Emeryville in Alameda County, California — The American West (Pacific Coastal)
Development of Computer Graphics and Visualization Techniques, 1965-1978
IEEE Milestone
Photographed by Douglass Halvorsen, July 25, 2025
1. Development of Computer Graphics and Visualization Techniques, 1965-1978 Marker
Erected 2023 by Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.
Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Industry & Commerce • Science & Medicine. In addition, it is included in the IEEE Milestones in Electrical Engineering and Computing series list. A significant historical year for this entry is 1965.
Location. 37° 49.92′ N, 122° 16.953′ W. Marker is in Emeryville, California, in Alameda County. It is on Park Avenue, on the left when traveling east. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 1195 Park Avenue, Emeryville CA
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Regionally, this marker is in California’s San Francisco Bay Area and on the Coast Ranges. It is also on the American Pacific Coast. Globally, it is in North America, on the Ring of Fire, in the Pacific Rim, in the Western Hemisphere, in the Western World, and in the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once New Spain and also Mexicos Alta California.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: The Development of RenderMan for Photorealistic Graphics, 1981-1988 (here, next to this marker); Oakland Ball Park (within shouting distance of this marker); Key Route Terminal (approx. Ό mile away); Moving Shoreline (approx. 0.4 miles away); Xučyun Park (Huchiun Park) (approx. 0.4 miles away); PCR Park (approx. 0.4 miles away); Sherwin-Williams (approx. 0.4 miles away); Welcome to the Emeryville Greenway (approx. 0.4 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Emeryville.
More about this marker. The marker is located at the entrance to Pixar Studios. The campus is closed to the general
Photographed by Douglass Halvorsen, July 25, 2025
2. Development of Computer Graphics and Visualization Techniques, 1965-1978 Marker
Also see . . .
1. How the Computer Graphics Industry Got Started at the University of Utah.
Most modern animators rely on computer graphics and visualization techniques to create popular movies and TV shows like Finding Dory, Toy Story, and Paw Patrol. In the 1960s and 70s, computer science pioneers David Evans and IEEE Life Member Ivan E. Sutherland led the development of many of the technologies animators now use. Their groundbreaking research, conducted at the University of Utah, in Salt Lake City, and at their company, Evans and Sutherland, helped jump-start the computer graphics industry.(Submitted on September 13, 2025, by Douglass Halvorsen of Klamath Falls, Oregon.)
2. Milestones:Development of Computer Graphics and Visualization Techniques, 1965-1978.
Both faculty and alumni at the Univ. of Utah developed techniques that have proved to be fundamental to the maturation of computer graphics technology, with great assistance from ARPA (later DARPA) funding; ARPA funding is cited on the title pages of the PhD dissertations of at least Catmull, Fuchs, Gouraud, Phong, and Warnock(Submitted on September 13, 2025, by Douglass Halvorsen of Klamath Falls, Oregon.)
The novel accomplishments have been recognized in numerous patents, described in doctoral dissertations and seminal papers, and awarded distinguished prizes including the IEEE John von Newman Medal (alumnus Dr. Edwin Catmull and faculty Dr. Ivan Sutherland), the ACM Turing Award (alumni Drs. Edwin Catmull and Alan Kay, and faculty Dr. Ivan Sutherland), and the Kyoto Prize (alumnus Dr. Alan Kay and faculty Dr. Ivan Sutherland)
Several important companies were formed by both faculty and alumni which helped to create new industries, including Evans & Sutherland Computer Corp. (created by faculty members Evans and Sutherland in 1968, and whose hardware was used by Utah faculty, students, and alumni), Pixar (Dr. Edwin Catmull in 1986), Adobe (Dr. John Warnock in 1982), Atari (EE Bachelors grad Nolan Bushnell in 1972), and Silicon Graphics (1982) and Netscape (1994) (both by Dr. James Clark)
Credits. This page was last revised on September 14, 2025. It was originally submitted on September 13, 2025, by Douglass Halvorsen of Klamath Falls, Oregon. This page has been viewed 94 times since then and 32 times this year. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on September 13, 2025, by Douglass Halvorsen of Klamath Falls, Oregon. • Andrew Ruppenstein was the editor who published this page.
