Pixar Research has a long history of technological innovation and pioneering work in computer graphics and animated films. Our world-class research scientists help the artists at Pixar create the worlds and characters loved by people throughout the world.

Our research focuses on pushing the frontiers in areas including machine learning, rendering, simuation, geometry processing and many others.

Pixar Research 2024

Andrew Butts

Andrew joined Pixar as an intern in 2004 and has spent most of his time working on the Presto Animation System, adding high-performance implementations of bleeding-edge techniques for character animation, rigging, simulation, and grooming. He earned a BA in Math and in Computer Science from Cornell University, where he TA'd for Kavita Bala and Steve Marschner and held the key to the storage closet where the original Cornell Boxes were kept.

Kurt Fleischer

Kurt Fleischer is currently a Senior Scientist in the Research Group at Pixar. Kurt got his start in Computer Graphics at Brown University, studying with Professor Andy van Dam, and later received an M.S. from Stanford and a Ph.D. from Caltech working with Professor Alan Barr.

In the 1980s, when Computer Graphics was young, Kurt worked at the Schlumberger Palo Alto Research Lab and was part of the team that pioneered early work in constraint-based systems and CG cloth.

A member of Pixar since 1995, Kurt has alternated between building software and working directly on the films as a TD, most recently with stints on Cars and WALL-E. He contributed significantly to Pixar's lighting and animation tools, and has recently worked on inverse kinematics, non-photorealistic rendering, and novel UI. He cherishes recognition he received at Pixar as a "Tools Superhero" for his early work on the Pixar animation system used to create A Bug's Life, Monsters, Inc., etc.

When he's not at work, Kurt enjoys mentoring kids who want to make things. He and his kids are enthusiastic participants in Maker programs (piedmontmakers.org).

Research interests: Anything that makes it easier to make our films, currently looking at sketch-based interfaces so artists can stay focused on the art, not the technology.

Fernando De Goes

Fernando de Goes is a principal research scientist at Pixar Animation Studios. His research centers on numerical methods for geometry processing and computational physics. He received a PhD degree in computer science from Caltech in 2014 supported by a Google PhD Fellowship. Before Caltech, he attended Unicamp (Brazil) where he earned an engineering degree in 2006 and a master degree in 2009.

Mark Meyer

Mark Meyer is Director of the Research Group at Pixar Animation Studios. He received his BS in Computer Science and Computer Engineering from Northwestern University and his Ph.D. from Caltech. Before joining Pixar in 2003, Mark worked on virtual reality and simulation at Argonne National Laboratory and instructed Computer Graphics courses in the Computer Science department at Caltech. His research spans topics including geometry processing, character articulation, rendering acceleration, physical simulation and machine learning.

Nora Willet

Nora is a Research Scientist at Pixar Animation Studios. She received her PhD from Princeton University in 2019 and was advised by Adam Finkelstein. She earned a bachelor's degree from Stanford University (2012) where she worked with Pat Hanrahan, Vladlen Koltun and Marc Levoy. She has interned at Autodesk Research, Adobe Research, and Nvidia. Before starting her PhD, she was an animation TD at DreamWorks.

Her research explores methods to incorporate 2D stylized elements into the final look of a film. She is also interested in ways to make animation more accessible through novel interfaces and algorithms.

Shilin Zhu

Shilin Zhu is a Research Scientist at Pixar Animation Studios. He received his PhD from University of California San Diego in 2021, focusing on vision and graphics research. Before joining Pixar in 2022, Shilin worked on visual effects rendering for Weta FX and interactive systems design for Disneyland and Walt Disney World.

At Pixar, he spends most of his time working with pixels and making them look perfect, especially for volumetric scenes. Contributing innovative rendering and image technology for storytelling is his way to create magic for all.