We have funding for three SUNYIT undergraduate research positions in Vision Science to take place during summer, 2014. You don’t have to be an expert in optometry to apply! You do, however, need a good background in mathematics and a desire to be (or become!) a terrific programmer.

Each student will work for approximately 160 hours over the course of 10 weeks between May and August 2014 under the supervision of Drs. Andrea Dziubek, Edmond Rusjan, and Bill Thistleton.

Dr. Andrea Dziubek ( dziubea@sunypoly.edu) will work with a student to adapt a software package to describe the geometry and function of arterioles and venules in the retina. Students will help develop and implement an algorithm for a “lumped network model”. They will also implement efficient mesh generation routines to couple geometric data with a discrete exterior calculus model. A student applying to this project should have some background in mathematical modeling, some programming experience with Python or MATLAB, and a desire to learn more about both.

Dr. Edmond Rusjan ( edmond@sunypoly.edu) will work with a student writing Python classes and functions and interfacing with Scipy (for numerical calculations involving matrices) and with Mayavi (for 3D visualization). Some research will involve volume rendering, animation and 3D Fourier transforms. A student applying to this project should have solid foundations in mathematics, including some background in matrices, mathematical modeling and programming, and a desire to learn and do research. Familiarity with Python is beneficial, but not required.

Dr. William Thistleton ( thistlet@sunypoly.edu) will be working to take pictures of the human eye and perform “segmentation”, or software recognition of features such as arteries and veins. The student researcher will help program the implementation of vessel segmentation in the MATLAB environment. We will also develop and implement a method based upon non-extensive entropy and will develop performance measures to see whether we can achieve superior results. A student applying to this project should have some probability and MATLAB experience, and a desire to learn about image processing.

If you are interested in applying to one of these projects please send an email (or stop by our offices!) We don’t need a formal resume, just a paragraph describing your math and programming background and your desire to work on one of these projects.