SMA Young Investigator AwardSMA Young Investigator Award 2019

Michael Barton finished his PhD work little over ten years ago. Since then he has worked in collaboration with scientists at Linz, Austria, at Technion, Israel, and KAUST, Saudi Arabia, and he is now a full-time researcher in BCAM, Spain. Michael has a large track record of publications in a variety of geometric areas, including new results on spline based multivariate solvers, such as quadratic clipping, no-root elimination by blending, and the handling of univariate solution spaces. Dr Barton also examined the use of multivariate solvers in related questions, such as Kinematics and Hausdorff distance computations between polygonal meshes. In recent years, he has investigated questions related to multi-axis CNC machining, including precise tool orientation computations in 5-axis machining with the goal of improving the surface finish by optimally aligning the tool and its motion with the target surface geometry. He contributed several novel algorithms to flank CNC machining with custom shaped tools, in particular with cones. His work on CNC machining has already received strong interest in the engineering community and has earned him the prestigious Ramon & Cajal grant to build his own research group at BCAM. Dr Barton is a contributing young member to the SPM community and hosted SPM in 2018 in Bilbao. Dr. Barton is also on the program committee of SPM for several years now and he is on the editorial boards of CAD and GMOD.