Business and 3-D imaging of the Earth will be the subject of a University of Iowa College of Engineering seminar from 5 to 6 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 25, in Room W10 of the John Pappajohn Business Building on the UI campus. [NOTE: This is a new location to accommodate expected attendees.]

Franz Leberl, a professor of computer science at Graz University of Technology in Graz, Austria and whose research involves 3-D object reconstruction and computer vision, will deliver the talk.

A part of the Randall and Barbara Meyer "Grabbing the Globe," Seminar Series, the talk is free and open to the public.

Leberl’s talk, titled“Internet-Inspired 3DGeodata: The Vexcel-Business Story with a Microsoft-Exit,"will address 3D imaging of the Earth, planets, and the human habitat—his professional passion during his 43-year-long professional career. He will explain his transition from a start in academia into the business world, a life lived between Europe and the United States, between academia and business, and between research and research management.

The talk’s focus will be on the two businesses he founded—Vexcel Corporation in Boulder, Colo., in 1985, and Vexcel Imaging GmbH in Austria in 1993—and his links to academia. Although their markets and products differed, both businesses were involved in Earth imaging, both developed leadership roles in their respective niche markets, and both companies were sold to Microsoft Corporation in 2006.

The "Grabbing the Globe" Seminar Series is designed to prepare engineering students for global success. It recognizes UI Distinguished Engineering Alumni Academy member and retired Exxon USA president and CEO Randall Meyer and his wife, Barbara.