Professor Zoran Popović

Zoran Popović, Ph.D. is Professor of Computer Science and Director of Center for Game Science at the University of Washington.
 
Zoran joined the CSE faculty in the summer of 1999. He earned his B.Sc. with Honors in Computer Science from Brown University in 1991, and his M.S. in Computer Science in 1993 and his Ph.D. in Computer Science in 1999 from Carnegie Mellon University. His Ph.D. dissertation research focused on the automatic synthesis and transformation of realistic character animation. His thesis also involved numerous performances of embarrassing acts.
 
Zoran has also held research positions at Sun Microsystems and Justsystem Pittsburgh Research Center and at the University of California at Berkeley. His research interests lie primarily in computer graphics, especially in character animation, motion editing, physically based modeling, and modeling/simulation of natural phenomena. He is also interested in nonlinearly constrained optimization, motion planning, and biomechanics.
 
His papers include Nonlinear Inverse Reinforcement Learning with Gaussian Processes, Algorithm discovery by protein folding game players, High-resolution structure of a retroviral protease folded as a monomer, Crystal structure of a monomeric retroviral protease solved by protein folding game players, On the Harmfulness of Secondary Game Objectives, Analysis of Social Gameplay Macros in the Foldit Cookbook, Feature-Based Projections for Effective Playtrace Analysis, and Placing a Value on Aesthetics in Online Casual Games. Read the full list of his publications!
 
Watch Zoran Popovic: Solving Hard Problems in Science and Education with Game-based Symbiosis of Humans and Computers. Read New Online Game Helps Solve Medical Mysteries: Transcript. Learn about Foldit, a revolutionary new computer game enabling you to contribute to important scientific research. Read his LinkedIn profile.