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