Žiga Kovačič

[ZHEE-gah KOH-vah-cheech]

Email | Twitter | Google Scholar | GitHub | Resume

I'm currently pursing my B.A. in Mathematics and CS, through the College Scholars program at Cornell University.

I'm interested in the intersection of physical simulation, machine learning (code generation), and tools for computer graphics. Currently I'm working refactoring and code generation for physical simulation.

I'm extremely fortunate to work with professor Kevin Ellis. I previously worked with Abe Davis on time-lapse generation and modal analysis for resimulation.

I've recenly started writing summaries of my readings on physical simulation.

I will be applying for PhD programs in Fall 2025!

Publications

* indicates equal contributions. See my Google Scholar page for an up-to-date list.

Refactoring Codebases through Library Design (2025)

Žiga Kovačič^*, Celine Lee^*, Justin T Chiu^*, Wenting Zhao, Kevin Ellis

In submission Project Page arXiv Method Benchmark

Pocket Time-Lapse (2025)

Eric M. Chen, Žiga Kovačič, Madhav Agrawal, Abe Davis

SIGGRAPH 2025 Project Page Paper Code

Projects

Here are some of my research and engineering projects, or at least the ones that are not being prepped for publications...

MLS-MPM and CPIC (2025)

Implemented the Moving Least Squared Material Point Method, CPIC, various materials, as well as mesh extraction, both in 2D and 3D.

GitHub

Image Space Modal Basis in JS and Python (2024)

Implements the 2015 paper "Image-Space Modal Bases for Plausible Manipulation of Objects in Video" by Davis et al., extending the original work with modal warping. Developed modal analysis pipeline in Python and custom JavaScript rasterizer for real-time rendering.

GitHub (Coming Soon)

Obstruction Removal - SliceSplatting (2024)

Modifies Gaussian Splatting to remove obstructions blocking the view of objects of interest in 3D scene reconstruction.

GitHub (Coming Soon)

Pen-2-Graph (2024)

Automates generation of node-edge graph programs from hand-drawn sketches using vision-language models and differential evolution. CS 6172 Final project.

GitHub Page Class Page

Path Tracing in OCaml (2025)

Implementation of a path tracer in OCaml. Includes distributive ray tracing, reflections, refractions, volumetric elements, emissive objects, BVH, and various object and material primitives.

GitHub

MelodyMesh (2023)

3D music visualizer that deforms meshes based on audio frequencies. CS 6682 Final project.

GitHub Video

Experience

Recursion and Learning Lab

Undergraduate Researcher

Mar. 2025 – Present

Cornell University

Graphics & Vision Lab

Undergraduate Researcher

May 2023 - Mar 2023

Cornell University

Teaching Experience

CS 4787: Large Scale Machine Learning | Head TA

Cornell University, Fall 2025

CS 4782: Introduction to Deep Learning | Head TA, Made autograder for 200+ students

Cornell University, Spring 2025

CS 4620: Introduction to Computer Graphics | TA

Cornell University, Fall 2024

CS 4780: Introduction to Machine Learning | TA, TA Award

Cornell University, Spring 2024

CS 2110: Object Oriented Programming and Data Structures | TA

Cornell University, Spring 2023

Personal

In my free time I enjoy cooking, climbing, and playing the guitar.

Personal websites of some friends/acquaintances you might find interesting: