Eftychios D. Sifakis
Assistant Professor
Department of Computer Sciences, University of Wisconsin – Madison
Personal Information
Home Address:
1101 Redan Dr
Verona, WI 53593
Work Address:
University of Wisconsin – Madison
1210 West Dayton Street
Computer Sciences Building, Room 6355
Madison, WI 53706
Email
Phone
:
:
Citizenship:
sifakis@cs.wisc.edu
608-263-0475 (office)
608-262-9777 (fax)
Dual citizen (USA, Greece)
Education
[Sept 96 – June 00]
[Sept 00 – June 02]
[Sept 02 – June 07]
B.Sc. in Computer Science, University of Crete, Greece
B.Sc. in Mathematics, University of Crete, Greece
Ph.D in Computer Science, Stanford University
Dissertation title: “Algorithmic aspects of the simulation and control of computer
generated human anatomy models”
Advisor: Ronald Fedkiw
Professional experience
[July 98 – June 00]
[July 00 – Aug 02]
[Sept 00 – Aug 02]
[Mar 05 – July 07]
[Sept 07 – Dec 10]
[Jan 08 – Aug 08]
[Jan 08 – today]
[Jan 11 – today]
Research intern, ICS-FORTH, Greece
Research associate, University of Crete, Greece
Military service, Greek Signal Corps [currently 2nd lieutenant in reserve]
Consultant – Intel Corporation (Santa Clara, CA)
Post-doctoral scholar, University of California Los Angeles
Consultant – SimQuest LLC (Boston, MA)
Consultant – Walt Disney Animation Studios (Burbank, CA)
Assistant Professor, University of Wisconsin – Madison
Teaching (as primary instructor)
[Winter 2010]
[Spring 2011]
[Fall 2011]
[Spring 2012]
[Fall 2011]
Math 151B: Applied Numerical Methods
Department of Mathematics, University of California Los Angeles
CS412 : Introduction to Numerical Methods
Department of Computer Sciences, University of Wisconsin – Madison
CS838 : Topics in Computer Science : Advanced Modeling and Simulation
Department of Computer Sciences, University of Wisconsin – Madison
CS412 : Introduction to Numerical Methods
Department of Computer Sciences, University of Wisconsin – Madison
CS838 (Topics in CS) : Introduction to Physics-based Modeling & Simulation
Department of Computer Sciences, University of Wisconsin – Madison
Publications
T. Patterson, N. Mitchell and E. Sifakis, “Simulation of complex nonlinear elastic bodies using lattice
deformers”, ACM SIGGRAPH Asia (to appear), 2012.
Y. Zhu, Y. Wang, J. Hellrung, A. Cantarero, E. Sifakis, J. Teran, A Second-Order Virtual Node Algorithm for
Nearly Incompressible Linear Elasticity in Irregular Domains, Journal of Computational Physics (to appear)
2012.
A. McAdams, Y. Zhu, A. Selle, M. Empey, R. Tamstorf, J. Teran and E. Sifakis, “Efficient elasticity for
character skinning with contact and collisions”, ACM Transactions on Graphics (SIGGRAPH Proceedings)
30(4), pp.1-12, 2011
J. Hellrung, L. Wang, E. Sifakis and J. Teran, "A Second-Order Virtual Node Method for Elliptic Problems
with Interfaces and Irregular Domains in Three Dimensions", Journal of Computational Physics, In Press
(DOI:10.1016/j.jcp.2011.11.023), 2011
C. L. Richardson, J. Hegeman, E. Sifakis, J. Hellrung and J. Teran, “An XFEM method for modelling
geometrically elaborate crack propagation in brittle materials”, International Journal for Numerical Methods
in Engineering, 88(10), pp. 1042-1065 (DOI: 10.1002/nme.3211), 2011
A. McAdams, E. Sifakis and J. Teran, “A parallel multigrid Poisson solver for fluids simulation on large grids”,
ACM SIGGRAPH/Eurographics Symposium on Computer Animation (SCA), edited by M. Otaduy and Z.
Popovic, 2010
J. Bedrossian, J. H. von Brecht, S. Zhu, E. Sifakis and J. Teran, “A Second Order Virtual Node Method for
Elliptic Problems with Interfaces and Irregular Domains”, Journal of Computational Physics, 229, pp.
6405-6426, 2010 [PDF]
Y. Zhu, E. Sifakis, J. Teran and A. Brandt, “An efficient multigrid method for the simulation of high-resolution
elastic solids”, ACM Transactions on Graphics 29(2), 2010 (presented at SIGGRAPH 2010)
S.-H. Lee, E. Sifakis and D. Terzopoulos, “Comprehensive Biomechanical Modeling and Simulation of the
Upper Body”, ACM Transactions on Graphics 28(4), 2009 (presented at SIGGRAPH 2010)
A. McAdams, A. Selle, K. Ward, E. Sifakis and J. Teran, “Detail preserving continuum simulation of straight
hair”, ACM Transactions on Graphics (SIGGRAPH Proceedings), 28(3), 2009
J. Hellrung, A. Selle, A. Shek, E. Sifakis and J. Teran, “Geometric fracture modeling in BOLT, ACM
SIGGRAPH Talks (Sketch), 2009
E. Sifakis, J. Hellrung, J. Teran, A. Oliker and C. Cutting, “ Local Flaps: A Real-Time Finite Element Based
Solution to the Plastic Surgery Defect Puzzle”, Medicine Meets Virtual Reality 17, 2009
E. Sifakis, S. Marino and J. Teran, “Globally coupled impulse-based collision handling for cloth simulation”,
ACM SIGGRAPH/Eurographics Symposium on Computer Animation (SCA), edited by M. Gross and D.
James (2008).
E. Sifakis, K. Der and R. Fedkiw, “Arbitrary cutting of deformable tetrahedralized objects”, ACM
SIGGRAPH/Eurographics Symposium on Computer Animation (SCA) edited by D. Metaxas and J.
Popovic, 2007.
E. Sifakis, T. Shinar, G. Irving and R. Fedkiw, “Hybrid simulation of deformable solids”, ACM
SIGGRAPH/Eurographics Symposium on Computer Animation (SCA) edited by D. Metaxas and J.
Popovic, 2007.
C. J. Hughes, R. Grzeszczuk, E. Sifakis, D. Kim, S. Kumar, A. P. Selle, J. Chhugani, M. Holliman and Y.-K.
Chen, “Physical Simulation for Animation and Visual Effects: Parallelization and Characterization for Chip
Multiprocessors”, Intl. Symposium on Computer Architecture, 2007 (in press).
E. Sifakis, “Algorithmic aspects of the simulation and control of computer generated human anatomy models”,
PhD thesis, Stanford University, 2007.
E. Sifakis, A. Selle, A. Robinson-Mosher and R. Fedkiw, “Simulating Speech with a Physics-Based Facial
Muscle Model”, ACM SIGGRAPH/Eurographics Symposium on Computer Animation (SCA), edited by
M.-P. Cani and J. O'Brien, 2006.
J. Teran, E. Sifakis, S. Blemker, V. Ng Thow Hing, C. Lau and R. Fedkiw, “Creating and simulating skeletal
muscle from the Visible Human Data Set”, IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics,
11, pp. 317-328, 2005.
E. Sifakis, I. Neverov and R. Fedkiw, “Automatic Determination of Facial Muscle Activations from Sparse
Motion Capture Marker Data”, ACM Transactions on Graphics (SIGGRAPH proceedings), TOG 24, pp.
415-425, 2005.
J. Teran, E. Sifakis, G. Irving and R. Fedkiw, “Robust Quasistatic Finite Elements and Flesh Simulation”, ACM
SIGGRAPH/Eurographics Symposium on Computer Animation (SCA) edited by K. Anjyo and P.
Faloutsos, pp. 181-190, 2005.
E. Sifakis and R. Fedkiw, “Facial Muscle Activations from Motion Capture”, in video proceedings of IEEE
CVPR, 2005.
S. Blemker, J. Teran, E. Sifakis, R. Fedkiw and S. Delp, “Fast 3D Muscle Simulations Using a New Quasistatic
Invertible Finite-Element Algorithm”, International Symposium on Computer Simulation in Biomechanics,
2005.
P. Sundaram, E. Sifakis , D. S. Paik, C. F. Beaulieu, S. Napel, “Fold Removal in CT Colonography (CTC): A
Physics-based Approach”, Radiological Society of North America 91st Scientific Sessions, Scientific
Assembly and Annual Meeting Program 2005:439, November, 2005.
S. Liapis, E. Sifakis and G. Tziritas, “Color and texture segmentation using wavelet frame analysis, deterministic
relaxation and fast marching algorithms”, Journal of
Visual Communication and Image Representation,
15:1, pp. 1-26, March 2004.
P. Sundaram, D.S. Paik, E.D. Sifakis, C.F. Beaulieu and S. Napel, “Selective Fold Removal in CT colonography
using physically-based simulation,” Fifth International Symposium on Virtual Colonoscopy, Boston, MA
October 28-29, 2004
P. Sundaram, E. Sifakis, D.S. Paik, C.F. Beaulieu, S. Napel, “Physically based approach to removal of folds in
CT Colonography: Proof of concept”, Radiological Society of North America 90th Scientific Sessions,
November 2004.
E. Sifakis and G. Tziritas, “Robust object boundary determination using a locally adaptive level set algorithm”,
Intl. Conference on Image Processing, 2003.
E. Sifakis and G. Tziritas, “Fast Marching techniques for Visual Grouping”, in Geometric Level Set Methods in
Imaging, Vision and Graphics, by S. Osher and N. Paragios (eds), Springer Verlag, July 2003.
E. Sifakis, C. Garcia and G. Tziritas, “Bayesian level sets for image segmentation”, Journal of Visual
Communication and Image Representation, 13:1-2, pp. 44-64, March 2002.
E. Sifakis, I. Grinias and G. Tziritas, “Video segmentation using fast marching and region growing algorithms”,
EURASIP Journal on Applied Signal Processing, pp. 379-388, Apr 2002.
E. Sifakis and G. Tziritas, “Moving object localization using a multi-label fast marching algorithm”, Signal
Processing: Image Communication, 16:10, pp. 963-976, 2001.
E. Sifakis, I. Grinias and G. Tziritas, “Video segmentation using fast marching and region growing algorithms”,
3rd European Workshop on Image Analysis for Multimedia Interactive Services, 2001 (invited).
S. Liapis, E. Sifakis and G. Tziritas, “Color and/or texture segmentation using deterministic relaxation and fast
marching algorithms”, Intl. Conference on Pattern Recognition, 2000.
E. Sifakis and G. Tziritas, “Fast marching to moving object location”, Intl. Conference on Scale-Space
Theories in Computer Vision, 1999.
US Patents
P. Sundaram, D.S. Paik, E. Sifakis, C.F. Beaulieu, R. Fedkiw, S. Napel, “Selective Fold Removal in CT
Colonography”, S04-212/ US Filed Oct. 15, 2004.
A. McAdams, A. Selle, K. Ward, E. Sifakis and J. Teran, “Detail preserving Continuum Hair Simulation”,
P191312.US.02 (2010)
R. Tamstorf, A. Selle, A. McAdams, J. Teran and E. Sifakis, “Efficient elasticity for character skinning with
contact and collisions, P069110US-DAS/PROV, Filed May 2011.
Technical reports
A. McAdams, A. Selle, R. Tamstorf, J. Teran and E. Sifakis, “Computing the Singular Value Decomposition of
3x3 matrices with minimal branching and elementary floating point operations”, University of Wisconsin Madison technical report TR1690, May 2011
Invited Talks
[Oct 06]
[Apr 07]
[Apr 07]
[Apr 07]
[May 07]
[Oct 07]
[Nov 07]
[Jan 08]
[Apr 09]
[Jun 09]
[Aug 09]
[Aug 09]
[Sep 09]
[Feb 2010]
[Feb 2010]
[Feb 2010]
[Mar 2010]
[Mar 2010]
[Apr 2010]
[Apr 2010]
[Oct 2010]
[Feb 2011]
“The challenges and future of Human Anatomy Simulation”, Stanford University
“The technological legacy of virtual human simulation”, UCLA
“Recent advances in physics-based simulation technology for face animation and virtual
surgery”, UCLA Center for Advanced Surgical and Interventional Technology
“Faces, muscles and hybrid solids”, Digital Domain
“The technological legacy of virtual human simulation”, NYU
“Faces, muscles and hybrid solids”, Walt Disney Animation Studios
“Faces, muscles and CG flesh … What’s under the skin of a virtual human?”,
UCLA CS201 Colloquium
“Flesh, muscles, cuts and finite elements: Common challenges in animation, biomechanics
and virtual surgery”,
UCLA/IPAM Workshop on Scientific Applications in Surgical Simulation of Soft Tissues
“Physics-based simulation and applications in biomechanics, medicine and special effects”,
UCLA Engineering Tech Forum
“Dynamic digital faces and bodies: Challenges, applications and broader impact of
biomechanical modeling and simulation technology”,
USC Institute for Creative Technologies
“Dynamic digital faces and bodies: Challenges, applications and broader impact of
biomechanical modeling and simulation technology”,
Max Planck Institute for Informatics, Saarbruecken, Germany
“Dynamic digital faces and bodies: Challenges, applications and broader impact of
biomechanical modeling and simulation technology”, ETH Zurich
“Simulation techniques for biomechanics and CG characters: Challenges, applications and
broader impact”, California Institute of Technology
“Digital doubles and the synergistic role of scientific computing, biomechanics and
computer animation”, University of Wisconsin – Madison
“Algorithmic and numerical aspects of simulating dynamic elastic solids for biomechanics,
virtual surgery and visual effects”, University of California, Santa Barbara.
“Dynamic digital faces and bodies: Challenges, applications and broader impact of
biomechanical modeling and simulation technology”, University of California, Santa Barbara.
“Digital doubles and the synergistic role of scientific computing, biomechanics and
computer animation”, University of Southern California and Institute for Creative
Technologies
“Digital doubles and the synergistic role of scientific computing, biomechanics and
computer animation”, University of Michigan – Ann Arbor
“Digital doubles and the synergistic role of scientific computing, biomechanics and
computer animation”, Columbia University
“Digital doubles and the synergistic role of scientific computing, biomechanics and
computer animation”, University of Utah
“Dynamic digital faces and bodies: Challenges, applications and broader impact of
biomechanical modeling and simulation technology”, UCLA AMS Fall Meeting
“Computer-aided functional simulation of human anatomy: Challenges, emerging
applications and broader impact”, University of Wisconsin – Madison, School of Surgery