Research

My research is focused on the development of novel interfaces for Interactive 3D Design. In the course of this research I have created several novel 3D design tools, most recently Meshmixer, which was acquired by Autodesk in 2011. At Autodesk I led the Design and Fabrication Group in Autodesk Research, which explored the new design workflows made possible by the fusion of 3D scanning, direct mesh modeling, and advanced digital fabrication. I also evolved Meshmixer into one of the standard tools for 3D printing, inventing novel techniques for design-to-print analysis, support structure generation, and geometry processing. Prior to that I developed ShapeShop, a system for sketch-based 3D shape modeling, and the Analytic Drawing Tool, which allowed artists to use their 2D perspective drawing skills to draw in 3D. I received my BSc and MSc at the University of Calgary with Dr. Brian Wyvill, and my PhD at the University of Toronto with Dr. Karan Singh.

Research Website: https://www.dgp.toronto.edu/~rms/

2018

Fast Winding Numbers for Soups and Clouds

Gavin Barill, Neil G. Dickson, Ryan Schmidt, David I.W. Levin, Alec Jacobson

SIGGRAPH 2018

PDF | Project

2017

Pineal: Bringing Passive Objects to Life with Embedded Mobile Devices

David Ledo, Fraser Anderson, Ryan Schmidt, Lora Oehlberg, Saul Greenberg, Tovi Grossman

ACM SIGCHI 2017

PDF | Details
Geometric Modeling of Multi-Material Printed Objects

Tyson Brochu, Ryan Schmidt

Eurographics Short Papers (2017)

PDF | Details
SurfCuit: Surface Mounted Circuits on 3D Prints

Nobuyuki Umetani, Ryan Schmidt

IEEE Computer Graphics and Applications 37(3) (2017)

PDF | Details

2016

Printone: Interactive Resonance Simulation for Free-form Print-wind Instrument Design

Nobuyuki Umetani, Athina Panotopoulou, Ryan Schmidt, Emily Whiting

ACM Transactions on Graphics (Proc. SIGGRAPH Asia 2016)

PDF | Video | Details
ChronoFab: Fabricating Motion

Rubaiat Habib, Tovi Grossman, Cory Mogk, Ryan Schmidt, George Fitzmaurice

ACM SIGCHI 2016

PDF | Video | Details
Designing for AM: Integrating Mesh-Based Modelling Techniques with Parametric CAD

Ryan Schmidt

SIAM Conference on Geometric & Physical Modeling (SPM 2016)

Slides | Details
Adaptive Mesh Booleans

Ryan Schmidt, Tyson Brochu

arXiv CoRR abs/1605.01760 (2016)

PDF | Details

2015

Meltables: Fabrication of Complex 3D Curves by Melting

Andrew O. Sageman-Furnas, Nobuyuki Umetani, Ryan Schmidt

SIGGRAPH Asia 2015 Technical Briefs

Video | Details
3D-Printed Prosthetics for the Developing World

Ryan Schmidt, Ginger Coons, Vincent Chen, Timotheius Gmeiner, Matt Ratto

SIGGRAPH 2015 Studio Talks

PDF | Details
Automatic Balancing of 3D Models

Asger Nyman Christiansen, Ryan Schmidt, Jakob Andreas Bærentzen

Computer-Aided Design, 58, pp. 236–241. (SPM 2014 Special Issue)

Details

2014

A Series of Tubes: Adding Interactivity to 3D Prints Using Internal Pipes

Valkyrie Savage, Ryan Schmidt, Tovi Grossman, George Fitzmaurice, Björn Hartmann

ACM UIST 2014

PDF | Video | Details
Pteromys: Interactive Design and Optimization of Free-formed Free-flight Model Airplanes

Nobuyuki Umetani, Yuki Koyama, Ryan Schmidt, Takeo Igarashi

ACM Transactions on Graphics (SIGGRAPH 2014), 33(4), Article 65

PDF | Video | Details
Branching Support Structures for 3D Printing

Ryan Schmidt, Nobuyuki Umetani

ACM SIGGRAPH 2014 Talks Program

PDF | Slides
Position-Based Elastic Rods

Nobuyuki Umetani, Ryan Schmidt, Jos Stam

Symposium on Computer Animation (SCA) 2014 (Also SIGGRAPH 2014 Talk)

PDF | Video | Details
History Assisted View Authoring for 3D Models

Hsiang-Ting Chen, Tovi Grossman, Ryan Schmidt, Björn Hartmann, George Fitzmaurice, Maneesh Agrawala

ACM CHI 2014

PDF | Video | Details

2013

Stroke Parameterization

Ryan Schmidt

Computer Graphics Forum 32(2), Eurographics 2013

PDF | Video | Details
Cross-sectional Structural Analysis for 3D Printing Optimization

Nobuyuki Umetani, Ryan Schmidt

SIGGRAPH ASIA 2013 Technical Briefs

PDF | Video | Details
Design-to-Fabricate: Maker Hardware Requires Maker Software

Ryan Schmidt, Matt Ratto

IEEE Computer Graphics & Applications. December 2013, Volume 33. Issue 6, pp. 26-34

PDF | IEEE DL
Design Tools for the Rest of Us: Maker Hardware Requires Maker Software

Ryan Schmidt, Matt Ratto

FAB @ CHI Workshop, CHI 2013

PDF

2012

Interactive Modeling With Mesh Surfaces

Ryan Schmidt

ACM SIGGRAPH 2012 Studio Talks

PDF | Images | Video | Slides
Consensus Meshing

Ryan Schmidt, Patricio Simari

Shape Modeling International (SMI) 2012

PDF | Slides | Details

2011

On the Velocity of an Implicit Surface

Jos Stam, Ryan Schmidt

ACM Transactions on Graphics, 30(3), Article 21

PDF | Video | Details
GeoBrush: Interactive Mesh Geometry Cloning

Kenshi Takayama, Ryan Schmidt, Karan Singh, Takeo Igarashi, Tamy Boubekeur, Olga Sorkine

Computer Graphics Forum, 30, pp. 613-622. (Proc. Eurographics 2011)

PDF | Video | Details

2010

Part-Based Representation and Editing of 3D Surface Models

Ryan Schmidt

PhD Thesis, University of Toronto

PDF | URI | Details
meshmixer: an interface for rapid mesh composition

Ryan Schmidt, Karan Singh

ACM SIGGRAPH 2010 Talks

PDF | Video | Project
WarpCurves: A Tool for Explicit Manipulation of Implicit Surfaces

Masamichi Sugihara, Brian Wyvill, Ryan Schmidt

Shape Modeling International (SMI) 2010 (Best Paper Award)

PDF | Video | Project

2009

Analytic Drawing of 3D Scaffolds

Ryan Schmidt, Azam Khan, Karan Singh, Gord Kurtenbach

ACM Transactions on Graphics (SIGGRAPH ASIA 2009), 28(5), Article 149.

PDF | Video | Details
On Expert Performance in 3D Curve-Drawing Tasks

Ryan Schmidt, Azam Khan, Gord Kurtenbach, Karan Singh

Eurographics Symposium on Sketch-Based Interfaces and Modeling (SBIM) 2009

PDF | Slides | Details
ShapeShop: Free-Form 3D Design with Implicit Solid Modeling

Ryan Schmidt, Brian Wyvill

Chapter in Sketch-Based Interfaces and Modeling (J. Jorge and F. Samavati, eds)

PDF | Slides | Details

2008

Sketch-Based Procedural Surface Modeling and Compositing with Surface Trees

Ryan Schmidt, Karan Singh

Computer Graphics Forum, 27(2), pp. 321-330. (Proceedings of Eurographics 2008)

PDF | Video | Details
Sketching and Composing Widgets for 3D Manipulation

Ryan Schmidt, Karan Singh, Ravin Balakrishnan

Computer Graphics Forum, 27(2), pp. 301-310. (Proceedings of Eurographics 2008)

PDF | Video | Details
A Sketch-Based Method to Control Deformation in a Skeletal Implicit Surface Modeler

Masamichi Sugihara, Erwin de Groot, Brian Wyvill, Ryan Schmidt

5th Eurographics Workshop on Sketch-Based Interfaces and Modeling

PDF | Project

2007

Sketching, Scaffolding, and Inking: A Visual History for Interactive 3D Modeling

Ryan Schmidt, Tobias Isenberg, Pauline Jepp, Karan Singh, Brian Wyvill

NPAR 2007

PDF | Slides | Details

2006

Interactive Decal Compositing with Discrete Exponential Maps

Ryan Schmidt, Cindy Grimm, Brian Wyvill

ACM Transactions on Graphics (SIGGRAPH 2006), 25(3), July 2006, pp. 605-613.

PDF | Video | Project | Demo+Source
Interactive Modeling with Implicit Surfaces

Ryan Schmidt

MSc Thesis, University of Calgary

PDF
Interactive Pen-and-Ink Rendering for Implicit Surfaces

Ryan Schmidt, Tobias Isenberg, Brian Wyvill

SIGGRAPH 2006 Technical Sketch

PDF | Project
The GPU Cluster without the Clutter

Eric Penner, Ryan Schmidt, Sheelagh Carpendale

ACM I3D 2006 Technical Poster

PDF

2005

ShapeShop: Sketch-Based Solid Modeling with BlobTrees

Ryan Schmidt, Brian Wyvill, Mario Costa Sousa, Joaquim A. Jorge

2nd Eurographics Workshop on Sketch-Based Interfaces and Modeling

PDF | Figures | Slides | Project
Sketch Based Construction and Rendering of Implicit Models

Brian Wyvill, Kevin Foster, Pauline Jepp, Ryan Schmidt, Mario Costa Sousa, Joaquim A. Jorge

1st EG Workshop on Computational Aesthetics in Graphics, Visualization and Imaging

PDF
Sketch-Based Modeling with the BlobTree

Ryan Schmidt, Brian Wyvill, Mario Costa Sousa

ACM SIGGRAPH 2005 Technical Sketch

PDF | Video | Project
Generalized Sweep Templates for Implicit Modeling

Ryan Schmidt, Brian Wyvill

GRAPHITE 2005

PDF
Interactive Implicit Modeling with Hierarchical Spatial Caching

Ryan Schmidt, Brian Wyvill, Eric Galin

Shape Modeling International 2005

PDF | Slides | Tech Report

2004

Reconfigurable Displays

Ryan Schmidt, Eric Penner, Sheelagh Carpendale

Workshop on Ubiquitous Display Environments at UBICOMP 2004

PDF | Project

Unpublished Work

Drag, Drop, and Clone: An Interactive Interface for Surface Composition

Ryan Schmidt, Karan Singh

Technical Report CSRG-611, University of Toronto (2010)

PDF | Video | Software
Drag-and-Drop Surface Composition

Ryan Schmidt, Karan Singh

Technical Report CSRG-604, University of Toronto (2009)

PDF | Video | Software
Approximate Conformal Parameterization of Point-Sampled Surfaces

Ryan Schmidt, Karan Singh

Technical Report CSRG-605, University of Toronto (2009)

PDF
Surface Trees: Interactive Hierarchical Surface Modeling

Ryan Schmidt, Karan Singh

Unpublished (2007)

PDF | Video
Implicit Sweep Surfaces

Ryan Schmidt, Brian Wyvill

Technical Report 2005-778-09, University of Calgary

PDF
MAD Boxes: A Plug-And-Play Tiled Display Wall

Ryan Schmidt, Eric Penner, Sheelagh Carpendale

Technical Report TR-2004-768-33, University of Calgary

PDF | Project
SpinalTap: An Architecture for Real-Time Vertebrae Drilling Simulation

Ryan Schmidt

Technical Report 2002-705-08, University of Calgary

PDF | Project

Patents

"Sub-pixel grayscale three-dimensional printing" . Richard M. Greene, Ryan Michael Schmidt. (Filed 2016, Granted 2019)
"Dynamic real-time slice engine for 3d printing" . Karl Willis, Ryan Michael Schmidt, Baoxuan Xu. (Filed 2015, Granted 2017)
"Techniques for generating motion sculpture models for three-dimensional printing" . Tovi Grossman, Ryan Michael Schmidt, Rubaiat Habib, Cory Mogk, George Fitzmaurice. (Filed 2015, Granted 2020)
"Design tool for a hybrid electro-mechanical 3d printer" . Ryan Michael Schmidt, Daniel Matthew Taub, Baoxuan Xu, Karl Willis. (Filed 2015, Granted 2019)
"Techniques for approximating three-dimensional curves using foldable beams" . Nobuyuki Umetani, Ryan Michael Schmidt, Andrew O'Shea Sageman-Furnas. (Filed 2015, Granted 2018)
"Techniques for modeling elastic rods in position-based dynamics frameworks" . Ryan Michael Schmidt, Nobuyuki Umetani, Jos Stam. (Filed 2015, Granted 2019)
"Modeling a three-dimensional object having multiple materials" . Ryan Michael Schmidt, Tyson Brochu. (Filed 2015, Granted 2019)
"Support Posts for Improved Flexural Strength in 3D Printing" . Ryan Michael Schmidt. (Filed 2014, Granted 2017)
"Generating tubes within three-dimensional models" . Valkyrie Savage, Tovi Grossman, George Fitzmaurice, Björn Hartmann, Ryan Michael Schmidt. (Filed 2014, Granted 2019)
"Techniques for Automatically Placing Escape Holes during Three-Dimensional Printing" . Ryan Michael Schmidt. (Filed 2014, Granted 2020)
"Techniques for Authoring View Points, View Paths, and View Surfaces for 3D Models". Hsiang-Ting Chen, Tovi Grossman, Wei Li-Yi, Ryan Michael Schmidt, Bjoern Hartmann, George Fitzmaurice, Maneesh Agrawala. (Filed 2014)
"Techniques for optimizing orientation of models for three-dimensional printing" . Ryan Schmidt, Nobuyuki Umetani. (Filed 2014, Granted 2019)
"Techniques for performing cross-sectional stress analysis for three-dimensional objects" . Nobuyuki Umetani, Ryan Schmidt. (Filed 2014, Granted 2019)
"Generating Support Material for Three-Dimensional Printing" . Ryan Schmidt. (Filed 2014, Granted 2019)
"Evaluating the stability of three-dimensional models" . Ryan Schmidt. (Filed 2013, Granted 2020)
"Photograph localization in a three-dimensional model" . Ryan Schmidt, Ramtin Attar, Azam Khan. (Filed 2013, Granted 2017)
"Generating informative viewpoints based on editing history" . Hsiang-Ting Chen, Tovi Grossman, Wei Li-Yi, Ryan Michael Schmidt, Bjoern Hartmann, George Fitzmaurice, Maneesh Agrawala. (Filed 2013, Granted 2017)
"Technique for filling holes in a three-dimensional model" . Ryan Schmidt. (Filed 2013, Granted 2017)
"Technique for mapping a texture onto a three-dimensional model" . Ryan Schmidt. (Filed 2013, Granted 2017)
"Interactive tool for inspecting and repairing three dimensional models" . Ryan Schmidt. (Filed 2013, Granted 2018)
"Generating a Consensus Mesh from an input set of Meshes" . Ryan Schmidt, Patricio Simari. (Filed 2013, Granted 2017)
"Adaptive mesh refinement" . Ryan Schmidt. (Filed 2013, Granted 2018)
"Mesh boundary smoothing" . Ryan Schmidt. (Filed 2013, Granted 2019)
"Adaptively joining meshes" . Ryan Schmidt. (Filed 2013, Granted 2019)
"Adaptively merging intersecting meshes" . Ryan Schmidt. (Filed 2013, Granted 2018)
"Adaptively zippering meshes" . Ryan Schmidt. (Filed 2013, Granted 2019)
"Volume-preserving smoothing brush" . Ryan Schmidt. (Filed 2012, Granted 2017)
"Resolution-adaptive mesh smoothing brush" . Ryan Schmidt. (Filed 2012, Granted 2014)
"Systems and methods for manipulating a 3d object in a 3d model using a software widget and surface constraints" . Ryan Schmidt. (Filed 2012, Granted 2017)
"Navigation System for 3D Virtual Scene" . George Fitzmaurice, Justin Matejka, Igor Mordatch, Ryan Schmidt. (Filed 2008, Granted 2012)
"Three-Dimensional Orientation Indicator and Controller" . Anirban Ghosh, Igor Mordatch, Azam Khan, George Fitzmaurice, Justin Matejka, Ryan Schmidt, Gord Kurtenbach. (Filed 2007, Granted 2010)

Media

Talks

Conference / Workshop Presentations

SCF 2018 : "Making Legs and Practicing Neurosurgery with Maker Software"
Tomograph 2017: "Making Legs and Practicing Neurosurgery with Mesh Processing"
SGP 2017 : "Making Legs and Practicing Neurosurgery with Mesh Processing"
VRTO 2017 : "Your Left Hand is Not a Menu: Using Spatial Controllers in VR Apps"
SIAM GD/SPM 2015 : "Designing for AM: Integrating Mesh-Based Modeling Techniques with Parametric Cad"
RAPID 2015 : "Branching Support Structures for 3D Printing"
SIGGRAPH 2015 : "3D-Printed Prosthetics for the Developing World"
GI 2015 : "The Evolution of CAD: New Tools for our 3D-Printed Future"
SIGGRAPH 2014 : "Branching Support Structures for 3D Printing"
Eurographics 2013 : "Stroke Parameterization"
SIGGRAPH 2012 : "Interactive Modeling with Mesh Surfaces"
SIGGRAPH 2010 : "meshmixer: an interface for rapid mesh composition"
SIGGRAPH Asia 2009 : "Analytic Drawing of 3D Scaffolds"
SBIM 2009 : "On Expert Performance in 3D Curve-Drawing Tasks"
Eurographics 2008 : "Sketching and Composing Widgets for 3D Manipulation"
Eurographics 2008 : "Sketch-Based Procedural Surface Modeling and Compositing with Surface Trees"
NPAR 2007 : "Sketching, Scaffolding, and Inking: A Visual History for Interactive 3D Modeling"
ACM SIGGRAPH 2006 : "Interactive Decal Compositing with Discrete Exponential Maps"
Sketch-Based Modeling Workshop 2005 : "ShapeShop: Sketch-Based Solid Modeling with BlobTrees"
ACM SIGGRAPH Sketches 2005 : "Sketch-Based Modeling with the BlobTree"
Shape Modeling International 2005 : "Interactive Implicit Modeling with Hierarchical Spatial Caching"
Workshop on Ubiquitous Display Environments @ UBICOMP 2004 : "Reconfigurable Displays"

Other Talks

Computation Lecture Series, MIT School of Architecture (March 2013): "Computer-Aided Perspective Drawing"
Applied Geometry Lab, Caltech (August 2012): "Applied Geometry Processing in Meshmixer"
Autodesk Tech Summit (June 2012): "meshmixer: Interactive Surface Modeling with Dynamic Triangle Meshes"
Autodesk Tech Summit (June 2012): "Repairing 3D Scan Meshes with meshmixer"
Adobe CTL (February 2011): "Analytic Drawing and Perception of Line Drawings"
UC Berkeley (May 2010): "Analytic Drawing and Expert Drawing Performance"
JST/ERATO Design UI Project (December 2009): "Analytic Drawing"
University of Victoria (November 2009): "Drawing Perception, Analytic Drawing"
Autodesk (Summer 2009): "Analytic Drawing"

Demos

DCS Research In Action (November 2009): "Analytic Drawing Demo"
UIST 2009 (November 2009): "Analytic Drawing Demo"
DGPis40 Workshop (May 2008): "ShapeShop Demo"
TTI/Vanguard (April 2008): "ShapeShop Demo"
DCS Research In Action (February 2008): "ShapeShop Demo"
DemoCamp16 (November 2007): "ShapeShop Demo"
Undergraduate Open House (November 2007): "DGP Graphics Overview"
Fall Campus Day (October 2007): "DGP Tours & Demos"
Google "Gr8 Designs for Gr8 Girls" (May 2007): "ShapeShop Demo"
Undergraduate Recruitment Day (March 2006): "DGP Graphics Overview"

Service

Program Committees

Eurographics Technical Papers (2011, 2015, 2016)
ACM SIGGRAPH General Submissions (2012-2013)
ACM SIGGRAPH Student Research Competition (2012, 2013)
Sketch-Based Interaction and Modeling (2012)

Technical Paper Reviewer

ACM SIGGRAPH (2008-2015)
ACM SIGGRAPH ASIA (2009-2015)
ACM Transactions on Graphics (2008, 2009)
Eurographics (2008-2012)
ACM UIST (2010-2014)
ACM CHI (2011-2014)
Computers & Graphics (2008, 2009)
IEEE Virtual Reality (2008)
IEEE Computer Graphics & Applications (2005-2011)
IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics (2006, 2009)
IEEE 3DUI (2009)
Graphics Interface (2006, 2009, 2012)
Pacific Graphics (2012)
ACM SIGGRAPH Posters (2006)

Credits

Images

Featured on back cover of ACM Transactions on Graphics 25(5) / SIGGRAPH Asia 2009 Proceedings
Featured on back cover of SBIM 2009 Proceedings
Featured on front cover of SBIM 2005 Proceedings

Film

"The Spine" (2009) - Additional R&D Programming

Teaching

Workshops

Lassonde Technology Faire 3D Printing Workshop (April 2014, York University)
SIGGRAPH Toronto Chapter 3D Printing Workshop (March 2014)
Ladies Learning Code 3D Printing Workshop (July 2012, TIFF Bell Lightbox)

Teaching Assistant

CSC320 - Intro To Visual Computing (Winter 2009, University of Toronto)
CSC491 - Capstone Design Course (Fall 2007, University of Toronto)
CSC418/2504 - Intro to Computer Graphics (Fall 2007, Winter 2008, University of Toronto)
CPSC231 - Intro to Computer Science I (Fall 2002, University of Calgary)
CPSC355 - Computer Architecture and Low-Level Programming (Fall 2002, University of Calgary)

Web Tutorials

GDB (GNU debugger) Tutorial
Java Swing Tutorial
OpenGL Selection Buffer Tutorial
Raytracing Tutorials: Eye Rays , Transforming Normals