Associate Dean of Research & Graduate Education, College of Science
Professor, Color Science & Imaging Science
Rochester Institute of Technology
B.S./M.S., Imaging Science (née Photographic Science & Instrumentation)
Rochester Institute of Technology, 1986M.A./Ph.D., Vision Science (Human Sensation & Perception)
University of Rochester, 1990
As Associate Dean of Research & Graduate Education of RIT's College of Science, my role is to facilitate the growth and strengthening of the college's research activities and graduate programs. As Professor of Color Science and Imaging Science, I participate in the teaching and research activities described below.
Color Perception & Imaging: Our research on topics in color perception and imaging is addressing several inter-related areas such as color-appearance modeling, image appearance, image preference, color measurement, image & video quality measurement, high-dynamic-range (HDR) imaging, chromatic adaptation and observer metamerism. One focus of this research has been the ongoing development and psychophysical testing of color and image appearance models for a variety of applications such as mage/video quality, HDR rendering, and gamut-volume perception. Our work on fundamental aspects of color science is aimed at both developing improved perceptual experiences and promoting energy-saving technologies such as solid-state lighting and efficient image displays.
Research Teaching & Learning: I recently completed 12 years as Director of the Munsell Color Science Laboratory and have stepped out of that position to spend more time focusing on research and educational initiatives aimed at improving our environment and educational systems. I have also assumed the role of Associate Dean of the College of Science. I am working with several graduate students on various research projects. Students working with me are normally matriculated in either the Color Science or Imaging Science graduate programs in the Chester F. Carlson Center for Imaging Science. Hao Li, a Color Science M.S. student, is working on the trade-offs between image saturation and brightness for colorfulnessperception in the development of HDR and energy-efficient display technologies. Rod Heckaman is a Post-Doc researching the perception of brilliance and gamut volume and their application to high-dynamic-range and enhanced-gamut image display and perception. Susan Farnand is a Color Science Ph.D. student beginning her dissertation work on the importance of image content in the precision and accuracy of image quality psychophysics. David Long is also part-time Color Science Ph.D. student beginning a research project to study the value of spectral imaging in digital cinema applications. I am developing personal research projects on simulation of color-matching functions, novel chromatic-adaptation models, development of HDR-capable color spaces, and the creation of a multi-level, multi-discipline educational resource ... the Color Curiosity Shop. Lastly, I have a wonderful time collaborating with others at RIT and around the world, playing the occasional round of golf, driving fast cars and motorcycles, paddling canoes, climbing mountains, making images, and raising my daughters, a puppy, and two cats. Please explore my website to learn more about my various exploits. You can also download a PDF of my CV if you find yourself that intrigued.
Classroom Teaching & Learning: In recent years, I have taught four courses: Color Appearance, a distance-learning section of Color Reproduction, Color Science Seminar, and an undergraduate Color Science course. Color Appearance, offered in the Winter quarter, covers the basic phenomena, theory, and modeling of color appearance (i.e., things that basic colorimetry cannot predict) and is also a required course in the Color Science graduate program. Color Reproduction was an online-learning course delivered over the internet during alternate Winter quarters. The content of the course essentially mirrored R.W.G. Hunt's classic text, The Reproduction of Colour. Color Science Seminar, offered all three quarters as a sequence, and a required course in the Color Science graduate program, introduces students to the critical review of research papers and presentations while developing their own research skills. The undergraduate Color Science course (offered Fall quarter) is part of the Imaging Science and Motion Picture Science B.S. programs and also offered as an elective for students in other programs such as Computer Science, Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics, Electrical Engineering, etc. It covers the fundamental principles of color science, technology, and imaging. Currently, I teach Color Appearance and one quarter of Color Science Seminar to allow time for my work as Associate Dean of the College of Science. I am very excited as RIT plans its transition to a semester-based calendar system starting in the FALL SEMESTER(!!) 2013.
Contact:- Office: 1106 Gosnell Hall (GOS-1106)
- Email: mdf@mail.rit.edu
- Phone: 585-475-2784
- Fax: 585-475-4444
- Mail: Rochester Institute of Technology, One Lomb Memorial Drive, Rochester, NY, 14623
The Peanut Butter & Jelly Solution
Help Fight the War on Science ...
Dealing in Doubt: A Greenpeace report summarizing how attacks on science and manipulation of public perception are funded.
There is No Ultraviolet, or Infrared, Light; The Technical Definition of Light...
17-659 light
1. characteristic of all sensations and perceptions that is specific to vision
2. radiation that is considered from the point of view of its ability to excite the human visual system
International Lighting Vocabulary (CIE Standard S 017/E:2011)
On the instant of waking
Another world of dreams appears
N. Peart
And the men who hold high places
Must be the ones who start
To mold a new reality
Closer to the Heart
N. Peart & P. Talbot
Ye're makin' a great mistake if ye think the gemme is meant for the shots.
The gemme is meant for walkin'.
For if ye can enjoy the walkin' ye can probably enjoy the other times in yer life when ye're in between.
And that's most o' the time; wouldn't ye say?
