In 2026, the Solid Modeling Association (SMA) has established this award to honor Elaine Cohen and Richard Riesenfeld for their lifetime contributions to the field. The Cohen-Riesenfeld Young Investigator Award recognizes outstanding accomplishments, particularly outstanding published papers in the area of Solid Modeling, by researchers of 40 years or younger. That is, eligibility requires that the nominee does not turn 41 in the year the award is presented. The Maxwell/Hanrahan Foundation has funded this award in perpetuity through a generous contribution. The awardee receives a stipend of approximately $2,500.
Elaine Cohen and Richard Riesenfeld
In 1973 Riesenfeld’s PhD dissertation introduced B-splines as a powerful representation and design technique for geometric modeling and CAD/CAM. In 1974 with Cohen’s support, Riesenfeld and Barnhill organized the first International Conference on Computer Aided Geometric Design (Proceedings: Academic Press, 1974) to bring together for the first time many international pioneers in disparate areas, many of whom had never met.
Published in 1979, the now eponymous Lane-Riesenfeld Algorithm for subdivision of Bézier surfaces and refinement of uniform B-spline surfaces has become classic. Using the powerful discrete spline theory, Cohen, Lyche and Riesenfeld followed this result in 1980, with the seminal Oslo Algorithm, a general method for simultaneously refining nonuniform B-splines with multiple new knots. This capability had practical impact on the adoption of B-splines as today’s de facto representation standard in nearly all major CAD/CAM systems.
Since their collaboration on the Oslo Algorithm, Cohen and Riesenfeld maintained a close research partnership lasting more than 40 years and resulting in numerous important results, nearly all involving B-spline technology. Following the Oslo Algorithm, they initiated the Alpha_1 Project to develop a coherent experimental testbed for B-spline based research in geometry. Many outstanding graduate students trained in this unique modeling environment. Alpha_1 was the first system to use B-splines as the exclusive geometric representation for shape.
Typically producing theoretical results motivated by practical problems, Cohen and Riesenfeld have contributed several seminal papers in CAGD, including important works in box splines, cone splines, and simplex splines. Their work found applications in fields including approximation theory, CAD/CAM, computer graphics, and human computer interaction.
Additionally, they were co-authors (with Elber) of a textbook on advanced B-spline methods in CAGD, and they co-founded a successful technology start-up company.
Over decades of making important research contributions and teaching, their sustained leadership and vision has left their names inseparable from the field of freeform geometric modeling.
Former Awardees
In the period 2019–2025, the award was called the Young Investigator Award. The list of former awardees is given below:
- 2025: Changjian Li
- 2024: Xiaoming Fu
- 2022: Tsz Ho Kwok
- 2021: Jun Wu
- 2020: Xin Li
- 2019: Michael Barton
2027 Cohen-Riesenfeld Young Investigator Award: Nominations are due by April 30, 2027
Nomination Form and Timeline:
To nominate a candidate for the Cohen-Riesenfeld Young Investigator Award, please download and complete the nomination form below. Please rename the completed form using the nominee’s name, for example: “Cohen-Riesenfeld-YIA-Nomination-Form_John_Smith.pdf”.
Please send the completed nomination form by e-mail to the Cohen-Riesenfeld YIA Award Committee Chair, Xin Li (xinli@tamu.edu), and copy the SMA Executive Committee Chair, Michael Bartoň (mbarton@bcamath.org). The e-mail should be sent from the e-mail account of the nominator. For the e-mail subject line, please use “Cohen-Riesenfeld YIA Nomination”.
- Download nomination form (PDF), complete, and send via e-mail.
- The information on this webpage can be downloaded here (PDF).
Each nominator may nominate only one candidate for this award. Self-nominations are not accepted. Current SMA Executive Committee members are not eligible to nominate candidates or to be nominated for SMA awards.
Each year, the nomination deadline and the contact information for the Chair(s) of the SMA Awards Committee will be announced by e-mail to SMA members and posted on the SMA website.
Selection Process and Announcement:
Each year, the recipient is selected from the submitted nominations by a vote of the Cohen-Riesenfeld YIA Award Committee. The committee chair is appointed by the SMA Executive Committee, and the chair then selects the committee members. The details of the nomination and voting process are left to the discretion of the committee chair.
The recipient is announced at the SPM conference and posted on the SMA website. After the selection is finalized, the award recipient will be asked to provide a short biography, suggested announcement text, and a photo for posting on the SMA awards webpage.