This year, three UIC Electronic Visualization Laboratory (EVL) research assistants were recognized in the campus’ 2013 Image of Research competition. First place went to Joshua Albers, a New Media Arts MFA student, second place went to Khairi Reda, a Computer Science PhD student, and a Finalist was Victor Mateevitsi, a Computer Science PhD student.

Albers’ artwork “Threshold” shows how space is occupied over time; to create it, discrete depth information of an object in a room - in this case, a person walking - was continually sampled and recorded over a period of time and then reconstructed. Reda’s scientific visualization of a nanoscale glass fissure composed of 5 million atoms is shown in EVL’s CAVE2™ virtual-reality system; data simulations were done by researchers at University of Southern California and computed at Argonne National Laboratory. Mateevitsi’s “SpiderSense” human augmentics project, done in collaboration with Brad Haggadone of UIC Communications and Brian Kunzer of UIC Bioengineering, illustrates how a wearer can localize obstacles and objects by feeling the environment around him.

Winning entries are displayed in the lobby of the Daley Library every spring, in the UIC Library of Health Sciences, and are featured on light pole banners around campus. Winners, finalists and a wide selection of other entries are also posted to an online gallery in the Consortium of Academic and Research Libraries in Illinois (CARLI).

This is the 4th time EVL has received 1st Place in the six years of the annual Image of Research competition, as well as recognition in several other select categories. Here is a summary of all EVL accomplishments to date:

2013: 1st Place - “Threshold”, Joshua Albers; 2nd place - “A Nanoscale Forest Seen Through a Big Lens”, Khairi Reda; Finalist - “SpiderSense”, Victor Mateevitsi, Brad Haggadone, Brian Kunzer

2012: 1st Place - “Artificially created cortical functional blood unit”, Thomas Marrinan, Ian Gould

2011: Honorable Mention - “20 Foot Canvas”, JD Pirtle, Arthur Nishimoto, Karan Chakrapani, Todd Silvia, and Philip Pilosi; Finalist - “Cli-Mate”, Ed Kahler

2010: 1st Place - “Avatar - A Virtual Human”, Sangyoon Lee

2009: Honorable Mention - “The Viewer”, Julio Obelleiro; Finalist - “The Tight Room”, Heejoo Kim

2008: 1st Place - “Infinity Gliders”, AnnMarie Cernoch; 3rd Place - “Rain on Mars”, Dmitri Svistula