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Michael Zyda |
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MONTEREY (mz) -- Michael Zyda is the Director of the USC GamePipe Laboratory, and a Professor of Engineering Practice in the USC Department of Computer Science. At USC, he created the BS in Computer Science (Games) and MS in Computer Science (Game Development) cross-disciplinary degree programs and doubled the incoming undergraduate enrollment of the Computer Science Department. From Fall 2000 to Fall 2004, he was the Founding Director of The MOVES Institute, located at the Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, California and a Professor in the Department of Computer Science at NPS as well. From 1986 until the founding of the MOVES Institute, he was the Director of the NPSNET Research Group. Professor Zyda's research interests include computer graphics, large-scale, networked 3D virtual environments, agent-based simulation, modeling human and organizational behavior, interactive computer-generated story, computer-generated characters, video production, entertainment/defense collaboration, modeling and simulation, and serious and entertainment games. He is a pioneer in the fields of computer graphics, networked virtual environments, modeling and simulation, and serious games. He holds a lifetime appointment as a National Associate of the National Academies, an appointment made by the Council of the National Academy of Sciences in November 2003, awarded in recognition of "extraordinary service" to the National Academies. He is a member of the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences. He served as the principal investigator and development director of the America’s Army PC game funded by the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Manpower and Reserve Affairs. He took America's Army from conception to three million plus registered players and hence, transformed Army recruiting. Professor Zyda was a member of the National Research Council's Behavioral and Social Sciences Commission Committee on "Virtual Reality - Scientific and Technological Challenges". Professor Zyda was the chair of the National Research Council's Computer Science and Telecommunications Board Committee on "Modeling and Simulation: Linking Entertainment & Defense". From that report, for the Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Army for Research and Technology, Professor Zyda drafted the operating plan and research agenda for the USC Institute for Creative Technologies (ICT). Professor Zyda was a member of the National Research Council's Aeronautics and Space Engineering Board Committee on Advanced Engineering Environments. Professor Zyda was chair of the National Research Council's Aeronautics and Space Engineering Board Panel on Computing, Information, and Communications Technology (CICT) and member of the parent NRC Committee for the Review of NASA’s Pioneering Revolutionary Technology Program. Professor Zyda was a member of the NRC's Aeronautics and Space Engineering Board Vehicle Systems Panel that is part of the Committee for the Review of NASA’s Revolutionize Aviation Program. Professor Zyda was a member of the National Research Council Naval Studies Board Committee on FORCEnet Implementation Strategies. Professor Zyda was a member of the National Research Council Mathematical Sciences and Their Application Board Committee on Defense Modeling, Simulation and Analysis. Professor Zyda is a member of the National Research Council Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education Division Committee on Behavioral Modeling and Simulation - from Individuals to Societies. Professor Zyda is a member of the National Research Council Laboratory Assessments Board, Soldier Systems Panel. Professor Zyda has been a member of the Editorial Advisory Board of the journal Computers & Graphics, and a Senior Editor for Virtual Environments for the MIT Press quarterly PRESENCE, the journal of teleoperation and virtual environments. Professor Zyda has been a member of the Technical Advisory Board of the Fraunhofer Center for Research in Computer Graphics, Providence, Rhode Island. He is a Member of the Board of Advisors for the Georgia Institute of Technology Modeling and Simulation Research and Education Center. He is a member of the US Army’s Distance Learning/Training Technology Applications Subcommittee of the Army Education Committee, appointed by US Army TRADOC, with the approval of the Secretary of the Army, with concurrence of the Secretary of Defense. Professor Zyda has consulted for the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, the Ministry of Industrial Development Sabah Province, Malaysia, Japan Tech Services Corporation, Tokyo, Hitachi Plant Construction & Engineering, Ohtsuka, SimGraphics Engineering, Pasadena, BBN, Silicon Graphics International, Geneva, Nihon Silicon Graphics KK, Advanced Telecommunications Inc., TecMagik, Muse3d.com, Time Warner, Paramount Digital Entertainment, BBN, MaK Technologies, Sony Computer Entertainment (through Shook, Hardy & Bacon), among others. He is a speaker with Celebrity Speakers, International. He is an advisor to Emsense, Big Stage, iSportGames, Virtual Heroes, and Dragonfire Productions. He is the founder of Westside Transmedia, a company focused on translating film story to the game medium. Professor Zyda began his career in Computer Graphics in 1973 as part of an undergraduate research group, the Senses Bureau, at the University of California, San Diego. Professor Zyda received a BA in Bioengineering from the University of California, San Diego in La Jolla in 1976, an MS in Computer Science from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst in 1978 and a DSc in Computer Science from Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri in 1984.
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