He is also the director of the NYU Center of Advanced Technology, sponsored by the New York State Science and Technology Foundation. He received his Ph.D. in Computer Science at the Courant Institute and his B.A. in Theoretical Mathematics at Harvard University. In 1991 he was a recipient of a Presidential Young Investigator Award. In 1997 he received a Technical Achievement Award 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.