Grandfather of Blobjects to Receive Lifetime Achievement Award

The CAD Society has named Ken Versprille, Ph.D., as the winner of its 2005 Lifetime Achievement Award. I note this because he can rightfully be consider the "grandfather" of Blobjects, as described in my blog last month.

Versprille is the first computer scientist or mathematician to describe and formalize what we now call NURBS--Non-Uniform Rational B-Splines (splines being a form of curves). Without this fundamental advancement, most 3D design software today would still be using less-precise or less compact methods to define three-dimensional surfaces of irregular shape.