“I can still hit a great shot”: At 70, Luiz Velho celebrates his career
“I’m 70 years old, but I’m still going strong and remain ‘still crazy after all these years,’ as my friend Gilberto Câmara [a computer scientist] put it, alluding to the Paul Simon song.” This quote sums up the current situation of IMPA researcher Luiz Velho. At 70, Velho remains enthusiastic about new research possibilities and discoveries, and his career will be honored this Thursday (the 1st) at SIBGRAPI 2026 (Conference on Graphics, Patterns, and Images) in Goiânia.
Founded in 1988 with Velho’s support, SIBGRAPI is now in its 39th edition and brings together researchers from fields such as computer graphics, computer vision, pattern recognition, and image processing. The special presentation honoring the researcher will take place this Thursday (1st) at 10:30 a.m., during a session for the presentation of articles from the journal *Computers & Graphics*.
The initiative comes from Afonso Paiva, a professor at ICMC-USP and a former IMPA student, and Luiz Henrique de Figueiredo, an IMPA researcher and Velho’s partner since the creation of Visgraf. “I was very happy, very surprised as well, and very grateful. And I was even emotionally moved by it. Well, I hope I survive—that my heart survives,” says Velho.
From the Origins to the Development of Computer Vision
Velho earned a bachelor’s degree in Industrial Design from ESDI/UERJ, a master’s degree in Computer Graphics from the MIT Media Lab, a Ph.D. in Computer Science from the University of Toronto, and completed postdoctoral research in Applied Mathematics at IMPA. His academic and professional career has been shaped at the intersection of mathematics, computing, and media, with work in areas such as modeling, rendering, image processing, and animation.
Before devoting himself to research at IMPA, he worked at various research centers and companies. In 1982, he was a visiting researcher at the National Film Board of Canada. Between 1985 and 1987, he worked at Fantastic Animation Machine in New York, where he developed the company’s 3D visualization system. From 1987 to 1991, he was a senior engineer at TV Globo, where he created special effects and visual simulation systems.
His work also extended beyond the boundaries of academic research. In 1979, his work resulted in the first computer-animated film produced in Brazil. He also served as a visiting researcher at New York University, HP Labs, and Microsoft Research China, and was a visiting professor at NYU’s Courant Institute in 2024.
It was also during his time at TV Globo that Velho helped found SIBGRAPI. The conference was established in 1988 and, since then, has become one of the main gathering places for the Brazilian computer graphics community.
The following year, while at IMPA, Velho and researcher Jonas Gomes taught the mini-course “Introduction to Computer Graphics” during the Summer Program. The high demand for the course contributed to the development of a new line of research at the Institute, which would give rise to the group later known as Visgraf (IMPA’s Vision and Computer Graphics Laboratory).
A Vision for Visual Computing
At IMPA, Velho helped develop a concept of Visual Computing that brings together different fields related to the production, processing, and representation of images and mathematical models. “We were one of the first groups in the world to say: look, this is how we need to view this field,” explains Velho.
The proposal brought together computer graphics, image processing, computer vision, modeling, and other media-related fields. For the researcher, the goal was to understand visual computing as a form of applied computational mathematics focused on media.
Over the course of more than three decades, Visgraf has expanded its work in areas such as modeling, visualization, image processing, animation, and multimedia. More recently, the group’s research has also begun to explore machine learning, artificial intelligence, neural media, extended reality, and neural representations.
Velho’s body of work reflects this trajectory. In addition to his extensive output in the form of conferences, books, and courses, the researcher has 92 articles published in journals listed in the Visgraf publication database.
Among the accolades for his work is the recognition he received on the 50th anniversary of the journal “Computers & Graphics.” A bibliometric study published to mark the occasion ranked Velho as the fourth most productive author in the journal’s history. The connection with the journal also extends to Visgraf: since the 1990s, researchers from the lab have published 28 articles in the journal, 23 of which were co-authored by Velho.
Throughout his career, the researcher has also received honors such as the National Order of Scientific Merit and the Honors Prize at the Mondays Compaq Computer Science Awards. In 1999, he became the first researcher from Latin America to serve on the SIGGRAPH Papers Committee and has received numerous awards for best paper and best video at computer graphics conferences.
A laboratory made up of people
While his scientific output helps illustrate the scope of Velho’s career, the training of researchers and the community built up over the decades are an equally important part of his history at IMPA. “What really is the essence of our laboratory, of this research group? It’s the people. It’s a family,” he says.
Over the years, Visgraf has brought together researchers, students, postdocs, collaborators, and visitors who have gone on to pursue different paths after their time at the lab. The community has helped spread research in computer vision across different institutions and generations.
His relationship with IMPA holds a special place in this journey. After joining the Institute, Velho received several offers to pursue a career abroad, but decided to stay. “IMPA is a special place for me because of the people.”
His tenure also allowed him to witness significant changes at the Institute and in mathematics itself. Velho highlights the expansion of applied computational mathematics and sees the current advances in artificial intelligence as a new convergence between mathematics and computing. “I’m very happy about this moment we’re experiencing, which is a time of great transformation in mathematics,” he says.
For the researcher, the expansion of applied computational mathematics and artificial intelligence also opens up new possibilities for IMPA and for the work carried out by Visgraf. “I think IMPA had the right directors at the right time, and they did what needed to be done—what was best. I’m very happy to see that Marcelo Viana is leading this revolution at IMPA. IMPA is making a strong impact on society both nationally and globally. We’re making progress in computational applied mathematics, with artificial intelligence. I’m happy to be helping to drive this forward.”
At age 70, Velho’s career spans different eras of computer graphics, from computer animation and visual effects to current research in artificial intelligence and new media. At the heart of this history lies a community formed over decades, which continues to conduct research, train researchers, and blaze new trails at the intersection of mathematics, computing, and media.