Wenzel Jakob

Wenzel Jakob is an Associate Professor and leader of the Realistic Graphics Lab at EPFL's School of Computer and Communication Sciences, currently on sabbatical at the University of Tokyo until Fall 2025. His work bridges inverse graphics, physically based rendering, and compiler/systems research, with a focus on developing robust differentiable rendering frameworks.

Key research themes include:

• Backpropagation through rendering algorithms for inverse problems
• Material appearance modeling and optical measurement systems
• Compiler design for differentiable rendering pipelines
• Manifold sampling techniques and light transport derivatives

His group created Mitsuba renderer, Dr.Jit, and Instant Meshes (recipient of the SGP Software Award). Recent publications (2021–2024) explore volumetric rendering, SDF-based differentiable systems, and efficient Monte Carlo estimators. Awards include the ACM SIGGRAPH Significant Researcher Award, Eurographics Young Researcher Award, and ERC Starting Grant.

Teaching roles (2016–2024) span Advanced Computer Graphics and Numerical Methods for Visual Computing courses at EPFL.