The IEEE Visualization and Graphics Technical Community (IEEE VGTC) has named Hans-Christian Hege as recipient of the 2024 Lifetime Achievement Award “for a lifetime of fundamental technical contributions to visualization and visualization software with a focus on applications in the natural sciences, medicine and engineering”.

Hege accepted the award at the IEEE VIS 2024 conference in Tampa, USA, which was converted to an all-virtual conference at the last minute (due to hurricane danger).

“This award means a lot to me because the IEEE VIS Conference is the highest rated venue for visualization research,” Hege said. “In 1996, I submitted the first paper to the conference with Detlev Stalling and Malte Zöckler, and we won the Best Paper Award right away. From then on, I attended the conference whenever possible. In 2018, the second time this conference was held outside the US, I hosted it in Berlin as general co-chair. The conference now takes place alternately on all continents.

To be recognized for the work of an entire professional life is significant and very gratifying. And to join the list of previous recipients of this award is a true honor. I am deeply grateful to all my students and fellow researchers who have contributed to our joint projects, as well as to the ZIB, which has supported this work for more than 30 years.”

This recognition is the second major career award Hege has received; in 2016 he was named an Eurographics Fellow.

The VGTC, a subcommittee of the IEEE Technical Activities Board, provides leadership and organization in visualization, community graphics, virtual and augmented reality, and interaction. It supports the conferences IEEE VIS, EG / IEEE EuroVis, IEEE PacificVis, IEEE LDAV, bioVIS, IEEE VR and IEEE ISMAR.