Dinesh K. Pai is a Professor of Computer Science at UBC. He also founded Vital Mechanics - a startup developing VitalFit high-fidelity soft avatar technology for apparel fit testing; VitalFit won the 2021 IEEE/3DRC Retail Digital Transformation Grand Challenge for industry.
His current research is focused on data-driven digital human models, frictional contact between soft objects, machine learning for design, and technology for efficient measurement of material properties. His research is multidisciplinary, spanning computer graphics, scientific computing, computational mechanics, artificial intelligence, robotics, biomechanics, and neuroscience.
He has received many prestigious recognitions, including a Tier 1 Canada Research Chair, the 2020 CHCCS Achievement Award for Computer Graphics, UBC's Killam Research Prize, three NSERC Discovery Accelerator/Supplement Awards, and an international Human Frontier Science Program grant. A dozen of his trainees are now faculty at leading institutions. Dr. Pai has been a Professor at Rutgers University and has held visiting professorships at Carnegie Mellon University's Robotics Institute, New York University's Center for Neural Science, the University of Siena (as Santa Chiara Chair in Cognitive Science), and the Collège de France, Paris (elected Professeur Invité). He received his Ph.D. from Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, and his B.Tech. degree from the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras. See https://sensorimotor.cs.ubc.ca/pai/ for more information.