Artificial Intelligence is “fundamentally reshaping computing and will transform how stories are told, produced and experienced,” asserted NVIDIA founder and CEO Jensen Huang as he accepted the Charles F. Jenkins Lifetime Achievement Award via a recorded message during the 76th Engineering, Science & Technology Emmy Awards.
“It has been three decades since Pixar’s ‘Toy Story’ revolutionized cinema with CGI. Now with AI, we have a new canvas for the next generation of storytelling, a renewed opportunity to wow and captivate audiences in new ways,” he said.
Also during the ceremony, which was held Wednesday at the Television Academy’s Saban Media Center, software developer Adobe received the Philo T. Farnsworth Corporate Achievement Award, as well as an Engineering, Science and Technology Emmy for the development of its Substance Painter.
Accepting the Farnsworth Award on behalf of Adobe, product manager Erica Schisler said, “Farnsworth had hoped and envisioned the television bringing everybody together… Adobe believes in that vision too. Our mission is to empower creators, filmmakers, artists, storytellers, to amplify their voices and to connect audiences in new, meaningful ways.”
During the ceremony, Engineering Emmys were presented to Tom Ohanian, Ken Goekjian, Joel Swan and Victor Young, for the development of the Avid Multicamera System; and Paul Pan, Yanchong Zhao, Tie Su and Shimeng Bei for the development of the DJI Ronin series of camera stabilization systems.
Recipients also included Stuart Geman, Kevin Manbeck, John Mertus and Michael Braca for the development of MTI Film’s DRS Nova film and video restoration software; Benjamin Graf for the development of Accentize’s dxRevive Pro speech-restoration plugin; Jeremy Hochman, Chris Byrne, Colin Cook and Justin Nicolaides for Megapixel’s HELIOS processing platform for LED walls; Craig Seidel for the MovieLabs Digital Distribution Framework; and The Tiffen Company for the development of the Steadicam Volt camera stabilization technology.
“Our tagline has always been, polish new releases and restore the classics… We’re really proud of that body of work, but we do have a special place in our hearts for the classics. Truly, this is this industry’s cultural legacy,” said Manbeck while accepting for the DRS Nova restoration tool. “A few years ago, I watched two sisters, maybe 8 and 12 years old, laughing so hard at an episode of ‘I Love Lucy’ that tears ran down their cheeks. Even though ‘I Love Lucy’ was produced a half century before they were born, the show is just as relevant and fresh as the day it was created. The fact that we had a hand in preserving the series is a really good feeling, and helps ensure the show really will go on for years after we are all gone.”
“Sometimes you just have to go with your instincts. You see an opportunity to develop something that you know is going to have a major impact,” said honoree Ohanian, who is also co-inventor of the Avid Media Composer. “You just have to figure out a way to get your team to believe in that and then nothing can stop you. We had a saying back then — results not reasons. That’s what drove us, and we think it’s the essence of invention and engineering excellence.”
Host Kirsten Vangsness kicked off the show with a song medley about the honorees, for which the engineers responded with a standing ovation.