Kathryn Saunders

Candidate for Director of Communications

As a media developer, artist, architect, educator and administrator, I am drawn to the multi-faceted nature of ACM SIGGRAPH, the way it merges art, science and technology,  and its celebration of excellence and innovation in computer graphics and interactive techniques. I am passionate about this organization and believe it provides an invaluable service to the computer graphics community.

Over the last ten years, I have volunteered and actively participated in a wide range of SIGGRAPH-related activities from Conference Chair to sitting on the ACM SIGGRAPH Advisory Board.  I believe the combination of my ACM SIGGRAPH experience, professional experience, and my strong passion for the computer graphics industry will allow me to add value to the role of  Director of Communications.

As the ACM SIGGRAPH Director of Communications, I will strive to support, improve and perfect initiatives that foster excellence, celebrate innovation, support volunteerism and increase overall communications with the community that gathers around SIGGRAPH .

I propose to do this by:

• increasing the feedback loop for both current and lapsed members through various means including surveys, focus groups and communications with Chapters.
• determining current membership needs across demographic, regional, global and professional sectors
• use the feedback to increase the value of a SIGGRAPH membership, in order to increase membership
• charting the success of key initiatives, championing those which are a clear success and restructuring those that are not deemed successful.
• developing strategic alliances to benefit SIGGRAPH membership, leveraging our numbers and global reach.
• communicating the value of ACM SIGGRAPH  and what it can accomplish both globally and locally across many sectors
• fostering cross-disciplinary interaction and networking
• celebrating  artistic and scientific innovation through strategic communications with the media.
• and finally…fostering volunteerism and recognizing members for their support.

I am proud to be a member of ACM SIGGRAPH and I value the sense of community it provides.  I look forward to the opportunity and the challenge that lies ahead in serving you as the ACM SIGGRAPH Director of Communications, and I thank you for your consideration.

BIOGRAPHY:

Kathryn Saunders is the Creative Director of Kathryn Saunders Design Inc. a multidisciplinary practice concentrating on multimedia and exhibition design. She received her professional degree in Architecture from the University of Waterloo, and has taught Architectural Design at the University of Toronto, the University of Waterloo, and the University of Waterloo Rome Program. Recently, she coordinated and developed the curriculum for two new post-grad programs at George Brown College: Game Design and Advanced Digital Design.

Kathryn was the Emerging Technologies Chair for SIGGRAPH 99 in Los Angeles, the SIGGRAPH Panels Chair in 2001, and committee member of the ICSID /SIGCHI 2004 Forum in Vienna. She has sat on many juries and boards, including the SIGGRAPH 2005 Art Gallery Jury and the 2005 SIGGRAPH Panels Jury and is currently on the Executive Advisory Board for ACM SIGGRAPH.  In addition, she was the Executive Director of the Digital Media Institute, an inter-institutional and interdisciplinary initiative in Toronto.

Installations and exhibitory work remain Kathryn’s main focus and vehicle for artistic exploration.  Over the years Kathryn has collaborated with industry, artists, scientists and musicians to design a number of media installations including the interactive Metamorph, an intelligent flying robotic creature and the Wave, a 60 foot interactive wave using tiny tracking devices and OZ, an interactive optical illusion using spherical mirrors, projectors and microphones.  Kathryn is currently collaborating with scientist David Wishart to develop: Inhabitable Skins:  an investigation of the architectural possibilities of bio-nanotechnology.  During the 90s, Kathryn was the Creative Director of digital media at the Royal Ontario Museum, where she headed up a department that developed exhibits for permanent galleries and “mixed reality” digital exhibitions based on storytelling. She has just recently just completed all the exhibits for a new art and technology museum outside Toronto.

Professional Experience

• 2001 – 2006:  Kathryn Saunders Design Inc.  (Exhibit Design and Media)
• 1994-2000:  Creative Director, Digital Media, Royal Ontario Museum
• 2000 – 2001:  Executive Director,  Digital Media Institute  ( an interinstitutional interdisciplinary media lab)
• 2004 –2005:  Executive Director,  InterAccess ( Interactive Media Art Gallery and training facility)
• 2004-2006: Program Developer and Coordinator:  Game Design, Advanced Digital Design, SCHOOLOFDESIGN, George Brown College
• 2003 – 2006:  Professor, SCHOOLOFDESIGN, (Graphic Design, Design Research, Professional Practice, Game Programming, Exhibit Design, Interactive Design)
• 1988- 2006:  Professor and Lecturer, University of Waterloo, School of Architecture
• 1991-94:  Professor, University of Toronto, School of Architecture

ACM or SIGGRAPH Activities

• 1999 - ACM SIGGRAPH Chair, Emerging Technologies
• 1998 – Emerging Technologies Jury
• 2000 – Panels Jury
• 2001 – SIGGRAPH Conference Panels Committee and Special Sessions Chair
• 2002 – SIGGRAPH Strategic Planning Meeting
• 2005 – Art Gallery Jury and Committee Member.
• 2005 – Panels Committee and Jury
• 2005 –SIGCHI / ICSID Forum, Committee Member, Vienna
• 2005-6 – SIGGRAPH Executive Advisory Committee
• 2004-6 – Arts Portal Committee