Markus Gross

Markus Gross
Markus Gross 2022
Born (1963-06-14) June 14, 1963 (age 63)
Saarland, Germany
Known forpoint based graphics, blue-c, physics-based modeling, stereoscopic 3D, video processing, computer animation
Scientific career
FieldsComputer Science
Workplaces
Websitegraphics.ethz.ch/~grossm

Markus Gross (born June 14, 1963, Saarland, Germany) is a Professor of Computer science at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zürich (ETH), head of its Computer Graphics Laboratory, and serves as Chief Scientist at The Walt Disney Studios as well as Director of DisneyResearch|Studios. His research interests include physically based modeling, computer animation, immersive displays, and video technology. He has published more than 430 scientific papers on algorithms and methods in the field of computer graphics and computer vision, and holds more than 30 patents.

Early life and career

Markus Gross was born on June 14, 1963, in Neunkirchen, Saarland, a region historically influenced by both Germany and France during the first half of the 20th century. He was an only child; both of his parents worked part-time as musicians, regularly performing with their own band. Consequently, Gross grew up immersed in popular and jazz music.

He was introduced to animation as a child by Disney's The Jungle Book, after which he started collecting Disney comic books. The character Gyro Gearloose, known for his inventive and eccentric nature, particularly resonated with him and inspired an early interest in electronics and engineering. Encouraged by this passion, he persuaded his parents to purchase a TI-59 programmable calculator, which sparked his interest in microcoding.

Around the age of 14, Gross encountered the Commodore PET computer at his local high school, prompting him to begin programming in BASIC and Pascal. Despite the limited graphical capabilities of early computers, he became fascinated by the potential to represent computational results visually in two and three dimensions. After starting university in the early 1980s, he saw early 3D animated short films by Ed Catmull's team at the New York Institute of Technology, which he has said convinced him to pursue computer graphics.

Gross received a Master of Science in Electrical and Computer Engineering from Saarland University in 1986. He then continued his studies at Saarland University, earning a Ph.D. in Computer Graphics and Image Analysis in 1989 under the supervision of José Luis Encarnação.

From 1990 to 1994, he was a research scientist at the Computer Graphics Center of the Department of Computer Science of the Technical University of Darmstadt from where he received his habilitation in 1995.

Academic career

In 1994, Gross joined the faculty at ETH Zurich, as a professor of computer science and founded the Computer Graphics Laboratory. From 2004 to 2008 he served as a director of the Institute of Computational Sciences at ETH. He was promoted to full professor in 1997. Between 2004 and 2008, Gross served as the director of the Institute of Computational Sciences at ETH Zurich. During his tenure, he led the establishment of two research centers: the Game Technology Center in 2015 and the Media Technology Center in 2019.

Gross has served on papers committees of the major graphics conferences multiple times, including ACM SIGGRAPH, IEEE Visualization, Eurographics, Pacific Graphics, and others. In 2005 he became the first European papers chair of ACM SIGGRAPH. He was the conference co-chair of the Eurographics 2021. In addition, he has been the co-organizer of various international symposia. He has served on the editorial advisory boards of various journals and was associate editor of IEEE Computer Graphics & Applications.

During his tenure, Gross has co-authored more than 700 publications on topics including physically based modeling, immersive displays, video technology, image acquisition and generation, geometric modeling, computer animation, scientific visualization, and multimodal learning. As of June 2025, his current h-index is 117, and his i10-index is 469. He has coauthored 87 SIGGRAPH papers, ranking him among the top contributors in the field. Additionally, he has graduated more than 75 Ph.D. students.

His early research focused on wavelet-based volume rendering, surface meshing, and physically based medical simulations. His team developed finite element methods (FEM) for modeling soft tissue, deformation, collision, fracture, and fluids, as well as real-time 3D soft tissue cutting algorithms. His work on fluid simulation includes the 2003 paper "Particle-based fluid simulation for interactive applications" and has been adoped in movies and video games.

The Wavelet-Turbulence method, for which he received a Technical Achievement Award from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, has been used for smoke and explosion effects in films including “Avatar,” “Kung Fu Panda,” “Iron Man 3”, and “Man of Steel,” “Battleship”.

One of his major technical contributions is his work on point-based graphics, which enables the efficient computation of graphics pipeline processes using points rather than triangles, as in classical computer graphics. His papers “Surfels: Surface Elements as Rendering Primitives,” “Efficient Simplification of Point-Sampled Surfaces,” and “Surface Splatting” have collectively received over 4,100 citations. He is also the co-author of the book “Point-Based Graphics” (Morgan Kaufman, 2007).

Before joining Disney Research, Gross also worked on the theoretical modeling of dyslexia. He developed a statistical model and a multimodal recording system to facilitate language acquisition for people with dyslexia.

Disney Research

In 2008, Gross was recruited by Ed Catmull to help establish a corporate R&D organization at The Walt Disney Company. He was appointed Director of Disney Research Zurich, and later promoted to Vice President of Research in 2018. In 2022, he became the Chief Scientist of The Walt Disney Company.

His research at Disney focuses on novel technologies for filmmaking in collaboration with his Computer Graphics Lab at ETH Zürich. He and his teams worldwide conduct research in video technologies, rendering, digital humans, augmented creativity and audience understanding with a particular emphasis on incorporating machine learning and artificial intelligence into the production pipeline of Disney.

His 2010 paper High-Quality Single-Shot Capture of Facial Geometry laid the foundation for the Disney Medusa Facial Capture system, which has been used in numerous films and contributed to his second Technical Achievement Award award in 2019.

Entrepreneurship

Gross's research led to the establishment of 13 companies and the creation of software platforms, several of which have been acquired.

His work on physically-based modeling for facial surgery simulation (FACE Project) eventually led to the spin-off company Cyfex founded in 2000.

In 2002, he co-founded Novodex, a company focusing on middleware for physics modeling in computer games. The firm was chosen by Ageia as a software platform to support their upcoming PhysX PPU card, which became the basis of the PhysX SDK 2. x series. Aegia acquired Novodex in 2004, and Gross became the chair of the technical advisory committee. In 2008, Ageia was itself acquired by graphics technology manufacturer Nvidia.

Gross’ research on 3D video recording, compression, editing and visual effects led to the creation of the startup-company LiberoVision which in 2012 was acquired by Vizrt and rebranded “Viz Libero”. Broadcasters including ESPN and BBC have used its products.

His research on theoretical modeling of dyslexia resulted in the multimedia learning software Dybuster and the foundation of the company of the same name in 2007.

In 2015, he cofounded the spin-off Kapanu which developed augmented reality and visual computing technology allowing superimposition of smile designs on faces to facilitate the communication between patients and dentists. In 2017, the company was acquired by Ivoclar Vivadent.

In 2018, he cofounded Animatico focusing on development of AI characters for next generation human-machine interaction. To mark the 100th Nobel Prize anniversary of Albert Einstein, who was an ETH Zurich alumni, Gross’s team and Animatico built a platform that allows for a conversation with a “digital Einstein”. In 2022, Animatico was acquired by Nvidia.

In 2018 Gross co-founded Arbrea Labs which develops augmented reality simulators for human bodies, and focuses on surgery pre-visualization.

Other companies he cofounded are Gimalon (2013), Perceptiko (2017), Propulsion Academy (2017), Nanocorp (2018), Percim (2018), Morgen (2020).

Awards and honors

Gross is a Fellow of ACM and the EUROGRAPHICS Association, as well as a member of the German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina and the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities. Gross has also received multiple awards. The most recent is the Eurographics Gold Medal for his outstanding research contributions, for his contributions in bridging industry and academia, and for his leadership in the field at large. In 2013 he received the Karl Heinz Beckurts Prize for outstanding technological innovations with strong practical relevance. Also in 2013, Gross received the Konrad Zuse Medal of the German association of computer sciences (GI), the highest award for scientific achievements in computer sciences in Germany. From the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Markus Gross received a “Tech-Oscar,” also known as the Technical Achievement Award together with Nils Thuerey, Theo Kim, and Doug James for the development of a procedure to simulate smoke and explosions more efficiently. Further, Gross received the Outstanding Technical Contributions Award EUROGRAPHICS in 2010 and the Swiss ICT Champions Award in 2011.

Selected Publications

According to Google Scholar, as of July 2025, his most cited papers are

References

  1. ↑ “CGL ETH Zurich“ Website of ETH Zürich – CGL. Retrieved 18 February 2014.
  2. 1 2 3 "Education and Professional Experience" Website of M.Gross at CGL. Retrieved 02 May 2025.
  3. ↑ „List of Publications“ Website of the CGL – Publications. Retrieved 18 February 2014.
  4. ↑ „List of Patents filed in the USA“ Website of the US Patent office. Retrieved 18 February 2014.
  5. 1 2 3 "Markus Gross – Der Animator". IT Reseller (in German). Swiss IT Media. 30 August 2010. Retrieved 5 November 2026.
  6. 1 2 3 "People of ACM – Markus Gross". Association for Computing Machinery. 3 November 2026. Retrieved 5 November 2026.
  7. ↑ "Markus Gross receives 2021 Steven Anson Coons Award" Archived 2025-05-05 at the Wayback Machine Website of the Departement of Computer sciences at the ETH Zurich. Retrieved 5 May 2025.
  8. ↑ „Markus Gross – CV Overview Archived 2014-06-06 at the Wayback Machine Website of the Departement of Computer sciences at the ETH Zurich. Retrieved 18 February 2014.
  9. ↑ „Markus Gross extended Bio Archived 2013-10-17 at the Wayback Machine Website of M.Gross at CGL. Retrieved 18 February 2014.
  10. ↑ „Markus Gross short CV“ Archived 2013-10-16 at the Wayback Machine Website of M.Gross at CGL. Retrieved 18 February 2014.
  11. ↑ „SIGGRAPH 2005 Selects 98 Outstanding Papers From 461 Submissions“ SIGGRAPH 2005 News Releases. Retrieved on 18. February 2014
  12. ↑ "IEEE Visualization Conference Committee” Archived 2013-06-15 at the Wayback Machine Website of VIS 2002 – IEEE Visualization. Retrieved on 18. February 2014
  13. ↑ “Pacific Graphics 2012 Committee” Website of Pacific Graphics Conference 2012. http://sweb.cityu.edu.hk/pg2012/#section-committee
  14. ↑ „SIGGRAPH 2005 Selects 98 Outstanding Papers From 461 Submissions“ SIGGRAPH 2005 News Releases. Retrieved on 18. February 2014
  15. ↑ Eurographics’2021 Program Chairs Archived 2025-03-15 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 17 June 2025.
  16. ↑ “IEEE CG&A Press Release” Press release of the IEEE CG&A. Retrieved on 18. February 2014
  17. ↑ Markus Gross. Google scholar. Retrieved 17 June 2025.
  18. ↑ ACM SIGGRAPH Publications. Markus Gross’ Website at CGL. Retrieved 17 June 2025.
  19. ↑ The All-Time SIGGRAPH High Score (Inclusive Version) Archived 2023-09-29 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 17 June 2025.
  20. ↑ Markus Gross Ph.D. Alumni Website of the CGL. Retrieved 2 May 2025.
  21. ↑ „Wavelet Turbulence Software“ PC-Mag News. Retrieved 18 February 2014.
  22. 1 2 Markus Gross homepage. Google scholar. Retrieved 22 July 2025.
  23. ↑ Point-based Graphics. Morgan Kaufmann. 2007. p. 525. ISBN 978-0-12-370604-1.
  24. 1 2 „Dybuster AG“ Archived 2014-06-06 at the Wayback Machine Corporate website. Retrieved 18 February 2014.
  25. 1 2 „ACES profile: Dybuster develops software to treat dyslexia” Archived 2014-06-07 at the Wayback Machine Science|Business News portal. Retrieved 18 February 2014.
  26. ↑ “I’m a Kind of Business Angel” said Markus Gross, Vice President Disney Research Studios in Zürich Archived 2024-05-02 at the Wayback Machine Venturelab with Markus Gross. Retrieved 24 May 2025.
  27. ↑ DisneyResarch|Studios - Publications Archived 2025-03-13 at the Wayback Machine DisneyResarch|Studios website. Retrieved 13 March 2025.
  28. ↑ “An Oscar for Medusa” Archived 2023-02-03 at the Wayback Machine ETH Zurich news . Retrieved 24 May 2025.
  29. 1 2 "Industry - Startup Companies" Website of M.Gross at CGL. Retrieved 22 July 2025.
  30. ↑ „Cyfex AG“ Corporate website. Retrieved 18 February 2014.
  31. ↑ "Markus Gross’ Start-ups” Archived 2014-06-06 at the Wayback Machine Markus Gross’ Website at CGL. Retrieved 18 February 2014.
  32. ↑ "Markus Gross’ Start-ups” Archived 2014-06-06 at the Wayback Machine Markus Gross’ Website at CGL. Retrieved 18 February 2014.
  33. ↑ „PhysXinfo Wiki“ Wiki - PhysX. Retrieved 18 February 2014.
  34. ↑ „Eurographics – Markus Gross“ Archived 2014-06-06 at the Wayback Machine Markus Gross short Bio. Retrieved 18 February 2014.
  35. ↑ „PhysX Wikipedia Eintrag“ Retrieved 18 February 2014.
  36. ↑ „LiberoVision AG“ Corporate website. Retrieved 03 June 2013
  37. ↑ "Markus Gross’ Start-ups” Archived 2014-06-06 at the Wayback Machine Markus Gross’ Website at CGL. Retrieved 18 February 2014.
  38. ↑ „Vizrt Acquires LiberoVision AG“ Archived 2014-02-23 at the Wayback Machine Corporate website – Pressreleases. Retrieved 18 February 2014.
  39. ↑ „LiberoVision AG (acquired by Vizrt)“ venturelab website. Retrieved 24 July 2025.
  40. ↑ "Kapanu AG announces exit after the receipt of CTI Label" startupticker.ch. Retrieved 22 July 2025.
  41. ↑ "Nvidia buys ETH spin-off Animatico" netzwoche.ch. Retrieved 22 July 2025.
  42. ↑ "What’s Arbrea Labs got to do with the Academy Awards?" Arbrea Labs website. Retrieved 22 July 2025.
  43. ↑ Advisory/Boards. Markus Gross’ Website at CGL. Retrieved 29 July 2025.
  44. ↑ "Eurographics Medal 2024: Markus Gross" Archived 2024-05-02 at the Wayback Machine Website of EUROGRAPHICS. Retrieved 2 May 2025.
  45. ↑ „Karl Heinz Beckurts Prize Winner 2013“ Website of the Karl Heinz Beckurts foundation. Retrieved 18 February 2014.
  46. ↑ IDW online „Computer science for Hollywood: Markus Groß receives Konrad-Zuse-Medal for Achievements in computer sciences„ Website of the Informationsdiesnt Wissenschaft (idw). Retrieved 14 February 2014.
  47. ↑ „2012 Scientific and Technical Awards Official Oscars website. Retrieved 18 February 2014.
  48. ↑ „Oscar-Worthy smoke signals Website of the ETH Life Magazine of ETH Zurich. Retrieved 18 February 2014.
  49. ↑ “EUROGRAPHICS Awards Winner” Archived 2014-06-06 at the Wayback Machine Website of EUROGRAPHICS. Retrieved 18 February 2014.
  50. ↑ "Swiss ICT Champions Award 2011” Archived 2014-05-20 at the Wayback Machine Website of the Swiss ICT Awards. Retrieved 18 February 2014.