College of Charleston alumnus and 2008 Academy Award winner Nafees Bin Zafar ’98 will return to lecture on campus and inspire both current and future students. The lecture will take place on October 15 at 5:00 p.m. in Physicians Auditorium (near the corner of Glebe and George Streets) on the College of Charleston campus. The event is free and open to the public.
Nafees, a visual effects engineer with Digital Domain in Venice, California, will speak about the connection between computational thinking and the creative arts, a new way to solve problems and produce creative works. Nafees, a computer science major, now uses mathematical algorithms to create images of immense floods and other amazing visuals on the big screen.
He has a unique perspective on this topic as a Scientific and Engineering Academy Award winner in recognition of his special effects work on many films, including “Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End;” “The Day After Tomorrow;” “Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring;” and “Flags of Our Fathers.”
“It is the hope of the Department of Computer Science that he will inspire others,” said Chris Starr, chair of the department. “This will be one of the first venues for students in the arts and computing to
rub elbows and discover the creative opportunities available to them. Students will be best educated and prepared for a creative career if they can think computationally (to solve problems and produce creative
works) and to live artistically (participate in design and esthetics).”
This talk, which is free and open to the public, is part of the Computing Outreach Lecture Series sponsored by the College of Charleston’s Department of Computer Science and the student chapter of
the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM). Nafees’ appearance is also made possible by PMI Charleston and PM One (www.pmone.net), two firms that are advancing the effectiveness of project management in the Lowcountry.
Read the article on Nafees in the College of Charleston magazine.
For additional information on the lecture or Nafees Bin Zafar, contact the Department of Computer Science via phone 843.953.6905 or e-mail csdept@cs.cofc.edu.
