The SIAM Activity Group on Geometric Design is one of 18 activity groups within SIAM. The group is concerned with computer-aided geometric design (CAGD) dealing with computer-aided applications of geometry, and supports research, advising, and the use of new geometric methods in industry and science. It maintains a network of industrial partners and academic institutions and organizes international conferences on the subject.

Konrad Polthier has been a professor of mathematics at Freie Universität Berlin and the DFG Research Center Matheon since 2005. He heads the Mathematical Geometry Processing group at the Institute of Mathematics. His main research interests are mathematical geometry processing, discrete differential geometry, and scientific visualization and its applications in mathematics, computer graphics, and in the natural sciences. Polthier is currently the chairperson of the Executive Board of Berlin Mathematical School (BMS), a position he has held since 2010. BMS is a joint graduate school of the mathematics departments of the three major Berlin universities, Freie Universität, Humboldt-Universität, and Technische Universität. BMS obtains funding as a graduate school in the framework of the German government’s Initiative for Excellence.