Jens-Peer Kuska
- To: mathgroup at smc.vnet.net
- Subject: [mg101530] Jens-Peer Kuska
- From: TWJ <twj at wolfram.com>
- Date: Thu, 9 Jul 2009 01:58:34 -0400 (EDT)
We are all very saddened to hear of the sudden death of Jens-Peer Kuska. In particular it must be very difficult for his family. Based at the University of Leipzig in the Bioinformatics Department Jens had many interests including medical image processing, and computer visualization. For a very long time he had been a Mathematica enthusiast and was well known to many of the developers of Mathematica here at Wolfram Research. He worked on many Mathematica development projects including MathGL3D -- an OpenGL rendering system for Mathematica and a set of virtual TeX fonts to use the Mathematica typesetting fonts with TeX (later supported by TeXSave). Recently he had been developing a suite of image processing functionality to complement his work. He published a book on using Mathematica and C to solve theoretical physics problems: 'Mathematica und C in der modernen Theoretischen Physik'. On MathGroup he was a continuous contributor, making frequent posts and comments. Always giving sensible, practical and useful advice. He would always see to the heart of the matter, people who followed his advice would not only learn how to solve their problem, but would increase their understanding of how Mathematica works. He was a frequent and enthusiastic attendee at many Mathematica conferences and symposia. I remember him well in Avignon for IMS 2006 and Maastricht for IMS 2008. He also took part in many conferences and training sessions in Germany. I last saw him at a Mathematica Day at the Weierstrass Institute in Berlin in November. As ever he was a strong contributor, asking questions and giving his own perspective and opinions. Afterwards several of us continued our discussions at a very enjoyable meal. Jens was a completely unique character, warm and friendly, very knowledgeable about Mathematica, as well as mathematics, physics and programming in general. He was incisive and questioning -- but realistic with a fine sense of what was practical and useful. This was bundled with a lovely sardonic and dry sense of humour. He certainly knew how to get the best out of Mathematica. He always liked to see what was in upcoming versions, and was very free with praise, advice and suggestions so that we could all make the most of what was to come. Sadly, this is not to be any more. He will be missed. Tom Wickham-Jones Director of Kernel Technology Wolfram Research