Parag Havaldar

Parag Havaldar, Senior Lead R&D Engineer at Blizzard Entertainment, is a pioneering figure in the field of visual effects and animation. He received an Oscar Academy Award for Technical Achievement in 2017 for his groundbreaking work in developing facial performance capture technology, which has been instrumental in creating realistic character animations for major films such as "Hancock," "Watchmen," and "Alice in Wonderland." Dr. Havaldar holds a Ph.D. in Computer Graphics and Vision from the University of Southern California, and his expertise continues to influence the gaming and film industries through his contributions at Blizzard Entertainment and his role as an adjunct faculty member at USC.