MaterialX is a project of the Academy Software Foundation and relies on the ASWF governance policies, supported by the Linux Foundation.
The MaterialX project maintains a Technical Steering Committee (TSC), which has final authority over the project. As defined in the project charter, TSC responsibilities include, but are not limited to:
- Discussions, seeking consensus, and where necessary, voting on technical matters relating to MaterialX that affect multiple projects.
- Maintainance and administration of the MaterialX GitHub repository.
- Coordinating technical direction of the project.
- Coordinatng marketing, events, and communications regarding MaterialX.
Within the TSC there are two key subgroups: Voting Members, who take on formal responsibiities for maintaining the MaterialX project and vote when decisions are required; and Stakeholders, who represent specific teams and companies in the industry and speak on their behalf in MaterialX discussions.
These committee members are responsible for contributing actively to the MaterialX project, whether it's in the form of developing code, improving the specification and documentation, reviewing pull requests on GitHub, or assisting teams with their MaterialX integrations. Although we expect most decisions to be unanimous across the MaterialX TSC, for decisions where a formal vote is required, a majority of voting members is required to move forward with a change.
Within the voting members of the TSC are two elected leadership roles. Any voting TSC member can express interest in serving in a role, or nominate another member to serve. There are no term limits, and one person may hold multiple roles simultaneously. Should a TSC member resign from a leadership role before their term is complete, a successor shall be elected through the standard nomination and voting process to complete the remainder of the term. The leadership roles are:
- Chair: This position acts as the project manager, organizing meetings and providing oversight to project administration.
- TAC Representative: This position represents the MaterialX project in meetings of the Technical Advisory Council of the ASWF.
The current Voting Members of the MaterialX TSC are:
- Jonathan Stone - Lucasfilm ADG (Chair and TAC Representative)
- Doug Smythe - Industrial Light & Magic
- Niklas Harrysson - Lumiere Software
- Orn Gunnarsson - Autodesk
- David Larsson - Adobe
These committee members represent teams or companies that are closely aligned with the MaterialX project, and have a strong interest in how it evolves going forward. Stakeholders speak on behalf of their team or company in MaterialX discussions, providing the breadth of perspectives that is required to guide the project. Most new committee members start in this category, and it doesn't require a commitment on their part to contribute to or maintain the MaterialX project, though they are encouraged to do so.
The current Stakeholders of the MaterialX TSC are:
- Eric Bourque - Autodesk
- Fran Gonzalez - Pixar RenderMan
- Dhruv Govil - Apple
- Rafal Jaroszkiewicz - SideFX
- Lee Kerley - Sony Pictures Imageworks
- Lutz Kettner - NVIDIA
- Bernard Kwok - Khronos Group
- Jonathan Litt - Epic Games
- André Mazzone - ILM
- Magnus Pettersson - IKEA
- Brian Savery - AMD
Any proposal for additional members of the TSC may be submitted by reaching out to a current TSC member on Slack or raising the issue at a TSC meeting. New TSC members are accepted or rejected by majority vote of the TSC.
If a TSC member is for an extended period not regularly participating or performing the responsibilities expected of TSC members, the TSC may by majority vote request an alternate TSC member be submitted by that organization, or remove the inactive member from the TSC.
A member of the TSC may nominate a successor in the event that such member decides to leave the TSC, and the TSC shall confirm or reject such nomination by a vote. In the event that the departing member's nomination for successor is rejected by vote of the TSC, the departing member shall be entitled to continue nominating successors until one such successor is confirmed by vote of the TSC. If the departing member fails or is unable to nominate a successor, the TSC may nominate one on the departing member's behalf.
Voting TSC membership is presumed to be retained by the individual even if they change employers. The TSC may take action to ensure that organizational stakeholder representation not become severely disproportionate, for example by urging an organization that loses its sole TSC representative to nominate a new member, or to limit the total number of members from any one organization if too many members all move to the same organization.
All meetings of the TSC are intended to be open to the public, except where there is a reasonable need for privacy. The TSC meets regularly in a video conference call, at a cadence deemed appropriate by the TSC. The TSC Chair moderates the meeting, or appoints another TSC member to moderate in his or her absence. Scheduling and connection details may be found in the public ASWF Meeting Calendar.
Prior to each TSC meeting, the meeting chair will share the agenda with the TSC members and broader community on the MaterialX channel of the ASWF Slack. TSC members can also add items to this agenda before the start of each meeting. The meeting chair is responsible for ensuring that minutes are taken and posted on Slack.