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HARVARD Ph.D. DAVID GU JOINS COMPUTER AND SCIENCE INFORMATION AND ENGINEERING FACULTY
GAINESVILLE, Fla. --- New CISE Assistant Professor David Xianfeng (pronounced Shenfung) Gu is paving new ground in computer graphics
technology and applications. A scholar in computer science using new geometries, Gu is in demand to give his
presentation, “Computational Geometry,” to universities nationwide such as Harvard, M.I.T., Cal Tech, and Stanford.
What makes his work unique is his grasp of both sophisticated mathematical concepts and computer science.
Quiet, soft-spoken, yet very focused, it is easy to respect Gu as an intellectual. He makes an effort to moderate
descriptions of his research so that those of us less mathematically inclined can grasp key concepts. He describes
his Ph.D. advisor with whom he worked, Shing-Tung Yau, as a brilliant scholar who won the most prestigious award in
mathematics, the Fields Medal. Gu points out, “That was the award John Nash (“A Beautiful Mind”) tried for, but he
never got it.”
“All geometricians understand what I am doing,” Gu reports. “The theory has been known for years, but no one outside
of the group I work with can really compute it out yet in direct computer science application. It’s very leading edge.
Before we started using modern geometry with its new theories, concepts, and tools, computer graphics were limited to
Euclidean geometry. Between topological structure and Euclidean geometric structure, we can discover a new geometric
structure, the so-called Riemann surface structure, to compute out real surfaces.”
What this means in layman’s terms is that a 3-D object can be flattened out into a plane, which can be mapped precisely
to reduce distortion in computer graphics. With a click of the mouse, Gu demonstrates how a 3-D image of a rabbit
can be changed to a flat, black- and-white checkered rectangle. With another click of the mouse, that flat checkerboard
turns into a 3-D checkerboard image of the rabbit, and because the angles of the squares in the checkerboard are
preserved even though their sizes change, the 3-D image has no distortion.
Gu was eager to join the University of Florida because the CISE department has a very strong graphics and visual group
with a lot of collaborators. “This department supports me very much,” Gu said, “And I enjoy the natural environment
of Gainesville as well.” Another plus in being here for Gu is the proximity to Shands, since a strong component of
his research deals with developing MRI images to better analyze human organs.
Gu is using mathematical theory to reconstruct 3-D images from traditional MRI’s. This technology will allow for a much more precise
mapping, and reading, to diagnose MRI’s. On his laptop computer, Gu demonstrates how he can change an MRI of a human
brain into a 3-D figure. From there, Gu turns the brain image into a perfectly round sphere. As a sphere, versus as
a flat image or one with ridges and irregular surface shapes, people can define a GPS for the brain. Changes between
two MRI’s of the same brain can therefore be mathematically compared, which is much more precise than visually looking
for variations in the original MRI picture-images.
Prior to joining CISE, Gu had his own start-up company developing co-browsing on the web. He sold the company right before the crash and
adds, “Intellectually, industry was very boring. You take one idea and then spend years and years marketing that one
product idea.” His preference is for academia where he can conduct research, and now that computer development has
reached efficient potential as a tool (power and software are now mature), Gu enjoys being able to tackle increasingly
difficult problems that require more sophisticated theoretical and conceptual thinking.
His favorite part of teaching is sharing that knowledge with gifted CISE students. “The students are young, curious,
and quick to accept new concepts so they can master the material fairly quickly. I find them to be very enthusiastic,
very curious, and most importantly for graphics, very creative,” Gu said.
It is easy to respect Gu personally as well as intellectually. Although he is introverted, he’s friendly and embodies
qualities of Chinese culture that are fascinating. Gu explains that his name means “high mountain” in Chinese, and
it belongs within a thousand-year generational family poem, expressing “If you want to see the most beautiful thing,
go to the highest mountain.” His wife is completing her Ph.D. at Yale, while his parents remain in China and look
forward to his summer visits home whenever he can make it.
While Gu admits that since he just started teaching here fall semester, he hasn’t had much time for personal hobbies,
he plans to resume playing saxophone in the near future. At Harvard, he played in a band that did open air public
performances. Gu loves American jazz, which he finds revolutionary compared to traditional Chinese musical models.
Admiration for things revolutionary in nature can be applied to his work in computer graphics, and CISE is proud to have
him as a new faculty member.
Writer: Terri Bailey, 352-373-1041, TBailey567@aol.com
Source: David (Xianfeng) Gu, 352-392-1476, gu@cise.ufl.edu
David Xianfeng Gu’s webpage: www.cise.ufl.edu/~gu/
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