Biosketch of Fuhua (Frank) Cheng
(Department of Computer Science, University of Kentucky)
Fuhua (Frank) Cheng is a Professor of Computer Science at the University of
Kentucky, USA, and a joint professor of Computer Science at the National Tsinghua
University in Taiwan, ROC. He received a B.S. and M.S. in mathematics from the
National Tsinghua University in Taiwan, ROC, in 1973 and 1975, respectively, an
M.S in mathematics, an M.S. in computer science and a PhD in mathematics and
computer science from the Ohio State University, USA, in 1978, 1980 and 1982,
respectively.
Prof. Cheng’s research areas are geometric modeling and computer graphics. He has
more than 30 years of teaching and research experience in these areas, and 28 years of
experience in the management of federal, industry, and state funded research projects. He
teaches the following courses regularly: Computer Graphics, Computer Animation,
Computer Aided Geometric Design, and Logic and Theory of Computing.
Prof. Cheng’s research record includes a publication list of 145 articles, 13 supervised
PhDs/post doctorals, 49 supervised Masters, and 32 extramural research grants. Dr. Cheng is
an internationally recognized leader in several areas of computer graphics and
geometric modeling. He is the developer of a new spline scheme called "alternate
splines". His research work on parallel B-spline fitting initiated a new research area
called "parallel spline algorithms"; the area is still active today. He is the first person to
develop hardware device (Bezier Curve Generator) for the generation and rendering
of parametric curves and surfaces which includes a prototype of a geometry engine.
This work won him the prestigious Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Technology Invention Award.
He has the first US patent on subdivision surface based modeling and is a leader in
"one-piece representation scheme". He is the developer of a new curve- and
surface-shape-design technique called 'interproximation'. He is also a pioneer in
medical applications of CAD. He has developed several imaging system that can
reproduce 3D information using just one camera and one image (8 US patents
pending).
These contributions brought Dr. Cheng recognition in both the computer graphics and
geometric modeling communities. He is on the editorial board of Computer Aided
Design & Applications, Journal of Computer Graphics and Rendering, Journal of
Computer Aided Design & Computer Graphics, Computer Aided Drafting, Design
and Manufacturing and ISRN Applied Mathematics, and he has been invited to be a
program committee member for more than 45 major international conferences.
Prof. Cheng has extensive proposal writing experience. His research work has been
supported by NSF continuously for 14 years. His research work has also been
supported by major companies such as Ford, Honda, IBM and Olympus. Prof. Cheng
has extensive proposal evaluation experience as well. In particular, during the past 10
years, he has been involved in 7 NSF panel activities, four of them are for NSF
CAREER awards.
Prof. Cheng’s current interests are in designing and building 3D imaging devices
(including software) using single-lens, multi-view technology and direct 3D pointing
devices using light tracking and relative position detection. A company he founded
in 2010 is designing and building 3D lenses, 3D webcams, and mouse-like 3D remote
controls using these technologies.