the Bachelor of Science and the Master of Fine Arts in Visualization degree programs. He is active in a variety of research and outreach activities that involve blending art and science in STEM education. Tim grew up in East Texas. He earned the Associate of Arts degree from Kilgore College, and both the Bachelor of Environmental Design (1990) and the Master of Science in Visualization Sciences (1994) degrees from Texas A&M University.