Possible REU student projects include: - High-frequency ultrasound characterization of biofilms
- Investigation of Lamb wave-generation in layered polymer materials.
- Image processing, registration and fusion for visualization
| Biomedical and Materials Multimodal Imaging Lab – Assistant Professor Maria Helguera This laboratory’s mission is to develop innovative ways to visualize, analyze, and characterize biological tissues and synthetic materials. The research projects proposed by this lab are particularly suited for undergraduates since all of them involve a basic understanding of the physical principles required for image formation by the different biomedical imaging modalities. Students are exposed to programming languages such as Matlab, IDL, and C++, and in some instances will be able to develop their own code for image processing and simulation. In some projects the students will operate ultrasound equipment, and in others students will be exposed to medical imaging digital simulators such as SIMRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging, MRI) and SimSET (Positron Emission Tomography, PET, and Single Photon Emission Tomography, SPECT). IRB authorization will be obtained where necessary. One active area of research in the lab is improvement in medical imaging ground truth evaluation by creation of synthetic images with the appropriate physical properties and characteristics that can be analyzed in digital simulators. The quality and realism of simulated images is currently limited by the quality of the digital phantoms used for the simulations. The transition from simple raster based phantoms to more detailed geometric (mesh) based phantoms has the potential to increase the usefulness of the simulated data. A second active area of research is the fusion of multi-modal breast imaging data to improve diagnosis and tracking of disease, including X-ray computed tomography (CT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), single photon emission computer tomography (SPECT), positron emission tomography (PET), and ultrasound. |
Potential REU summer research projects include: - Assessing the impact of bi-directional reflectance on target detection algorithms.
- Collecting and analyzing high-resolution visible and infrared spectral signals from controlled fires with natural vegetation fuels.
A change detection approach to assess earthquake impacts in and around Port-au-Prince, Haiti, using IKONOS imagery - Quantifying the impact of environmental exposure (weathering) on target signals.
Study the physical observables of an over-laden vehicle suspected of carrying illicit nuclear materials with passive remote sensing techniques. Quantifying radiation interception by evergreen forests during fire events. Classification of land cover for mapping nuclear ingestion pathways - a case study near Nine Mile Point Nuclear Station, Oswego, NY - Developing open-source algorithms and associated software for classifying light detection and ranging (lidar) x,y,z point clouds.
| Digital Imaging and Remote Sensing Laboratory – Assoc. Professors Salvaggio, Vodacek, Kremens, Don Mckeown and van Aardt The DIRS group conducts research on a variety of topics related to the development of hardware and software tools to facilitate extraction of information from remotely sensed data of the earth. The research focus is broadly broken into four areas: Synthetic Image Generation, Data Exploitation, Sensing Systems, and Environmental Applications. Some common themes are the use of multi- and hyperspectral image data, physics-based understanding of remote sensing systems and scene content, and statistical algorithm development. A special focus area includes emergency response, and the DIRS laboratory was a key player in remote sensing imagery of Haiti during the recent disaster there. DIRS also operates three airborne imaging systems, namely the Wildfire Airborne Sensing Program (WASP), WASP-LITE, and the Modular Imaging Spectrometer Instrument (MISI). Imaging algorithms are developed by the group for the extraction of information from images obtained through these and other sensing systems. Special expertise areas within DIRS are infrared imaging and reflectometry, polarimetric imaging, atmospheric compensation, modeling sparse aperture systems, spectral quality metrics, remote sensing data assimilation, airborne imaging hardware, radiometric calibration, fire modeling, assessment of vegetation structure, and radiometric modeling of synthetic scenes. Past research projects in this laboratory have often involved undergraduates both during the school year and over summer. Student projects are generally assigned according to their scientific interest and skills in mathematics, physics, experimental science, and computer coding. Students have the opportunity to learn to use specialized image processing software, to work on field experiments, operate research quality radiometers, reflectometers, and airborne systems, and to be involved with development of remote sensing applications, e.g., target detection, fire modeling, and vegetation biomass assessment. Other students will use their software skills to add new capabilities to our suite of image generation tools. DIRS strives to integrate undergraduate research students during the science hypothesis development, experimental design, and execution phases of a project. |
Possible REU student projects include: - Digital registration of images from different collection methods, viz. optical and X-ray fluorescence images. The geometries of these two schemes are very different, so that images must be “warped” to make the features line up for subsequent multispectral processing. Algorithm and technique development are needed for each project.
- Development, calibration and testing of methods used to recover information from multispectral images of these manuscripts, including principal and independent component analysis.
| Digital Image Restoration Laboratory– Professor Roger Easton The Digital Image Restoration Laboratory (DIRL) applies modern imaging collection technologies and processing algorithms to extract information from historical documents, primarily handwritten manuscripts, but also printed books, maps, and paintings. The best-known manuscript that we have worked on is the Archimedes “palimpsest” (from Greek, /palimpsestos/ meaning “scraped again”, i.e., reused writing material). This is a 10th-century codex (bound book) containing parts of seven treatises by Archimedes, including the only known copies of two. The manuscript was erased and overwritten with a Christian prayer book early in the 13th century. The work on the Archimedes palimpsest began in 2000, and most of the work was completed in October 2008, though significant work continues. For example, work by an undergraduate student in December 2008 allowed reading of most writing of a palimpsested text by Alexander of Aphrodisias that is also in this codex. This work has led to a new image collection algorithm that will be used for other texts. Among the other texts to be studied are an older Syriac palimpsest and the handwritten diaries of David Livingstone, the missionary to Africa from Scotland. In addition, the lab is working on methods to extract watermarks in paper used in letters and prints of significant historical value that are housed at the U.S. Library of Congress. DIRL has also imaged other manuscripts, including the “Sarvamoola Granthas” in Udupi, India, which has led to a possible collaboration currently being explored with the Oriental Collections at the Bodleian Library at Oxford University, and a single page of a palimpsest from the collection at the Cambridge University Library. |
Some specific tasks are: - Determine the NMR relaxivity of aqueous mixtures paramagnetic ions as a function of Bo.
- Identify materials with an electric field dependent change in the spin relaxation rate.
- Build and test prototype systems that mimic a BOLD response.
| Magnetic Resonance Laboratory (MRL) – Professor Joseph Hornak The MRL is a research and development laboratory devoted to solving real world problems with magnetic resonance. One area of active research is quality control (QC) for quantitative magnetic resonance imaging (qMRI). The major tool used for MRI QC is the MRI standard, otherwise known as a phantom. The lab has experience with four different classes of phantoms: homogeneity [1,2], resolution [3], relaxation rate [2], and diffusion. Homogeneity phantoms are used to measure the spatial variation in sensitivity across the field-of-view in an image. Resolution phantoms are used to measure the point spread function. Relaxation rate phantoms are used to confirm the correct operation of a pulse sequence through image contrast. Diffusion phantoms are used to calibrate an isotropic diffusion coefficient in diffusion imaging or anisotropic diffusion coefficients for diffusion tract (tensor) imaging (DTI). We are looking to develop a fifth type of phantom for functional MRI (fMRI) which mimics the blood oxygen level dependent (BOLD) response that occurs in the brain during various activities. This phantom will take advantage of some of our past phantom expertise in controlling relaxation rates, dielectric constants, and conductivity of phantom filler materials, and coming up with unique phantom designs to efficiently measure a system performance property. A problem with many fMRI studies is inter-system comparability of the data. We believe these problems arise from temporal and spatial variations in the applied main magnetic field, magnetic field gradient linearity, and uniformity in the radio frequency magnetic field. Although eventually these variations must be addressed, it is time prohibitive to assess them before each fMRI scan. We therefore propose a short scan of a phantom to assess acceptability of a site. Failing sites can use more involved methods to address and remedy the problem. A phantom system able to mimic the BOLD response must be able to temporally detect subtle differences in signal intensity due to small differences in oxygen in a tissue. Testing the ability to measure this difference can be easily achieved in static systems using solutions of paramagnetic metal ions rather than oxygen. The temporal aspect timed to the fMRI stimulus is the challenge. The temporal resolution of fMRI is a fraction of a second, implying mechanical or electrical systems are possible. A mechanical system might be as 6 simple as the interchanging two solutions with a small difference in their spin relaxation rates. An electrical system might contain a polymeric material that changes its properties on exposure to an electric field, perhaps similar to a liquid crystal. There should be a subtle change in the spin relaxation rate upon exposure to the field. Each of these methods must be compatible with the entire MRI system and not introduce artifacts into the resultant image. This project is especially suitable for REU student involvement as it can be segmented into smaller tasks and still allow the student to grasp the overall goal. |
Possible REU student projects include: - Symmetry detection with Dual-Purkinje image (DPI) eyetracker: participate in the design, execution, and analysis of symmetry-detection experiments using the DPI eyetracker.
- Natural-image scene statistics: a) survey natural images for regions of symmetry, and b) perform eyetracking experiments to search for correlations between naturally occurring symmetrical regions and areas that are more likely to be fixated by observers.
- Design and evaluation of algorithms to expand the range of illumination conditions under which the Wearable Eyetracker can be used. Video sequences of the eye captured under daylight create artifacts in the output data. The aim of the research is to develop image-processing techniques to pre-process the eye video to eliminate the artifacts.
| Multidisciplinary Vision Research Laboratory – Professors Jeff Pelz and Andrew Herbert The Multidisciplinary Vision Research Lab (MVRL) conducts research in vision, perception, attention, and related areas using innovative eye-tracking technologies and traditional behavioral research methods. In addition to the RIT-developed Wearable Eyetracker, the MVR has a full suite of eye-tracking and analysis instrumentation, including one of the few binocular Dual-Purkinje Image eye-tracking systems in the world. The MVRL goals are to develop and utilize new eye-tracking techniques and technologies to address both fundamental questions and applied problems relating to perception in complex environments. An active area of research in the MVRL is the detection of symmetry. Nearly everywhere we look there is something with a prominent axis of symmetry. Many studies have shown that isolated patches of bilateral symmetry are detected rapidly and accurately [4,5]. But a symmetric patch does not ‘pop-out’ from asymmetric distracters for when embedded in random noise [6,7]. The surprising lack of symmetry pop-out in the periphery may be due to ‘accidental symmetry’ from randomly placed elements. Another area of active research in the MVRL is the improvement of the Wearable Eyetracker. RIT has played a central role in the development of a new field for monitoring and analysis of complex behaviors by extending instrumentation for the study of gaze patterns outside of the laboratory [8,9] and is uniquely qualified to extend this research. |
Possible REU student projects include: - The Nature of Accretion in Powerful Radio Galaxies”. This project combines Spitzer, radio, and X-ray observations of low redshift radio galaxies. The goal is to determine the accretion disk luminosity in different types of radio galaxies. These sources may have different modes of accretion that produce different accretion disk properties leading to qualitatively different jet properties. The role of the student is to reduce the Spitzer IRS spectra and Chandra observations, and estimate the luminosity in the IR and X-rays.
- Mid-IR observations of Brightest Cluster Galaxies (BCGs). This project combines Spitzer near-mid IR photometry with HST FUV observations of BCGs in order to determine the star formation rates in these galaxies. Star formation is likely to be the ultimate sink of the cooling gas, and thus 7 provides a constraint on the effectiveness of re-heating of the ICM. The role of the student is to measure photometry for the BCGs in the IR and FUV images, determine the size scales and physical relationships between the IR and FUV emission, and estimate star formation rates.
| Laboratory for Multiwavelength Astrophysics – Professors Baum, O’Dea, and Kastner The laboratory for astrophysical science and technology conducts research in stellar and extragalactic astrophysics, develops astronomical technology and carries out astro-informatics research. REU Projects will involve data reduction and analysis of multiwavelength astronomical data using many ground based and space based observatories, including e.g., the VLA, KPNO, Hubble, Spitzer, and Chandra. |
Possible REU student projects include: - Measurement of the physical properties (spectral, colorimetric, geometric/spatial, temporal, and energy efficiency) of currently available light sources.
- Computation of perceptual effects such as color rendering, image rendering, photographic rendering, perceived brightness for various illumination types and viewing environments.
- Modeling and feasibility analysis of improved lighting designs (e.g., faster onset, brighter, more similar to incandescent in color rendering, etc.)
- Study time-varying material appearance of real world objects, such as fruit, meat, and vegetables. We will use computational illumination to measure and model the change of surface roughness and translucency of these materials. The research results can be used in both computer vision for recognition and computer graphics for rendering.
| Munsell Color Science Laboratory –Professor Mark Fairchild, Jinwei Gu The Munsell Color Science Laboratory conducts research in the multidisciplinary field of color science, involving the study of light sources, objects/materials, and the human visual system, with research spanning the gamut from fundamental questions of color perception to development of practical color reproduction systems. One active area of research concerns the spectra and color of high-efficiency home lighting. Incandescent home lighting is very inefficient. Less than 5% of the energy used is converted into light - the remaining energy is largely converted to heat. As such, and with the need to reduce energy usage, energy efficient compact fluorescent lighting is becoming a viable alternative. In the near future, LED lighting will offer another potentially better alternative. Despite the energy-efficiency advantages, these new light sources are not universally accepted due to issues in their spectral, spatial, and temporal distributions of illumination. These differences lead many consumers to prefer traditional incandescent illumination. A better understanding of the physical nature of these sources and their interactions with user environments (e.g., the illumination of objects and images, the rendering of illuminated scenes when photographed, etc.) requires further study and proposals for improvement. This could lead to resolution of the perceptual issues that are (or might in the future) holding back the adoption of modern lighting systems and the huge potential environmental benefits. The proposed research projects aim to quantify the physical and perceptual properties of the three lighting alternatives (incandescent, compact fluorescent, and LED), model how those physical differences impact the perceptual environment and user satisfaction, and propose improvements that could speed the adoption of these important technologies. |
Possible REU student projects include: - Materials characterization using the transmission electron microscope.
- Materials characterization using the scanning electron microscope.
- Development of image processing routines to enhance the materials characterization capability of the Microscopy Facility.
| The NanoImaging Laboratory – Associate Professor Rich Hailstone The mission of this laboratory is to operate a state-of-the-art facility with instrumental capabilities sufficient to image nanomaterials and nanostructures, and to develop nanomaterials for basic and applied research. Imaging techniques for characterizing the device include scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and scanning probe microscopy — all available in the Microscopy Facility of the NanoImaging Lab. The Microscopy Facility is a campus-wide resource and collaborates with various research groups in the College of Science and the College of Engineering to provide materials characterization and analysis at the micrometer and nanometer level. The techniques used include imaging, electron diffraction and X-ray microanalysis. |
Possible REU projects include: - Conduct force measurements on non-spherical particles in an optical trap and compare the results with numerical models of force maps.
- Use state-of-the-art inkject printing technology and dichromatic dyes to record computergenerated polarization images. Combining these images with standard polarization components allows the full contol of both the amplitude and phase of light.
| Optical Vortex Applications Laboratory – Assoc. Professor Grover Swartzlander Optical vortices are finding increasing applications in optical systems ranging from the microscopic to the astronomical. The Optical Vortex Laboratory is developing a high contrast coronagraph that may allow astronomers to image exoplanets that orbit in a habitable zone around nearby stars. The group is currently focusing on the fabrication of high optical quailty vortex lenses. This effort takes advantage of the RIT microfabriation facilities, which includes G-line and I-line steppers for photolithography. Electron beam lithography techniques are also used by the group, in collaboration with Sandia National Laboratories, and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Prof. Swartzlander is also exploring novel means of 8 controlling the wavefront of light by use of polarization recordings called vectographs and experimentation and modeling of optical tweezers systems that control unusual shaped objects. REU projects will include training on RIT microfabrication and analysis equipment. |
The REU student will be engaged in research on the design and measurement of EP experiments that include effects of both process and subsystem design parameters of the six critical process steps: uniform charging of a photoconductive material, the selective discharging of the desired latent image, the application of charged polymeric particles in the latent image areas, the transfer of the particles to the desired media, the fusing of the particles and finally, a cleaning step so that the process may be repeated. | Print Research and Imaging Systems Modeling Lab –Associate. Professor Marcos Esterman Established in 2005, the Print Research and Imaging Systems Modeling lab (PRISM) conducts printing research projects combining Systems Engineering, Imaging Science, and Color Science. An area of active research within PRISM is the study of the electrophotographic (EP) printing process. While considerable advancement has taken place in understanding the underlying physics of EP, modeling of the EP and printing processes, and implementing controls of the EP process, the ever increasing demands imposed by consumers to increase quality and productivity while reducing environmental impacts, lead to the need to continually refine that knowledge and to develop new knowledge that will allow these increased demands to be met. A need exists to develop new empirical and analytical knowledge for the entire industry. An example of this is increasing the fundamental understanding of electrophotographic subsystem processes by performing experiments designed to increase the conceptual understanding of the behavior of small particles. Understanding environmental impacts of EP and the EP subsystems is of considerable interest. |
Possible REU student projects include: - Develop and apply algorithms for imaging the ionosphere. The student will experience working with live observatory data feeds, and will learn about 3D imaging techniques. The student will experience the entire process of conceiving of an experiment, writing data acquisition code, running the experiment, analyzing the data, and writing up the results. The student will be able to work with both faculty and graduate students as the program grows, and will likely have an opportunity to publish a paper.
Develop and test various correlation algorithms as these are used to scour current and archival data related to earth-sun interactions. This study will expose the student to different techniques to identify correlations within multiple databases, and will be instrumental in establishing an early warning system with a long lead-time in excess of an hour. The student will develop code, apply it to data, and write up results. Develop field studies to examine the primary transport mechanisms of an invasive species at a local Native American historic site. The student will experience the entire process of conceiving of experiments, conducting field measurements, analyzing the data, and writing up the results. Image-based propagation studies and analysis may involve the use of GIS and GPS systems. The student will be able to work with both faculty and graduate students as the program grows, and will likely have anopportunity to publish a paper
| Space Weather Technology And Research – Professor Roger Dube The Spaceweather Technology And Research (STAR) laboratory develops advanced image processing and pattern recognition algorithms for applications related to the prediction of disruptive space weather storms. Started in 2008, the labs projects include the development of adaptive neural network algorithms that have been successfully applied to the prediction of forest fires, the installation and operation of ionospheric monitoring stations across the RIT campus, and the development of correlation algorithms for the identification of space weather storm precursors using both RIT monitoring stations and a multitude of NASA solar observatories around the globe and in space. The goal of the lab is to develop an early warning system that will provide much more than the current one-hour advanced notice before the onset of a severe space weather storm. The empirical correlation results will then be shared with the broader scientific community to facilitate the further refinement of various solar and interplanetary models related to space weather. The current lab projects have provided an undergraduate with his first peer-reviewed publication on adaptive neural networks, has included leading work on predictive algorithms by a female Mohawk student, and has also employed two high school juniors in special projects for the summer. |
