Will Rourk

Biography

Will Rourk is currently the 3D data and content specialist with the Scholars’ Lab at the University of Virginia Library.  He has a background in Architecture from Virginia Tech and Architectural History from the University of Virginia. He has over 20 years experience in 3D modeling, and 10 years experience with 3D data and GIS. He has been a chief architectural consultant for the Tibetan and Himalayan Library (UVA) with whom he has done field research into the preservation of historic buildings of the Tibetan capital city of Lhasa.  

His current work focuses on teaching and research in the department of Architectural History at UVA, defining methods of 3D cultural heritage informatics in the collection, processing, preservation and distribution of 3D data of historic objects, buildings and sites. His work employs the use of 3D scanning technologies and photogrammetry techniques for collecting geometric data and color information of historic and cultural context at various levels of scale and complexity from artifact to architecture. He specializes in 3D scan-to-print of artwork and artifacts for preservation and public access. He has been a key component in working with the UVA Library towards open access of 3D data by the scholarly community and has published work on 3D cultural heritage informatics. His collaborations include The Home of Thomas Jefferson at Monticello, The Home of James Madison at Montpelier, The Fralin Museum of Art, the Kluge-Ruhe Museum of Aborginal Art, the Institute for Advanced Technology in the Humanities (IATH) and more recently the estate of the Villa la Rotonda in Vicenza, Italy. He is nationally active with 3D data preservation efforts such as the Community Standards for Preservation of 3D Data and has lectured on 3D Cultural Heritage Informatics at various gatherings of cultural heritage and 3D data specialists.

More information about his work can be found at: wordpress.its.virginia.edu/Cultural_Heritage_Data or by following @rezn8r on Twitter.