Ken Perlin is a professor in the Department of Computer Science at New York University, He was founding director of the Media Research Laboratory and also directed the NYU Center for Advanced Technology from 1994-2004. His research interests include graphics, animation, user interfaces, science education and multimedia. In January 2004 he was the featured artist at the Whitney Museum of American Art. In 2002 he received the NYC Mayor's award for excellence in Science and Technology and the Sokol award for outstanding Science faculty at NYU. In 1997 he won an Academy Award for Technical Achievement from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for his noise and turbulence procedural texturing techniques, which are widely used in feature films and television. In 1991 he received a Presidential Young Investigator Award from the National Science Foundation.
Dr. Perlin received his Ph.D. in Computer Science from New York University in 1986, and a B.A. in theoretical mathematics from Harvard University in 1979. He was Head of Software Development at R/GREENBERG Associates in New York, NY from 1984 through 1987. Prior to that, from 1979 to 1984, he was the System Architect for computer generated animation at Mathematical Applications Group, Inc., Elmsford, NY, where the first feature film he worked on was TRON. He has served on the Board of Directors of the New York chapter of ACM/SIGGRAPH, and currently serves on the Board of Directors of the New York Software Industry Association.

The interview was done in person, and Ken was extremeley interesting, and said much more than was captured here, so I attempted to summarize the answers:

Peter: The description: The Web as a Procedural Sketch Book was very limited, but it inspired me to look further. I found your website, and it was very interesting.
Ken:

My web site is not really my work, it is how I play. I like to show people my cool stuff. Some of them are a work in progress, and others are more refined. I don't want to keep it to myself, I want to share it. Kids all around the world play on my web site, and I love that.

Peter: Which ones of the many example applets, are the type that people will be able to do after taking your course?
Ken:

I have been doing this stuff for decades, so someone shouldn't expect to go home and be able to do everything I have done. I am going to show many of them, so people will get the general idea, then go into the process of creating one during the class. Using the libraries, and creating something together, so people will get an idea of how to do it themselves.

Peter: Do I have to be a genius to be able to do it ?
Ken:

I firmly believe that anyone at SIGGRAPH could do it. It isn't that you have to be a genius, it just has to be something you really want to do. I learned how to play the guitar, and at first I wasn't very good at all, but I kept on trying, and did it every day, and now some people think I am good. I think it is more to do with being a fanatic, and keep on trying, and not giving up, you keep on getting better and better.

Peter: Are there tools that help create the 3D models, or is everything programmed in java ?
Ken:

Yes, there are modeling tools, but I don't really use them. I will show people how to write programs to do it. It is more about getting the ideas clear in your head first, then coding it, and iterating until what is in your head is on the screen. There are tools that can help with parts of it, but it is doesn't help if it isn't in your head first.

Peter: If I wanted to use this technique at work, will I be permitted to ?
Ken:

If it is for demonstration purposes, documentation, or presentation of ideas then it can be used freely. If it is being sold, then no, talk to me because the lab could use some extra funding.

Peter: I would really like to attend the course, and write about it afterwards :-)