In this issue: Dr. Stefi Baum Stepping Down Interim Director Announcement New CIS Website Summer REU Program High School Interns Alumni Admissions Volunteering SUMMER CIS NEWS HIGHLIGHTS Quick Links: Previous Issues Job Listings Uncovering Hidden Text on a 500- Year-Old Map That Guided Columbus CIS Professor Dr. Roger Easton Jr. featured Building bridges - WiSTEE Connect CIS Associate Professor Dr. Jie Qiao featured Diving for pearls with the Hubble Space Telescope Dr. Stefi Baum featured Taking NASA-USGS’s Landsat 8 to the Beach CIS Research Professor Dr. John Schott featured Imaging tools help radiologists diagnose lung cancer, save lives CIS Program Faculty Dr. Nate Cahill and Imaging Science PhD student Kfir Ben Zikri featured ALL CIS NEWS HEADLINES Volume 5 | Issue 4 | Summer/Early Fall 2014 This summer presented the fourth year of our NSF-funded Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) program, "Imaging in the Physical Sciences ". Nine undergraduate research students came from far and wide to work for 9 weeks in research labs with faculty mentors across CIS. In addition to their research work, students participated in workshops on giving presentations and writing papers, a weekly seminar series given by the Imaging Science faculty, and a weekly innovation and entrepreneurship movie session. All of the students presented the results of their research at the annual RIT Undergraduate Research Symposium. Meet the 2014 REU students and read their weekly newsletters Summer REU Program Support CIS ALUMNI ADMISSIONS EVENTS Palo Alto, CA 10/13 Washington, DC 10/14, 10/15 Boston, MA 10/8, 10/10 Watertown, MA 10/9 NYC—Many dates; click link below Philadelphia, PA 10/6, 10/26 Alexandria, VA 10/20. 10/21 Fairfax, VA 10/19 Please be sure to check the FULL DETAILS AND LISTINGS often for updates and to register. Boston, MA October 27th FULL DETAILS AND LISTINGS Dr. Stefi Baum Steps Down as Director Stefi Baum, professor and director of the Chester F. Carlson Center for Imaging Science at Rochester Institute of Technology, has accepted the position of Dean of Science at the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg, Canada, effective October 1. Baum joined RIT in 2004 as the director of the Center for Imaging Science and has held the longest tenure of this leadership role. She will retain a position as research professor at the Center, where she will continue to receive grant funding, advise students and maintain ongoing collaborations at RIT. Prior to her departure, Baum will help transition an interim director of the center. “This was a very, very difficult decision for me, as I am so enormously fond of CIS, the faculty, staff and students, and proud of all our accomplishments,” Baum wrote in an email to her colleagues. Read More Interim Director Announcement Dr. David Messinger has been named Interim Director of the Chester F. Carlson Center for Imaging Science. Dr. Messinger is currently an Associate Professor in the Chester F. Carlson Center for Imaging Science where he has served as the Director of the Digital Imaging and Remote Sensing Laboratory (DIRS) since 2007. As Director of DIRS, David has led the lab to many accomplishments that brought national and international recognition to the Chester F. Carlson Center for Imaging Science, the College of Science, and RIT. David earned his Ph.D. in physics from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and his B.S. in physics from Clarkson University. Before joining RIT, he worked as an analyst for XonTech Inc. and on the National Missile Defense Program for Northrop Grumman. Read More While Dr. Messinger fulfills this role, Associate Professor Dr. Jan van Aardt will be acting director of DIRS. David is joined by Dr. Jeff Pelz, who will be serving a “deputy” role. Dr. Pelz holds the distinctions of Frederick Wiedman Chair and Professor, and leads the Multidisciplinary Vision Research Lab. An international search for the new Director will be announced soon. Dr. Baum, right, accepts a plaque from Dr. John Schott in recognition of her dedicated service to CIS. New CIS Website After more than a year of preparation, CIS unveiled a new website in August. The new site features a clean and polished design while maintaining all of the functionality that has been developed over the years. Entirely new content includes a Prospective Students section, student profiles, and testimonials. The new website was produced in association with The Wallace Center at RIT. Check it out at cis.rit.edu ! We hope you like the new look and feel. If you have any feedback, or would like to provide a testimonial quote, please e-mail [email protected] . High School Summer Interns 2014 marked the 15th year of the High School Internship Program. Despite being unpaid by CIS this year, 15 of the brightest and most motivated interns we’ve ever had participated. Another change for this year was a shortening of the program from seven weeks to six, due to RIT’s semester calendar conversion; thankfully this did not have any negative impact on the ability of the interns to complete meaningful research. In addition to their research projects, interns enjoyed weekly cookouts; a professional development lunch with CIS alumnus Matt Montanaro, who Skyped in from NASA Goddard; and the ever-popular field trip to Mees Observatory. At the conclusion of the internship, interns were each presented with a certificate of successful completion and a personalized letter of recommendation signed by the Director. Titles and abstracts from the 2014 final presentations are available here , and video recordings of the presentations are available at the following links: Part 1 , Part 2 . A team of imaging scientists got their CIS-logo Bayer pattern t- shirts dirty on September 20th during Mud Tug XIX hosted by Phi Kappa Psi and Zeta Tau Alpha. Proceeds from the event went to the Hillside Family of Agencies. JUST FOR FUN Dr. David Messinger has assumed the role of Interim Director for CIS. 2014 REU students at the RIT Undergraduate Research Symposium From the Archives: (click image to enlarge) Sue Chan and Jeff Pelz are feeling a little American Gothic as part of the United Way Day of Caring. Photo ca. early 1990’s. High School Summer Interns 2014 Dr. Sophia Maggelakis, Dean of the College of Science, and Dr. Stefi Baum at Baum’s going-away party in the Strasenburgh Planetarium. Volunteer as an Alumni Admissions Officer: You can assist our efforts with the Office of Admissions to recruit qualified students to study Imaging Science at RIT. By representing CIS/ RIT at area college fairs or participating in Admissions receptions in your area, you can play an important role in helping prospective students learn more about CIS and RIT. Even better, when you represent CIS at such events, you qualify for rewards via the CIS Ambassador Program . Becoming an Alumni Admissions Officer is easy—simply contact CIS Outreach Specialist Bethany Choate , and she will both connect you with the Admissions Office and arrange to send you CIS informational materials along with your very own CIS Polo Shirt to wear to the event. For your convenience, upcoming event dates in cities with large CIS alumni populations are listed in the right-hand column of the newsletter, under “Alumni Admissions Events”. Application Fee Waivers: You can give a college-bound student of your choice a fee-waived application for undergraduate admission. If you know a high school senior that would thrive and excel at RIT, this is your opportunity to recruit the best for your alma mater. By encouraging a student to apply, you can share your RIT experiences with a prospective student, while helping to defray the cost of applying to the university. Request a waiver online ‘Tis the Season... for Alumni Admissions Events PREVIOUSLY ENJOYED—————————————————————–— SPIE/OSA Picnic—The SPIE/OSA Student Chapter at RIT is a student organization affiliated with two not-for-profit professional societies: the International Society for Optics and Photonics (SPIE) and the Optical Society (OSA). The Student Chapter provides for the community of students at RIT who are interested in the science and technology of light by hosting professional talks, mixer events with other universities and local professionals, and by providing travel opportunities for its students to attend international conferences. Towards this end, the RIT and University of Rochester student chapters of SPIE/OSA hosted a joint picnic in Genesee Valley Park on September 19. The event was a huge success with approximately 50 people in attendance! STILL TO COME————-—————————————————————–— Brick City Homecoming—Don’t miss RIT’s annual homecoming weekend, October 16-19! Reconnect with CIS at the following events: Celebrate Science: Enjoy several science booth exhibits and meet students at this new event. 11AM-3PM Oct. 17 and 18, Bruce and Nora James Atrium, Gosnell Building Imaging to Recover Historical Writings—Dr. Roger Easton: Learn about how modern imaging technologies are being applied to help scholars read writings of historical value, 11AM-12PM, Oct. 18, Room 2155, Carlson Building IEEE IPW—This fall's IEEE Western New York Image and Signal Processing Workshop will be held at RIT on Friday, November 7. The WNYISPW is a venue for promoting image and signal processing research in our area and for facilitating interaction between academic researchers, industry researchers, and students. Learn More >>SEE THE FULL CIS EVENTS CALENDAR Interns Rachel Shadler, Madeline Wolters, and David Lewis presented a Do-It-Youself Camera of their own design to Steve Sasson, inventor of the digital camera, as part of their final presentation. UR and RIT students get together for the SPIE/OSA student chapters picnic on September 19.