Check!

The new reading group webpage I mentioned in my last post is now live! Check out the Computer Vision Reading Group page to find out more.

The Calm Before the Storm

So in this strange lull between interns being gone and students coming back, I've been fixing up some little things here and there:

• Updated the CIS YouTube Channel to include more videos and have an RIT color scheme, and added a link to the channel on the CIS Image Galleries page (seemed the best place to put it...)
• Fixed the tellmemore portal to have a link to YouTube, so that iPhone/iPod/iPad users can still watch the intro video
• Created new images for the image slideshow banner on the front of the CIS website
• Gotten everything in order for the 2011-2012 Seminar Series, website/promotions-wise
• Created a flyer for RIT Young Professionals (not strictly Imaging Science, but getting the word out there will get me more exposure which will then give Imaging Science more exposure)

And I've gotten started on a few more-involved projects:

• Webpage for a new reading group for grad students
• Summer issue of Imaging Connection Newsletter for alumni
• "Outreach That You Can Do" website with resources for other people to do Imaging Science outreach

It sure is quiet around here... It is the calm before the storm, before students start returning to campus. And speaking of storm, I hope everybody stays safe from impending hurricane Irene!! We have a lot of alumni and families of students in her projected path. My thoughts are with them this weekend.

Today we say goodbye to the BEST INTERNS EVER

Today was the summer interns' last day! So sad! Although their first day feels like ages ago, it felt like it all came to an end in an instant. I am really going to miss them!

Final presentations: Here we go!

For their final day, the interns present powerpoints based upon their research from the summer. Yesterday we had a dry run, and it seemed that most of the interns felt at least a little bit nervous, if not very much so. Well I am very proud to say, that ALL of the interns pulled out really fantastic presentations today. Everybody came off very confident and knowledgeable, and really did a great job. I am extremely proud of everything that our interns have accomplished this summer! Click here to view pictures of today's presentations.

I am equally excited by how well the interns bonded this summer. I don't think CIS has ever had a group form as strong of friendships as this year's class of interns. They hung out outside of work, went to see movies together, had a party at Kelsey's house this past week, and are even planning group trips to Laser Quest and Darien Lake before the summer is out. And, after the presentations were over, they didn't even want to leave. Everyone hung around for at least an hour afterward, already reminiscing and generally being reluctant to say goodbye. I found that I even had a difficult time breaking away. I made sure to make it well known that they are all welcome to come back and visit anytime they like! I hope a bunch of them come back as Imaging Science students, how cool would that be?!

Oh yeah, I can't end my final interns 2011 post without acknowledging how silly they all are. Just kidding! But they did give us all parting gifts, which are immediately now among my most prized possessions:

Parting gifts from the BEST INTERNS EVER! #warmfuzzy #ohyoushouldnthave

I should point out the fabulous Photoshop job they did for this group picture, and the fact that they intended it to look just so. Just a little Imaging Science humor. #imlovinit

I will always treasure these appreciation/parting gifts and keep them prominently displayed in my office, and any future office I may work in. (The lava lamp is an especially nice touch!) THANK YOU so much to our wonderful group of 2011 High School interns!!! (I miss you guys already!)

A family legacy, of sorts

Part of today I spent showing around a prospective student and her family. She is local, and her sister was actually one of our interns a few years ago - but what actually piqued her interest was a visit to her school by one of our current students! So I gave the family a tour of the building and introduced them to our current high school interns, who described the research they are working on this summer (they did a great job, by the way - I know they'll be fantastic at their final presentations, which are next week already!). Afterward, we joined the whole group of interns and all went out to lunch together at Crossroads! There we all had a chance to informally chat and get to know each other, and let her get a feeling for RIT and the experiences the interns are having here. She seems like a really great fit for Imaging Science, and she has great interest and enthusiasm! I could relate a lot to her interests and feelings, as they remind me of myself 10 years ago when I was her age. After lunch, I pointed the way to the Admissions Office - she is just THAT excited! Yeah!!! I surely hope we'll be welcoming her here next fall.

Urban League Summer Camp: Day 10 - LAST DAY

So today marks the end of an era! Or something... Well, at the very least it's the end of the summer camp. Our whole 2 weeks were wrapped up in a final presentation, which for my group consisted of a power point I put together that had pictures and videos for all the days of the camp, with the students narrating and telling stories. My kids were well behaved and put on a great show:

Alright, guys, here we go...

BUT FIRST - The terrorist strikes again!!!!! This time they gave Debbie, one of the workshop organizers, a response to the note begging for the baby's safe return! She passed it along before our presentation, saying it was dropped off to her.

Back to presenting. Here's Darryl explaining his mirror demo.

Showing off our anaglyphs to a wowed audience.

After our presentations were done, the GIS group started their presentations. Lo and behold, one of them pulls out of their bag...THE BABY HOSTAGE!!! She claims she found it out in the hall way... Hmmmm... ;-)

The baby's back!!!!!!

After they were all done presenting, we all got together for a couple group pictures, and then parted ways. I am really proud of my kids and the things they have accomplished these two weeks. Hopefully they have taken away as much from this experience as I have.

THE END!!!!

Oh, and about that baby hostage - guess what... (It was me the whole time.)

Urban League Summer Camp: Day 9

The end is near... :-( But what a way to bring these two weeks to a close: Hi-speed video!! Below are my picks for the top 3 videos made today.

We put mentos into Diet W pop to create a geyser.

Hmm, I smell trouble...

BOMBS AWAY!!!

The aftermath... Check out the blast pattern left in the grass!

When we got back inside, we found another evil note from the terrorist!

This prompted a few of the campers to write a note in response:

We finished off the day going over tomorrow's presentation and getting to look at all the work we've done so far, including yesterday's anaglyphs.

The rest of today's videos can all be watched on the RITImagingScience YouTube channel. You should definitely check them out :-).

Urban Leage Summer Camp: Day 8

More fun times!

We started out by piling into the Freshmen Lab.

HS Intern Kelsey told us about PTMs and her summer research.

Then while Kelsey set up Betsy to be able to capture a PTM for us, we piled into the Biomedical Imaging Lab...

...Where HS Intern Ed told us about his research with ultrasound.

Then it was back upstairs to watch Betsy do her thang.

Then we got to play around with the PTM we made.

When we got back to the Fishbowl, we found another note left by the hostage-taker! (What?)

And then it was on to capturing images to make into anaglyphs.

There were 4 teams each sent around campus armed with D50s.

Then it was back to the optics labs to process the imagery (or goof around with the cameras some more).

The first team with a finished anaglyph. Look how exciting it is!

And finally, viewing analgyphs with the 3D glasses.

Here's the actual anaglyph from the last picture.

Below are some more of the analgyphs from today, and you can check out a bunch more at the Picasa album. (Don't forget, these should be viewed with some red/blue 3D glasses!)

Urban League Summer Camp: Day 7

Today was rainy - which I have no problem with (I came prepared), but I had a sneaking suspicion that the kids probably did not think to bring rain coats or umbrellas... So, since we were going to visit the College of Imaging Arts and Sciences today anyways, I met them in the breezeway between 7A and 7B to spare them the rest of the rainy distance. From there, we met Prof. Michael Peres, who showed us around a bunch of the School of Photographic Arts and Sciences!

We started out in the Biomed Photo lab, where Prof. Peres talked about what the meaning of "photography" is.

Then we toured a bunch of the photo school facilities. This is one of the shooting studios, which is painted all black to absorb any stray light.

Then we visited the north light room, which has a huge window that allows you to use natural light for photography. Or, you can pull the huge black velvet curtains and use artificial light. OR, you could use a combination of the two.

A nice group picture in the north light room.

We all got on board a huge elevator to ride down a floor - this thing is capable of bringing up cars!

After checking out a few more labs and the cage, we returned to the biomed photo lab, where Prof. Peres showed some example photographs. These are photomicrographs of a monkey fetus.

We also got another look at polarization. Here, polarized light is used to view stress in a lens. The pattern being formed is called a "Maltese Cross".

Then we used a camera hooked up to a microscope to view a human hair (with split ends).

Here we used a differenti

al interferen
ce microscope to view a dime.

We also got the opportunity to look through a microscope at tiny Abe in the Lincoln Memorial on the back of a penny, and the signature line on a check (which actually isn't a line at all, just tiny letters spelling "AUTHORIZED SIGNATURE" over and over - no joke!).

Here we melted a chemical (cholester

ol sulfate, I think) on a hot plate, then watched it re-solidif
y under the microscope. It formed beautiful crystals... But only when viewed through a polarizer! See the Maltese Cross patterns again?

We were plagued with a few technical difficulties today... The computers wouldn't allow us to log in to be able to make our own photomicrographs, and my camera ran out of battery and wouldn't take any more pictures. So we called it a day and let the kids go about 20 minutes early. Luckily the kids told me they had a lot of fun today, anyway! On a side note, Sterling had more babies with him today... Maybe he's forgotten about the poor one being ransomed.

Prof. Peres gave each of us a copy of the book Images from Science: An exhibition of Scientific Photography. It is stunning! (Although there are a couple biomed images in there that make my stomach turn a little bit... There's a good reason I did not become any kind of biologist.) I know at least one of the students was more interested in photography vs. imaging science, so hopefully today was extra helpful to at least one of the kids!