[Aspuru-Guzik group list] [iic-seminars] IIC Summer Internship Opportunities

2007 Summer Internship Positions http://iic.harvard.edu/employment/index.html Email Resumes Visual Computing Group The IIC Visual Computing Group is collaborating with Harvard scientists to develop innovative technologies for the understanding and analysis of large-scale scientific data. Our research is at the intersection of visualization, computer graphics, interaction design, and computer vision. In our work we consider data acquisition (sensors, scanners, digital photography, digital video), data representation (data reduction, multi-resolution models), data analysis (machine learning, feature extraction), visual output (novel display technologies), and interaction techniques (multi-touch tables, computer vision interfaces). We are looking for students who are interested in pushing the state of the art in visual computing research and its applications to scientific problems. 1. Distributed Computing for Display Walls We are exploring the meaningful visualization of large-scale scientific data on large displays. In this project we will construct a display wall using an array of flat-panel LCD displays driven by a cluster of PCs. We will use commodity hardware and existing software platforms (e.g., Chromium). The goals are to build a working display wall prototype and to gain experience with the bottlenecks that exist in such a system, in particular with regard to HDTV video and gigapixel images. Requirements: The intern should be enrolled in a BS, MS, or PhD program in Computer Science and ideally has research experience in computer graphics and/or vision. Hands on experience with distributed systems and/or display walls are a plus. 2. Multi-User Interactions for Shared Large Displays Shared large displays offer unique challenges for multi-user interaction. Traditional desktop metaphors, such as the mouse or the menu bar, break down completely when multiple people are in the same place at the same time. In this project we will investigate new interfaces that allow users to interact with a large display simultaneously (i.e., without having to take turns.) Ideas we will explore range from the use of game controllers (e.g., the Nintendo Wii) to touch-table interfaces (e.g., Mitsubishi Electric?s Diamond Touch) to gesture and speech recognition. Requirements: The intern should be enrolled in a BS, MS, or PhD program in Computer Science and ideally has research experience in human-computer interaction and computer graphics. Experience with multi-user input devices - especially touch-based - is a plus but not required. 3. GPGPU for Radio Astronomy Computer graphics chips, known as Graphics Processing Units or GPUs, offer today?s most powerful computational performance per dollar. Many researchers and developers have become interested in harnessing the power of commodity GPUs for general-purpose (or GPGPU) computing. In this project we will develop a GPGPU implementation of a part of the signal-processing pipeline for a radio astronomy project at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. Requirements: The intern should be enrolled in a BS, MS, or PhD program in Computer Science. A strong background and experience in C/C ++ and GPU programming are required. Candidates with previous GPGPU experience will be strongly preferred. Interest or experience in radio astronomy is a plus. IIC Time Series Center The IIC Time Series Center is collaborating with astronomers, computer scientists, and statisticians to develop a-priori algorithms for the discovery of anomalies, similarities and dis-similarities, and patterns in astronomical light curves from stars. Possible outcomes from these efforts include discoveries of transits of extra- solar planets, eclipsing binaries, and stellar occultation, both in existing catalogs, and on-going surveys. Our research combines work in astronomy, numerical and symbolic algorithms, web services, and databases. 4. Visualization interface to astronomical time series database and analysis tools: The project will consist of altering and/or integrating (VOPlot, Vizier) a visual web-capable desktop or web UI application that can be used to access astronomical light curves from the Time Series Center database. The same tool can be used to access available modules for processing light curves, for example, a high- pass filter or a Fourier transform may be interactively applied to a light curve. This transformation procedure, and other subsequent procedures can be saved into a workflow , and then re-used in batch on other light curves, at the server. Requirements: We are looking for a student who is interested in combining aspects from visualization and UI programming, filtering algorithms, innovative data storage and transformation, and web services. You will need a strong programming background, with some experience in interactive graphics, SQL, and web programming. A computer science or electrical engineering background at least the sophomore level is desired. Familiarity with astronomy will be a strong bonus. You will be working with a computational scientist in the IIC on this project. The project will involve writing the framework for this workflow and a visual interface to construct it by example. The internship will address one or two of the above aspects of the project. Astronomical Medicine The Harvard Initiative in Innovative Computing (IIC) Astromed project brings together the best ideas in astronomy and medical imaging to drive new discoveries in both fields. The IIC Astromed team consists of researchers and engineers from the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Harvard Medical School, and the IIC itself. 5. 3D Visualization Liaison for Astronomy IIC/Astromed is looking for an undergraduate summer intern to introduce astronomers to new prototype 3D visualization software developed at IIC. This person will become familiar with the capabilities of the tool, work with astronomers from the CfA and other organizations to visualize their data, and inform ongoing IIC software and research efforts. This project is an ideal way to learn about new and powerful tools for visual image discovery and analysis, and includes the potential to be involved the research of some of the most prominent astronomers in their fields. Requirements: A successful candidate for this position would have some familiarity with computer graphics applications or algorithms, an interest in scientific visualization, and research interests in astronomy or astrophysics. He or she should also have good written and verbal communication skills and enjoy working with other people. Teaching experience a plus. This internship is a full time summer commitment. However, strong preference will be given to applicants interested in continuing this work as part of a junior or senior thesis. _______________________________________________ iic-seminars mailing list iic-seminars(a)calists.harvard.edu http://calists.harvard.edu/mailman/listinfo/iic-seminars