Sutherland, Ivan Edward (1938– )

US electronics engineer who pioneered the development of computer graphics, the method by which computers display pictorial (as opposed to alphanumeric) information on screen.

Sutherland was born in Hastings, Nebraska, and studied at the Carnegie Institute of Technology and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). In Salt Lake City, Utah, he co-founded the Evans and Sutherland Computer Corporation, a leading supplier of high-end computer graphics systems, and was professor at Utah 1972–76. In 1976 he moved to the California Institute of Technology.

Sutherland's work at MIT was noted for his involvement in the Sketchpad project, which was the first system of computer graphics that could be altered by the operator in the course of its use. Sketchpad used complex arrangements of the data fed into the computer to produce representations of the objects in space as well as geometrical detail. Programs could be altered using light pens, which touch the surface of the screen. Sketchpad was probably the first program to use a window, and the first to have icons.

At Utah, Sutherland was engaged in the design of a colour graphics system able to represent fine distinctions of colour as well as accurate perspective. The image could be moved, rotated, made larger or smaller to give a realistic image of the object, rendering the computer suitable for use in engineering and architectural design.