2008 UW CSE Ph.D. alumnus Noah Snavely, now on the computer science faculty at Cornell University, has received the University of Washington Graduate School “6th Chapter” Dissertation Award.
Named by former Dean of the Graduate School Suzanne Ortega, the 6th Chapter Award refers to the five-chapter length of most dissertations. In a hypothetical sixth chapter, Ortega reasoned, candidates would propose practical applications resulting from their research, translating their insights into real-world policies or programs.
Noah’s Ph.D. work, co-supervised by Steve Seitz and Rick Szeliski (Szeliski, an affiliate professor in CSE, is at Microsoft Research), concerned recovering 3D structure from large community photo collections. Microsoft’s widely-praised Photosynth offering represents technology transfer from Noah’s work. Very recently, another Snavely / Seitz / Szeliski collaboration, “Building Rome in a Day,” has received widespread attention.
Congratulations Noah!