• Flynn Named Kaneb Faculty Fellow • Computational Medicine Group Helps Improve Radiation Therapy Treatment Time • Streigel Recevies NSF CAREER Award • Computer Vision Research Laboratory: More than Meets the Eye Flynn Named Kaneb Faculty Fellow Patrick J. Flynn, professor of computer science and engineering, has been named a faculty fellow for 2004-05 by the John A. Kaneb Center for Teaching and Learning. Established in 1995, the center assists Notre Dame faculty in evaluating and improving their teaching abilities as well as incorporating technology into classroom activities. Each year the center honors outstanding faculty across the University. One of eight fellows named for the current academic year, Flynn will join the other fellows in sharing his teaching experiences and techniques through a series of workshops, discussions groups, research projects, and individual consultations. Flynn received his bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering, his master’s degree in computer science, and his doctorate in computer science, all from Michigan State University. He co-directs the Computer Vision Research Laboratory with Kevin W. Bowyer, the Schubmehl-Prein Chair in Computer Science and Engineering. Working with student researchers, they have assembled one of the largest and most comprehensive multi-modal biometric signature databases in the world. [back to top] Computational Medicine Group Helps Improve Radiation Therapy Treatment Time The goal of researchers and physicians in radiation therapy is to deliver high doses of radiation to a targeted area while minimizing the damage to surrounding normal tissue and critical organs. One of the current techniques is called intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT), which requires the ability to generate non-uniform dosages. Steps taken during a typical IMRT treatment include scanning the area to provide a tomographic image of the tumor and surrounding tissue, calculating the dosage based on the tomography of the tumor, setting the “movements” of the cylinder -- a computer-controlled multileaf collimator (MLC) which delivers the beams of radiation, and then delivering the radiation. The challenge is in generating a plan for the movements of the MLC, because it consists of up to 80 pairs of tungsten leaves which must each be adjusted to accurately shape the beam. This is called leaf-sequencing, and it is a vital part of the treatment plan as the maximum dose required must be delivered in the minimum amount of time. Using new algorithms and computational geometry techniques, the Computational Medicine Group at Notre Dame has been developing solutions to this leaf-sequencing challenge. The team, led by Danny Z. Chen, professor of computer science and engineering, includes Sharon X. Hu, associate professor of computer science and engineering, graduate students Shuang Luan and Chao Wang, and former Ph.D. candidate Xiaodong Wu. The Notre Dame team has been collaborating with researchers in the Department of Radiation Oncology at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, who are performing extensive experimental studies using the new algorithms and software developed at Notre Dame. This software, called SLS, produces IMRT plans that compare favorably with the currently available IMRT software, while reducing the time required to establish the plan by approximately two-thirds. As a result, the SLS software is now being used in the University of Maryland Medical Center and the Helen P. Denit Cancer Center in Montgomery General Hospital. Journal papers on the work have been accepted for publication in the Journal of Physics in Medicine and Biology and the Journal of Medical Physics. Research results were also presented at the 45th Annual Meeting and Technical Exhibition of the American Association of Physicists in Medicine and the 19th ACM (Association for Computing Machinery) Symposium on Computational Geometry. [back to top] Streigel Receives NSF CAREER Award Assistant Professor Aaron Striegel has been named a recipient of the National Science Foundation’s Early Career Development (CAREER) Award. This is the highest honor given by the U.S. government to junior faculty in engineering and science. Established in 1995, the CAREER program recognizes and supports “exceptionally promising college and university junior faculty who are committed to the integration of research and education,” says NSF Director Rita R. Colwell. “Its goal is to help top-performing scientists and engineers early in their careers to simultaneously develop their contributions and commitment to research and education.” Striegel joined the Department of Computer Science and Engineering in 2003. He received both his bachelor’s and doctoral degrees in computer engineering from Iowa State University. He is receiving the CAREER award for his work on stealth multicast techniques, titled “Transparent Bandwidth Conservation Techniques.” [back to top] Computer Vision Research Laboratory: More than Meets the Eye Scanning a photograph or slide on a desktop computer and then printing it on a laser or ink-jet printer produces a two-dimensional image. It’s flat. Even though it may still show a stunning subject, there are nuances to the image that have been lost. These nuances are extremely important to photographers who wish to capture the beauty of nature or a particular object. They are more vital in computer vision research, where three-dimensional (3D) images are providing data that can be used in a variety of applications, including biometric identification for homeland security, virtual reality, historical preservation, and archaeology. For example, faculty and students in the Computer Vision Research Laboratory are applying 3D scanning, modeling, and rapid prototyping to the fabrication of missing bones in Peck’s Rex, one of the highest-quality T.Rex skeletons ever discovered. While an undergraduate in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Chris Boehnen wrote a software program that automatically converted digital photographs into files which described the dimensional geometry of a shape for modeling processes. As a graduate student, he is now applying rapid prototyping techniques to configure the missing bones of the T.Rex. Boehnen; Patrick J. Flynn, professor of computer science and engineering; and J. Keith Rigby, associate professor of civil engineering and geological sciences, scanned the shape of the existing bones and duplicated them at the correct scale and position to complete the dinosaur. Replicas of their work are currently on display in Notre Dame’s Eck Visitors’ Center. Work in the Computer Vision Research Laboratory is directed by Flynn and Kevin W. Bowyer, the Schubmehl-Prein Chair in Computer Science and Engineering, and supported by the National Science Foundation, Sandia National Laboratories, and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. For more information on 3D scanning, modeling, and fabrication within the Department of Computer Science and Engineering, visit http://www.cse.nd.edu/research/labs.php. [back to top]