When Ron Fedkiw, now an associate professor of computer science at Stanford University enrolled as a freshman I’m sure that he never listed winning an Oscar on his list of academic goals.
You’ve probably never heard of Fedkiw, but if you’ve seen the roaring oceans waves crashing around Johnny Depp in the “Pirates of the Caribbean” movies or the splattering lava flows in the final duel in “Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith,” you’ve enjoyed his handiwork.
From his time as a graduate student at UCLA, Fedkiw has conducted cutting-edge research into computational physics, a field that uses computers to simulate physical phenomena. These complex models and simulations are highly valued because they allow researchers to observe theoretical events or to predict how objects might behave under certain conditions.
Video of his work can be found here and a short bio of work is listed at wikipedia.
Title needs changing to Oscar from Grammy.
Good catch. Thanks.