Shree K. Nayar

Shree K. Nayar was born in Bangalore to Malayali parents from Travancore. He is the grandson of former Chief Minister of Kerala, Pattom A. Thanu Pillai.{{Cite web |title=Columbia's Shree Nayar awarded Okawa Prize for contributions to digital photography |url=https://www.onmanorama.com/news/kerala/2022/12/20/columbia-shree-nayar-okawa-prize-digital-photography.html |access-date=2024-05-03 |website=www.onmanorama.com}}

Nayar received a B.E. in electrical engineering from Birla Institute of Technology in Mesra, in 1984,{{Cite web|title=Birla Institute of Technology, Mesra|url=https://alumni.bitmesra.ac.in/|access-date=2021-08-28|website=alumni.bitmesra.ac.in}} and an M.S. in electrical and computer engineering from North Carolina State University in Raleigh in 1986.{{Cite web|title=Shree Nayar • Electrical and Computer Engineering|url=https://ece.ncsu.edu/honor/shree-nayar/|access-date=2021-08-28|website=North Carolina State University|language=en-US}} He received a Ph.D. in electrical and computer engineering from The Robotics Institute at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh in 1991.

Nayar worked as a research engineer for Taylor Instruments in New Delhi in 1984. From 1986 to 1990 he was a graduate research assistant at The Robotics Institute at Carnegie Mellon University. In the summer of 1989, he was a visiting researcher at Hitachi in Yokohama, Japan. He joined the faculty of the Computer Science Department at Columbia University in 1991, and in 2009 he became chair of the department. Nayar also served as a director of research at Snap

Nayar's research is in the field of computational imaging and computer vision and focuses on the creation of novel cameras, physics based models for vision and graphics, and algorithms for image understanding.{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/29/technology/circuits/29next.html|title=WHAT'S NEXT; Fleeting Experience, Mirrored in Your Eyes|author=Anne Eisenberg | work=The New York Times|date=29 July 2004}}{{cite web|author=Steven Levy |url=http://www.newsweek.com/2004/07/11/meet-the-eye-cam.html |title=MEET THE EYE CAM - Newsweek and The Daily Beast |publisher=Newsweek.com |date=2004-07-11 |access-date=2013-04-08}}{{cite news| url=https://www.nytimes.com/2002/01/31/technology/in-the-labs-equipment-check-backpack-goggles.html | work=The New York Times | first=Susan E. | last=Reed | title=In the Labs; Equipment Check: Backpack, Goggles . . . | date=31 January 2002}}{{cite news| url=https://www.nytimes.com/2000/09/07/technology/what-s-next-new-image-technology-can-drive-shadows-away.html | work=The New York Times | first=Anne | last=Eisenberg | title=WHAT'S NEXT; New Image Technology Can Drive Shadows Away | date=7 September 2000}}{{cite news| url=https://www.nytimes.com/1997/02/03/business/one-camera-that-offers-many-views.html | work=The New York Times | first=Claudia H. | last=Deutsch | title=One Camera That Offers Many Views | date=3 February 1997}} His work is motivated by applications in the fields of machine vision, digital imaging, computer graphics, robotics, and human-computer interactions. Nayar developed the concept of computational cameras and is a leading researcher in the field of computational imaging and computer vision. The field of computational photography is organized according to a taxonomy proposed by him.{{Cite web|title=CAVE {{!}} Projects: What is a Computational Camera?|url=https://www1.cs.columbia.edu/CAVE/projects/what_is/|access-date=2021-08-28|website=www1.cs.columbia.edu}}

Nayar's inventions include cameras that can capture 360 degree, high dynamic range, and three-dimensional images. He demonstrated the concept of a self-powered camera that can produce video using power harvested by the light captured by the camera without requiring an external power source.{{Cite news|date=2015-04-17|title='Eternal' camera can take pictures forever|language=en-GB|work=BBC News|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-32353655|access-date=2021-08-28}}{{Cite web|title=This Camera Is Powered by Light|url=https://www.discovermagazine.com/technology/this-camera-is-powered-by-light|access-date=2021-08-28|website=Discover Magazine|language=en}}{{Cite web|date=2019-03-18|title=A Self-Powered Camera|url=https://www.popsci.com/self-powered-camera/|access-date=2021-08-28|website=Popular Science|language=en-US}} His method of using assorted pixels for single-shot high dynamic range imaging{{Cite web|date=2016-10-12|title=Sony IMX378: Comprehensive Breakdown of the Google Pixel's Sensor and its Features|url=https://www.xda-developers.com/sony-imx378-comprehensive-breakdown-of-the-google-pixels-sensor-and-its-features/|access-date=2021-08-28|website=xda-developers|language=en-US}} has been incorporated into image sensors that are currently being used by cameras in smartphones, tablets and other mobile devices.  In 2017, Popular Photography published a profile of Nayar that describes his impact on digital imaging and smartphone cameras.{{Cite web|title=The Camera Man|url=https://www.magzter.com/stories/Photography/Popular-Photography/The-Camera-Man|access-date=2021-08-28|website=www.magzter.com|language=en}}

Nayar developed the Oren–Nayar Reflectance Model in collaboration with Michael Oren in 1994, which is widely used in commercial graphics rendering packages. In 2009, he created the Bigshot Camera, a kid-friendly digital camera designed for experiential learning.{{cite web |url=http://www.bigshotcamera.org/sections/home/team.html |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120721030109/http://www.bigshotcamera.org/sections/home/team.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=2012-07-21 |title=Bigshot: Home - Team |publisher=Bigshotcamera.org |access-date=2013-04-08 }}{{cite web|url=http://www.csmonitor.com/Innovation/Tech/2010/0106/BigShot-Snap-together-camera-introduces-kids-to-tech-and-to-their-world |title=BigShot: Snap-together camera introduces kids to tech, and to their world |publisher=CSMonitor.com |date=2010-01-06 |access-date=2013-04-08}}{{cite web|url=http://www.designobserver.com/changeobserver/entry.html?entry=12147 |title=Bigshot Camera: Change Observer |publisher=Design Observer |date= |access-date=2013-04-08}} Workshops and programs designed around the Bigshot camera have been used to educate middle school students around the world, in particular in underserved communities. As of August 2021, he has published over 300 scientific publications, holds over 80 patents on inventions related to imaging, computer vision and robotics, his publications have been cited close to 60,000 times, and he has an h-index of 129.{{Cite web|url = https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=3pZs3j0AAAAJ&hl=en|title = Google Scholar Record of S. Nayar|date = |website = |publisher = |last = |first = }} In March 2021, Nayar made publicly available a lecture series titled First Principles of Computer Vision.{{Cite web|title=First Principles of Computer Vision - YouTube|url=https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCf0WB91t8Ky6AuYcQV0CcLw|access-date=2021-08-28|website=www.youtube.com}}

Nayar has received several best paper awards for his scientific publications, including the David Marr Prize in 1990 and 1995, and the Helmholtz Prize in 2019. Early in his career, he received the National Young Investigator Award from the National Science Foundation in 1991 and the Packard Fellowship from the David and Lucile Packard Foundation in 1992. For the impact of his research, he has been honored with the NTT Distinguished Scientific Achievement Award from NTT Corporation in 1994, the Appreciation Honor from Sony Corporation in 2014, the 2016 Invention Award from Popular Science magazine, the PAMI Distinguished Award{{Cite web|date=2019-10-01|title=Shree Nayar Honored for Pioneering Research in Computer Vision.|url=https://www.engineering.columbia.edu/news/shree-nayar-pami-award|access-date=2021-08-28|website=www.cs.columbia.edu}} from IEEE in 2019, and the Funai Achievement Award{{Cite web|last=Japan|first=Information Processing Society of|title=FUNAI Achievement Award-Information Processing Society of Japan|url=https://www.ipsj.or.jp/english/organization/aboutipsj/award/funai-gyoseki.html|access-date=2021-08-28|website=www.ipsj.or.jp|language=en}} from the Information Processing Society of Japan in 2021. He has been recognized for his talents as a teacher with the Keck Engineering Teaching Excellence Award from the W. M. Keck Foundation in 1995, the Columbia Great Teacher Award{{Cite web|title=Great Teacher Award - WikiCU, the Columbia University wiki encyclopedia|url=https://www.wikicu.com/Great_Teacher_Award|access-date=2021-08-28|website=www.wikicu.com}} from the Society of Columbia Graduates{{Cite web|title=Society of Columbia Graduates - WikiCU, the Columbia University wiki encyclopedia|url=https://www.wikicu.com/Society_of_Columbia_Graduates|access-date=2021-08-28|website=www.wikicu.com}} in 2006, and the Distinguished Faculty Teaching Award from the Columbia Engineering Alumni Association in 2015. He received the Alumni Achievement Award from Carnegie Mellon University in 2009 and the Distinguished Alumnus Award from the Birla Institute of Technology, Mesra, in 2021. For his pioneering research contributions and inventions in the fields of computational imaging and computer vision, he was elected to the National Academy of Engineering{{Cite web|title=Shree K. Nayar {{!}} Curriculum Vitae|url=http://www.cs.columbia.edu/~nayar/cv.html|access-date=2021-08-28|website=www.cs.columbia.edu}} in 2008, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2011, and the National Academy of Inventors in 2014.

{{Reflist|30em}}

• [http://www1.cs.columbia.edu/~nayar/index.html Shree K. Nayar’s Home Page]
• [http://www1.cs.columbia.edu Computer Science Department, Columbia University]
• [http://www.engineering.columbia.edu/ Columbia Engineering]
• [http://www.columbia.edu/ Columbia University]
• [http://www.nae.edu National Academy of Engineering]
• [https://www.amacad.org/ American Academy of Arts and Sciences]
• [https://academyofinventors.org/ National Academy of Inventors]
• [https://www.nsf.gov/ National Science Foundation]
• [https://www.packard.org/ David and Lucile Packard Foundation]
• [http://www.wmkeck.org/ W. M. Keck Foundation]
• [https://research.snap.com/ Snap Research]
• [https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCf0WB91t8Ky6AuYcQV0CcLw First Principles of Computer Vision]

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Category:Columbia University faculty

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