UT Dallas PhD Grad Ningna Wang Selected as 2025 WiGRAPH Rising Star for Next-Generation 3D Geometry Research

Ningna Wang PhD’25 in computer science was recently chosen as one of eight up-and-coming researchers to participate in the prestigious and competitive 2025 WiGRAPH Rising Stars program. Selected alongside top students from MIT, Stanford, Carnegie Mellon University, Cornell and the University of Toronto, Wang’s recognition marks a significant milestone for both her and the Department of Computer Science.

Launched in 2022, the Rising Stars in Computer Graphics program seeks to introduce innovative concepts to the field of computer graphics research. This two-year program is designed for researchers planning to enter the job market within two years. WiGRAPH (Women in Computer Graphics Research) focuses on this crucial period because most students have developed enough research skills but are still exploring options and making key decisions about their future careers. The program offers mentorship, networking opportunities and workshops held in conjunction with Special Interest Group on Computer Graphics and Interactive Techniques (SIGGRAPH) 2025 and 2026 to help participants prepare for careers in academia or industry.

Ningna Wang, advised by UT Dallas Computer Science Professor Dr. Xiaohu Guo, defended her PhD dissertation this past summer and will begin a postdoctoral research position at Columbia University in the fall. As a Rising Star, Wang joins a competitive group of young researchers dedicated to shaping the future of computer graphics and geometry processing while making a lasting impact in the field.

“I am very proud to see Ningna Wang recognized among the top international researchers. Her selection as a WiGRAPH Rising Star reflects the strength of her work and the growing reputation of UT Dallas in computer graphics. I am confident that many more of our faculty and students will continue to excel at these prestigious venues in the years ahead,” said Guo.

Wang’s research focuses on developing compact and efficient representations of 3D geometry, which are crucial for integrating artificial intelligence into understanding and manipulating complex shapes. Her work explores skeletal abstractions, such as the medial axis, to capture key shape features including symmetry and part decompositionwhile also developing tools compatible with widely used formats including meshes and point clouds. These geometric insights support not only perceptual understanding but also computational tasks such as optimization, editing and generation.

“My broader goal is to bridge geometry processing with learning-based methods, using geometric reasoning to inform data-driven decisions and vice versa,” said Wang. “Looking ahead, I aim to deepen the connection between geometric abstraction and high-level understanding, enabling more intuitive and intelligent interactions with 3D data across applications in design, graphics and robotics.”

Wang has already made a significant impact in the field, with multiple papers published at leading conferences, including SIGGRAPH, where she received the Best Paper Award in 2023. Before pursuing her PhD, she worked as a senior software developer at Booking.com in Amsterdam. She holds a master’s degree from Carnegie Mellon University and a bachelor’s degree from Jilin University in Changchun, China.

As part of the WiGRAPH Rising Stars program, Wang will join an emerging group of researchers that includes some of the most promising voices in the field of graphics research. The program offers mentees personalized career guidance, increased visibility within the SIGGRAPH community and the support of an expanding network of mentors dedicated to advancing inclusivity and innovation in computer graphics.

Wang’s selection not only demonstrates her technical skill and research expertise but also highlights the increasing influence of the UT Dallas Department of Computer Science within the computer graphics research community.