DAVID KIRK HAS BEEN NVIDIA's Chief Scientist since 1997. During that time, he helped build the technology that has propelled NVIDIA to near-dominance in PC graphics. Prior to his tenure at NVIDIA, Dr. Kirk worked at Crystal Dynamics and Hewlett-Packard. He is also a published author who holds degrees in Mechanical Engineering from MIT and Computer Science degrees, including a Ph.D., from the California Institute of Technology.

Recently, Dr. Kirk shared his views with us on a range of topics related to the current PC graphics landscape, including the DirectX 8.1 pixel shaders controversy. Our questions and his answers follow.