Category: News

Nemiroff and Students Receive Best Paper Award

imapCS Faculty/Students Win Best Paper Award

Computer Science Assistant Professor Chaoli Wang, former CS undergraduate student John Reese, former CS MS student Huan Zhang, CS PhD student Jun Tao, and Physics Professor Robert Nemiroff will receive a Best Paper Award for their paper, “iMap: A stable layout for navigating large image collections with embedded search”, at the IS&T/SPIE Conference on Visualization and Data Analysis, Feb. 4-6, 2013, in Burlingame, Calif. Jun Tao will present the award paper at the conference.

For their next steps, the authors will further develop techniques for animated transition and graph-based image layout, deploy the visualization results on the display wall at the Immersive Visualization Studio (IVS) at the Center for Computer Systems Research (CCSR) for outreach, and eventually release a web-based online program to benefit a wider user base.

From Tech Today.

In Memoriam: Paul R. Hinzmann

Paul Hinzmann
Paul Hinzmann

Paul Revere Hinzmann, professor emeritus of physics, died on Nov. 30, at the Clark Retirement Home in Grand Rapids, Mich. He was 99 years old.

He was born in Tipton, Mich., and lived in Ohio before attending the Case Institute of Technology (now Case Western Reserve). He attended his 70th reunion there in 2005.

Hinzmann received a master’s degree in education from the University of Michigan before beginning his teaching career at Michigan Tech in 1946. He taught until 1977 and was also the University photographer during his tenure at Tech. He was recalled as a patient, caring teacher who loved the enthusiasm of students. After retirement, he was active in the local Boy Scouts chapter, Isle Royale Natural History Association, and Golden Kiwanis.

Paul was preceded in death by his parents and two brothers, Alvin and Wade. He is survived by his wife of 71 years, Elsie (Feigley) Hinzmann and his children, Georgia (Hugh) Makens of Grand Rapids, Mich. and Vincent (Nancy) Hinzmann of Milford, Mich. grandchildren and other family members.

Paul wished his body to be donated to science with the MSU Medical School being the recipient.

Posted December 5, 2012, in Tech Today.

Please feel free to leave comments on your experiences with Paul Hinzmann.

Yap Research and Intellectual Property Citation Index

According to the Intellectual Property Citation Index (IPCI), a product of the National Applied Research Laboratories in Taiwan, Michigan Tech particularly excels in research related to instruments and instrumentation, materials science, electrical engineering and physics.

As an example, physics Professor Yoke Khin Yap’s investigation of boron nitride nanotubes “has yielded important results and has been a recipient of funding from the prestigious National Science Foundation Innovation Corps program,” said Baker. Yap’s research points towards a number of commercial applications in a range of industries from aerospace to alternative energy to medicine.

Read more at Tech Today, by Kevin Hodur.

Physics Student Wins Elevator Pitch Competition

Abhilash KantamneniA large crowd in Fisher 135 was treated to a newly formatted Fourth Annual Bob Mark Elevator Pitch Competition Wednesday night. It was more realistic: the contestants had only 90 seconds to pitch their product, with elevator sound effects marking their beginnings and endings.

More than 20 teams did their best pitches, and the judges had some hard choices to make. Winning first prize and $1,000 was MyPaar (My Love), a dating website for India, created by physics PhD student Abhi Kantamneni. He also won the Audience Favorite Award and $200.

Kantamneni said he got his inspiration for the idea at 2:30 a.m. one morning, while immersed in another competition. “I realized that my other idea was no good, and I needed to follow one important part of a business model: think of the customer first.”

In spite of nearly double the number of contestants and added entertainment, the event still concluded in about an hour and a half, thanks to many hands that helped: SBE Instructor Michele Loughead and undergrad students Travis Beaulieu (physics and one of last year’s winners), Mason Pew (sound design) and Haley Carlson (marketing).

Read more at Michigan Tech News, by Dennis Walikainen.

The School of Business and Economics’ Bob Mark Memorial Elevator Pitch Competition was covered by the Detroit News recently.

From Tech Today.