Two time Academy Award Winner
Dr Mark Sagar is the director of The Laboratory for Animate Technologies based at the Auckland Bioengineering Institute, University of Auckland.
Academy Award winner Dr Sagar specialises in bringing computer generated faces to life. He has developed technologies for interactive applications and for feature films. Films such as Avatar, King Kong and Spiderman 2. It is these applications that have seen him win two consecutive Scientific & Engineering Academy Awards.
The former medical researcher started his career building computer simulations of the human eye for virtual surgery. He has a Bachelor of Science and a PhD in Engineering from The University of Auckland.
Dr Sagar’s postgraduate research involved a landmark study in how to develop an anatomically correct virtual eye and realistic models of biomechanically simulated anatomy. It was one of the first examples of how lifelike human features could be created on a screen by combining computer graphics with mathematics and human physiology.
After moving to Los Angeles he became the Co-Director of Research and Development at Pacific Title/Mirage and then LifeFX Inc. and was the Special Projects Supervisor at Sony Pictures Imageworks before returning to New Zealand where he spent 7 years as Special Projects Supervisor at Weta Digital before leaving to start his new venture last year.
Dr Sagar is a recipient of the University of Auckland’s 2012 Distinguished Alumni Award.
