Derek Nowrouzezahrai
Full Professor
Full Professor
Former Canada Research Chair
Former NSERC CRC
Electrical & Computer Engineering
Primary Appointment
Desautels Management
Associate Member
Computer Science
Associate Member
Centre for Intelligent Machines
Director
Québec AI Institute (Mila)
Core Academic Member
McConnell Eng. Building
3480 University Street
Montreal, QC — Canada H3A 0E9
3480 University Street
Montreal, QC — Canada H3A 0E9
Research Themes
Editing Physically-based Light Transport
Can we devise intuitive controls to edit physically-based lighting in synthetic images?
Editing Complex Fluid Simulations
How do digital artists author turbulent fluid simulations? Can we design tools to help them?
Manufacturing Passive Optics & Probes
Can combining computation with 3D fabrication allow us to warp & capture light in the real world?
Research Group
Post-DocPh.D.M.Sc.B.Sc./Intern
Current Team — Ph.D.: 10 + M.Sc.: 4 + B.Sc./Intern: 8 = 22 total
Ph.D. Nicolas Vibert
Ph.D. Mattie Tesfaldet
Ph.D. Daniel Bairamian
Ph.D. Daniel Kong
Ph.D. Yuanyuan Tao
Ph.D. Somjit Nath
Ph.D. Yasaman Ziarani
Ph.D. Hossam Saeed
Ph.D. Liu Zhenyuan
Ph.D. Chenbo Jiang
M.Sc. Joey Marten
M.Sc. Junha Yoo
M.Sc. Terry Chen
M.Sc. Myriam Beauvais
B.Sc./Intern Maxwell Fang
B.Sc./Intern Debopriyo Saha
B.Sc./Intern Alexandre Hafemeister
B.Sc./Intern Ahmad Aslam
B.Sc./Intern Robert Liu
B.Sc./Intern Hong Yi Meng
B.Sc./Intern Kalvin Khuu
B.Sc./Intern Matthew Litwiller
Graduated — Post-Doc: 12 + Ph.D.: 11 + M.Sc.: 42 + B.Sc./Intern: 79 = 144 total (hover or tap names for more details)
M.Sc. Jithendaraa S. 2026
M.Sc. Ken M. 2026
M.Sc. Philippe S. 2026
M.Sc. Chris E. 2026
Ph.D. Joey L. 2025
Post-Doc Jordan B. 2024
Post-Doc Hisanari O. 2024
Ph.D. Sayantan D. 2024
Post-Doc Florian G. 2024
Post-Doc Marc-Antoine B. 2024
Ph.D. Paul B. 2024
Ph.D. Damien R.-L. 2023
M.Sc. Tooba R. 2024
B.Sc./Intern Brendan M. 2022
M.Sc. Yuanyuan T. 2023
M.Sc. Yuhongze Z. 2023
M.Sc. Daniel K. 2023
M.Sc. Ziyu L. 2023
M.Sc. Alexandre S.-V. 2023
Ph.D. Loren L. 2023
M.Sc. Lancer G. 2023
Post-Doc Banafsheh A. 2023
Post-Doc Jimin R. 2022
M.Sc. Uzair A. 2022
M.Sc. Vanessa C. 2022
M.Sc. Gaspard N. 2022
B.Sc./Intern Michael G. 2022
Ph.D. Yangyang Z. 2021
B.Sc./Intern Ragheed Q. 2022
B.Sc./Intern Brad M. 2022
B.Sc./Intern Brendan M. 2022
B.Sc./Intern Sami H. 2022
M.Sc. Daniel B. 2021
M.Sc. Jack M. 2021
Post-Doc Adrien G. 2021
Post-Doc Issam L. 2021
Ph.D. Adrien D. 2021
Ph.D. Jean-Philippe G. 2021
M.Sc. Peter Q. 2021
M.Sc. Jérôme P.-L. 2021
B.Sc./Intern Alexis F. 2021
B.Sc./Intern Maxime C. 2021
B.Sc./Intern Alexa N. 2021
B.Sc./Intern Oliver J. 2021
B.Sc./Intern Siyu C. 2021
B.Sc./Intern Xinhong D. 2021
B.Sc./Intern Wanqing F. 2021
B.Sc./Intern Zheyu L. 2021
B.Sc./Intern Xuemeng S. 2021
B.Sc./Intern Weixin W. 2021
B.Sc./Intern Huang Y. 2021
B.Sc./Intern Yuanyuan T. 2021
B.Sc./Intern Mia Z. 2021
B.Sc./Intern Sophie D. 2021
B.Sc./Intern Ai D. 2021
B.Sc./Intern Sun B. 2021
Ph.D. Luis G. 2020
B.Sc./Intern Adithya L. 2020
B.Sc./Intern Daniel B. 2019
B.Sc./Intern Hassan H. 2019
B.Sc./Intern Christos P. 2020
B.Sc./Intern Otman B. 2020
B.Sc./Intern Kiren R. 2020
B.Sc./Intern Alexandre T. 2020
B.Sc./Intern Caelan M. 2020
B.Sc./Intern Chelsea M. 2020
B.Sc./Intern Saima H. 2020
Ph.D. Chakravarty C. 2019
M.Sc. Tianlun Z. 2019
B.Sc./Intern Jack M. 2019
B.Sc./Intern Peter Q. 2019
B.Sc./Intern Elie H. 2019
B.Sc./Intern Dongwen W. 2019
Ph.D. Olivier M. 2018
M.Sc. Joey L. 2018
M.Sc. Keven V. 2018
M.Sc. Yue W. 2018
M.Sc. Sayantan D. 2018
M.Sc. Fan M. 2018
B.Sc./Intern Jérôme P.-L. 2018
B.Sc./Intern Guillaume R. 2018
B.Sc./Intern Zhuonan W. 2018
B.Sc./Intern Tooba R. 2018
B.Sc./Intern Rebecca X. 2018
B.Sc./Intern Yaqing X. 2018
B.Sc./Intern Daniel B. 2018
B.Sc./Intern Isaac S. 2018
B.Sc./Intern Isaac C. 2018
B.Sc./Intern Léa A. 2018
B.Sc./Intern Joseph P. 2018
B.Sc./Intern Kiren R. 2018
B.Sc./Intern Hassan H. 2018
B.Sc./Intern Catherine G. 2018
Post-Doc Fahim M. 2017
M.Sc. Joêl P.-P. 2017
M.Sc. Cihan O. 2017
B.Sc./Intern Mei Q. 2017
B.Sc./Intern Loïs P. 2017
B.Sc./Intern Monica P. 2017
B.Sc./Intern Han Y. 2017
B.Sc./Intern Ian B. 2017
B.Sc./Intern Luis Z. 2017
B.Sc./Intern Simon R. 2017
B.Sc./Intern Samantha P. 2017
B.Sc./Intern Saul Z. 2017
B.Sc./Intern Oyku C. 2017
B.Sc./Intern Can R. 2017
B.Sc./Intern Niloofar K. 2017
B.Sc./Intern Manon B. 2017
B.Sc./Intern Zhi P. 2017
M.Sc. Cynthia B. 2016
M.Sc. Nicolas V. 2016
Post-Doc Laurent B. 2016
M.Sc. David M. 2016
M.Sc. Aude G. 2015
Post-Doc Mahdi B. 2014
Post-Doc Guofu X. 2014
M.Sc. Adrien D. 2014
M.Sc. Jean-Philippe G. 2014
M.Sc. Yangyang Z. 2014
B.Sc./Intern Julien D. 2013
B.Sc./Intern Damien B. 2013
B.Sc./Intern Frédéric M. 2013
B.Sc./Intern Julien T. 2013
B.Sc./Intern Félix T. 2013
B.Sc./Intern Yannick J. 2013
B.Sc./Intern Chakravarty C. 2013
B.Sc./Intern David M. 2012
B.Sc./Intern Cynthia B. 2012
B.Sc./Intern Yangyang Z. 2012
M.Sc. Michael M. 2012
M.Sc. Thomas H. 2012
M.Sc. Thomas S. 2012
M.Sc. Marina S. 2012
B.Sc./Intern Thorsten S. 2012
M.Sc. Benjamin M. 2011
M.Sc. Philipp K. 2011
M.Sc. Philipp S. 2011
B.Sc./Intern Jan N. 2011
B.Sc./Intern Rahul M. 2011
M.Sc. Silvan T. 2011
M.Sc. Stefan G. 2011
B.Sc./Intern Adrian B. 2011
B.Sc./Intern Sebastien M. 2011
Teaching
Current Courses (ECSE)
Previous Courses
Publications
2026 (3)
2025 (6)
Hierarchical Differentiable Fluid Simulation
Behavioral Suite Analysis of Self-Supervised Learning in Atari
2024 (10)
Task-Oriented Slot-Based Cumulant Discovery in General Value Functions
Inferring cellular contractile forces and work using deep morphology traction microscopy
2023 to 2005 (176)
2023 (9)
Scaling neural representations for multi-view reconstruction of scenes
Cone-traced supersampling with subpixel edge reconstruction
Cone-traced supersampling for signed distance field rendering
2022 (15)
2021 (11)
Weakly supervised underwater fish segmentation using affinity LCFCN
Published in the AAAI Workshop on Reinforcement Learning in Games (AAAI RLG)
Published in the AAAI Workshop on Reinforcement Learning in Games (AAAI RLG)
2020 (23)
Scalable and sample-efficient multi-agent imitation learning
Real-time multifocal displays with gaze-contingent rendering and optimization
Participating media baking
On the effectiveness of weight-encoded neural implicit 3d shapes
Navigation agents for the visually impaired: A sidewalk simulator and experiments
Multifocal test system
Differentiable Path Tracing by Regularizing Discontinuities
Best Paper Honourable Mention Award!
2019 (20)
Real-time multifocal displays with gaze-contingent rendering and optimization
Participating media baking
Multifocal test system
Best Student Presentation Award Winner!
Dynamic diffuse global illumination with ray-traced irradiance fields
Presented at I3D Best Presentation Award Winner!
Beyond pixel norm-balls: Parametric adversaries using an analytically differentiable renderer
Presented at the IEEE Virtual Reality Conference
2018 (8)
2017 (12)
Combining sampling arrangements and distributions for stochastic integration in rendering
A Practical Non-Linear Parameterization of the BRDF Manifold
2016 (6)
Programmable system for artistic volumetric lighting
Image processing using progressive generation of intermediate images using photon beams of varying parameters
2015 (10)
Virtual lens-rendering for augmented reality lens
Refractive steganography lens and method for determining milling plan for same
Eurographics Symposium on Rendering-Experimental Ideas and Implementations
Technical Papers Co-chair
A Word from the Papers Chairs
2014 (10)
Winner of the CGF Cover Image Competition!
SIBGRAPI Conference Chair
Image processing using iterative generation of intermediate images using photon beams of varying parameters
Our work was implemented as a Unity plug-in!
2013 (10)
Compensation for self-scattering on concave screens
Accurate and Efficient Filtering using Anisotropic Filter Decomposition
2012 (10)
Runner-up for CGF Cover Image Competition!
Featured on Proceedings Back Cover and Papers Fast Forward Video!
Sparse Zonal Harmonic Factorization for Efficient SH Rotation: Supplemental Material and Implementation Sketch
2011 (9)
Featured in the Proceedings Inside Cover and the Papers Fast Forward Video!
Featured on Proceedings Back Cover and in Papers Fast Forward Video!
2010 (1)
2009 (7)
Soft shadow rendering
Image-based proxy accumulation for realtime soft global illumination
2008 (6)
Solving Radiance Transport as a Differential Equation
Real-time line drawing for animated surfaces
Fast Soft Shadows on Height Fields via Multi-Resolution Image Processing
Featured on Proceedings Back Cover!
2007 (4)
Winner: Best Paper Award Winner!
2006 (3)
Vortex based smoke simulation and control
2005 (2)
High-Performance Double-Precision Cosine Generation
Efficient double-precision cosine generation
Funding Sources
My research and lab have benefited from many public and industrial sources of support, without which none of the work we pursue would be possible. I am grateful for both the past and continued support from the following sources:
