A lecturer at Trinity College Dublin has won an Oscar for helping to develop software which has been used to enhance visual effects in a host of high-profile Hollywood feature films.
Dr Anil Kokaram, a lecturer at the Department of Electronic and Electrical Engineering, worked with UK-based software developer the Foundry to help develop the software which has been used in films such as Casino Royale, X-Men, The Last Stand, The Da Vinci Codeand Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.
The specialist software allows film makers to perform tasks which were previously very difficult to carry out at a post-production stage unless manual editing was used.
Commenting ahead of the ceremony, Dr Kokaram stated: "I am delighted to have won this award, especially given the stringent examination process employed by the Academy in selecting the winners. It involved six months of deliberation and assessment by two panels made up of both academics and members of the film industry."
The software enables the creation of unique special effects with the aid of a process known as image estimation and performs film enhancement tasks previously done by hand - such as removing blotches or creating new frames in an image sequence.
Dr Kokaram will collect his Oscar at an Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Science ceremony in Los Angeles this weekend along with three members of the Foundry software development team.
The Scientific and Technical Awards ceremony takes place on Saturday, February 10th, a fortnight ahead of the acting awards on February 25th next.