University develops new curriculum

$500,000 grant helps create electronic imaging program

Kriss

University undergraduates are moving to the forefront of a national effort to improve education in the field of electronic imaging, thanks to a $500,000 grant from the National Science Foundation.

The three-year grant will enable faculty members from computer science, electrical and computer engineering, and optics to provide a comprehensive, well-rounded approach to imaging education, giving undergraduates a more comprehensive view of the rapidly growing field than is typically available to students.

University officials know of no other program that aims to teach undergraduates so broadly about electronic imaging.

"Much of modern technology focuses on imaging, and many disciplines have evolved to include some piece of the topic," says Michael Kriss, associate director of the Center for Electronic Imaging Systems (CEIS), which is coordinating the program. "This grant will help us bring together issues as diverse as computer vision, signal processing, color vision, and theories of optoelectronic systems to provide one coherent path for students interested in the field."

Under the plan, five new courses will be added, nine others will be enhanced, and two additional laboratories will be created.

Faculty members are also initiating a seminar series and more research opportunities for undergraduates to keep students aware of new developments in imaging science and technology.

One of the new classes, beginning in January, will bring to freshmen many of the tools that were new to graduate students and faculty members just a few years ago. The topics include the physics of color imaging, digital video and photography, computer vision and virtual reality, medical imaging, digital art and publishing, display technology, and image transmission.

Many activities in everyday life involve electronic imaging in some way: CT or MRI scans at the hospital, digital map systems in new automobiles, snazzy World Wide Web pages that require long waits to squeeze into a computer, movies on digital video disk.

The field has exploded so rapidly and widely that universities are working to create a cohesive curriculum as freshmen already interested in such technologies arrive at their doorsteps.

Other new courses will focus on medical imaging, image science, visual computing, and digital imaging technologies. New laboratories will include facilities to edit and recombine images, define and describe images, collect data from ultrasound or other types of medical scans, and handle components like sensors and lenses that make such activities possible.

The effort is also being funded by the University and by several companies that are part of CEIS.