Visualization on Multiple Scales: From Small to Large

Tuesday, June 20, 2006 - 8:45 a.m. to Wednesday, June 21, 2006 - 9:55 a.m.

Engineering Innovations Lecture Series IV

Featuring:
Falko Kuester, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor; Electrical Engineering and Computer Science,
Biomedical Engineering

and

Joerg Meyer, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor; Electrical Engineering and Computer Science,
Biomedical Engineering

Location: UCI University Club
Parking is available at the University Club

Email engineerRSVP@uci.edu or call 949.824.3923 to RSVP

Abstract:
The animated video, “Powers of Ten,” easily demonstrates the fascinating concept of being able to zoom in closely on planet Earth from space down to the atomic level. What if you could do this with the human brain? Assistant Professors Falko Kuester and Joerg Meyer will discuss three-dimensional imaging and hierarchical, large-scale data management methods developed at the Center of GRAVITY, or Graphics, Visualization and Imaging Technology, which work to make this dream a reality. Combining histological sections with database knowledge, joining smart algorithms with the latest in hardware and display technology, and connecting science with education and everyday life through visualization are the goals of their research. 

Further, they will discuss how real-world problems come in multiple sizes, and how earth scientists model our planet based on satellite and sensor data to develop better climate and natural hazard simulations. Biomedical researchers model aspects of the human body to develop better diagnosis and treatment plans. The data obtained from sensors and various imaging modalities must often be interpreted on multiple scales. Scientific visualization, after years of developing new rendering methods and visualization techniques, now aims at addressing the scale problem. Large-scale computer simulations that were once unthinkable are now feasible, and high-resolution biomedical imaging is now a reality.  

Professors Kuester and Meyer will present a variety of recently developed methods to address the scale issue from both an algorithmic and hardware side.

About the Speakers:
Falko Kuester, Ph.D., received an M.S. degree in Mechanical Engineering in 1994 and an M.S. degree in Computer Science and Engineering in 1995 from the University of Michigan,Ann Arbor. In 2001, he received his Ph.D. from UC Davis, and is currently an assistant professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science and the Biomedical Engineering department at UC Irvine. He is also the director of the Calit2 Center of GRAVITY.  His research interests include image-based modeling and rendering, tera-scale scientific visualization and virtual reality, as well as distributed and remote visualization. Application areas of his research include biomedical engineering, earthquake engineering, rapid prototyping, and command and control.


Joerg Meyer, Ph.D., holds a shared appointment with the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science and the Department of Biomedical Engineering at UC Irvine. His research in the Center of GRAVITY in Calit2 is focused on biomedical imaging, large-scale scientific visualization, and virtual reality.  Current applications include visualizations of the human brain and heart, three-dimensional reconstructions from computed tomography (CT), and earthquake simulations. He and his team develop new strategies and algorithms that address the scale problem in biomedical visualization and related areas. Meyer received his B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. in Computer Science from the University of Kaiserslautern, Germany.