Elaine Cohen
Elaine Cohen is a professor of computer science at the University of Utah. She is co-head of the Geometric Design and Computation Project and co-author of Geometric Modeling with Splines: An Introduction (A. K. Peters, 2001). Dr. Cohen has focused her research in computer graphics, geometric modeling, and manufacturing, with emphasis on complex sculptured models represented using NURBS (Non-Uniform Rational B-splines) and NURBS-features. Results in manufacturing research have been focused on automating process planning, automatic toolpath generation for models having many surfaces, optimizing both within and across manufacturing
stages and fixture automation. She has also been working on issues related to telepresence and design collaborations in virtual environments. Recent research has produced algorithms for determining both visibility and accessibility of one object by another. Computation of such information is necessary for manufacturing, assembly planning, graphics, and virtual environments. Research in haptics has been focused on developing new approaches to solving geometric computations such as fast and accurate contact and tracking algorithms for sculptured models and while research in haptics systems has focused on realistic force feedback in distributed haptic systems for complex mechanical models. Dr. Cohen was the 2001 recipient of the University of Utah Distinguished Research Award and is a member of the Computer Science and Telecommunications Board of the National Academies.