The Scientific Computing and Imaging (SCI) Institute is a permanent

research institute A research institute, research centre, research center or research organization, is an establishment founded for doing research. Research institutes may specialize in basic research or may be oriented to applied research. Although the term often i ...

at the

University of Utah The University of Utah (U of U, UofU, or simply The U) is a public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah. It is the flagship institution of the Utah System of Higher Education. The university was established in 1850 as the University of De ...

that focuses on the development of new

scientific computing Computational science, also known as scientific computing or scientific computation (SC), is a field in mathematics that uses advanced computing capabilities to understand and solve complex problems. It is an area of science that spans many disc ...

and

visualization Visualization or visualisation may refer to: *Visualization (graphics), the physical or imagining creation of images, diagrams, or animations to communicate a message * Data visualization, the graphic representation of data * Information visualiz ...

techniques, tools, and systems with primary applications to

biomedical engineering Biomedical engineering (BME) or medical engineering is the application of engineering principles and design concepts to medicine and biology for healthcare purposes (e.g., diagnostic or therapeutic). BME is also traditionally logical sciences ...

. The SCI Institute is noted worldwide in the

community for contributions by faculty, alumni, and staff. Faculty are associated primarily with the School of Computing, Department of Bioengineering, Department of Mathematics, and Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, with auxiliary faculty in the

Medical School A medical school is a tertiary educational institution, or part of such an institution, that teaches medicine, and awards a professional degree for physicians. Such medical degrees include the Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS, M ...

and

School of Architecture This is a list of architecture schools at colleges and universities around the world. An architecture school (also known as a school of architecture or college of architecture), is an institution specializing in architectural education. Africa ...

History

The Scientific Computing and Imaging Institute started in 1992 as a research group in the

University of Utah School of Computing The School of Computing is a school within the College of Engineering at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, Utah. School of Computing The school offers undergraduate and graduate degrees in computer science. The school has major research ...

by Chris Johnson and Rob MacLeod. In 1994 this group became the Center for Scientific Computing and Imaging, and in 2000 the name was changed to the Scientific Computing and Imaging (SCI) Institute. In 2007, the SCI Institute was awarded funding from

USTAR The Utah Science Technology and Research Initiative (USTAR) is a technology-based economic development agency funded by the state of Utah. The organization works to develop ideas and research into marketable products and successful companies throug ...

to recruit more faculty in medical imaging technology. The SCI Institute was recognized as an

NVIDIA Nvidia CorporationOfficially written as NVIDIA and stylized in its logo as VIDIA with the lowercase "n" the same height as the uppercase "VIDIA"; formerly stylized as VIDIA with a large italicized lowercase "n" on products from the mid 1990s to ...

CUDA CUDA (or Compute Unified Device Architecture) is a parallel computing platform and application programming interface (API) that allows software to use certain types of graphics processing units (GPUs) for general purpose processing, an approach ...

Center of Excellence in 2008. In 2011,

funding allowed faculty recruitment for genomic

signal processing Signal processing is an electrical engineering subfield that focuses on analyzing, modifying and synthesizing ''signals'', such as audio signal processing, sound, image processing, images, and scientific measurements. Signal processing techniq ...

and information visualization. in 2014,

Intel Intel Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company headquartered in Santa Clara, California. It is the world's largest semiconductor chip manufacturer by revenue, and is one of the developers of the x86 seri ...

partnered with the SCI Institute to form the Intel Parallel Computing Center for Scientific Rendering to research and develop large scale and in situ visualization techniques for Intel hardware.

Research

The overarching research objective of the Scientific Computing and Imaging Institute is to conduct application-driven research in the creation of new

techniques, tools, and systems. Given the proximity and availability of research conducted at the

University of Utah School of Medicine The University of Utah School of Medicine is located on the upper campus of the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, Utah. It was founded in 1905 and is currently the only MD-granting medical school in the state of Utah. History The school began ...

, a main application focus is

medicine Medicine is the science and practice of caring for a patient, managing the diagnosis, prognosis, prevention, treatment, palliation of their injury or disease, and promoting their health. Medicine encompasses a variety of health care pract ...

. SCI Institute researchers also apply computational techniques to scientific and engineering sub-specialties, such as

fluid dynamics In physics and engineering, fluid dynamics is a subdiscipline of fluid mechanics that describes the flow of fluids— liquids and gases. It has several subdisciplines, including ''aerodynamics'' (the study of air and other gases in motion) an ...

biomechanics Biomechanics is the study of the structure, function and motion of the mechanical aspects of biological systems, at any level from whole organisms to organs, cells and cell organelles, using the methods of mechanics. Biomechanics is a branch of ...

electrophysiology Electrophysiology (from Greek , ''ēlektron'', "amber" etymology of "electron"">Electron#Etymology">etymology of "electron" , ''physis'', "nature, origin"; and , '' -logia'') is the branch of physiology that studies the electrical properties of b ...

, bioelectric fields,

scientific visualization Scientific visualization ( also spelled scientific visualisation) is an interdisciplinary branch of science concerned with the visualization of scientific phenomena.Michael Friendly (2008)"Milestones in the history of thematic cartography, stat ...

parallel computing Parallel computing is a type of computation in which many calculations or processes are carried out simultaneously. Large problems can often be divided into smaller ones, which can then be solved at the same time. There are several different fo ...

inverse problems An inverse problem in science is the process of calculating from a set of observations the causal factors that produced them: for example, calculating an image in X-ray computed tomography, source reconstruction in acoustics, or calculating the ...

, and

neuroimaging Neuroimaging is the use of quantitative (computational) techniques to study the structure and function of the central nervous system, developed as an objective way of scientifically studying the healthy human brain in a non-invasive manner. Incre ...

Open source software releases

The SCI Institute releases

open source Open source is source code that is made freely available for possible modification and redistribution. Products include permission to use the source code, design documents, or content of the product. The open-source model is a decentralized sof ...

software packages for many of the projects developed by researchers for use by the

and

medical imaging Medical imaging is the technique and process of imaging the interior of a body for clinical analysis and medical intervention, as well as visual representation of the function of some organs or tissues (physiology). Medical imaging seeks to rev ...

communities. All projects are released under the MIT software license. Notable projects released by SCI include: * SCIRun -

Problem Solving Environment A problem solving environment (PSE) is a completed, integrated and specialised computer software for solving one class of problems, combining automated problem-solving methods with human-oriented tools for guiding the problem resolution. A PSE may a ...

(PSE), for modeling, simulation and visualization of scientific problems * ImageVis3D -

volume rendering In scientific visualization and computer graphics, volume rendering is a set of techniques used to display a 2D projection of a 3D discretely sampled data set, typically a 3D scalar field. A typical 3D data set is a group of 2D slice imag ...

application with multidimensional

transfer function In engineering, a transfer function (also known as system function or network function) of a system, sub-system, or component is a function (mathematics), mathematical function that mathematical model, theoretically models the system's output for ...

visualization support * Seg3D - interactive

image segmentation In digital image processing and computer vision, image segmentation is the process of partitioning a digital image into multiple image segments, also known as image regions or image objects ( sets of pixels). The goal of segmentation is to simpl ...

tool * ViSUS - Visualization Streams for Ultimate Scalability * ShapeWorks - statistical shape analysis tool that constructs compact statistical point-based models of ensembles of similar shapes that does not rely on any specific surface parameterization * FluoRender - interactive rendering tool for

confocal microscopy Confocal microscopy, most frequently confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM) or laser confocal scanning microscopy (LCSM), is an optical imaging technique for increasing optical resolution and contrast of a micrograph by means of using a s ...

data visualization. *

VisTrails VisTrails is a scientific workflow management system developed at the Scientific Computing and Imaging Institute at the University of Utah that provides support for data exploration and visualization. It is written in Python and employs Qt via ...

- scientific workflow management system. *

Cleaver A cleaver is a large knife that varies in its shape but usually resembles a rectangular-bladed hatchet. It is largely used as a kitchen or butcher knife and is mostly intended for splitting up large pieces of soft bones and slashing through t ...

- multi-material tetrahedral meshing API and application * FEBio - nonlinear finite element solver specifically designed for biomechanical applications * VISPACK - C++ library that includes matrix, image, and volume objects *

Teem Teem is a brand of Lemon-lime drink, lemon-lime-flavored soft drink produced by PepsiCo, The Pepsi-Cola Company. It was introduced in 1959 as Pepsi's answer to 7 Up and Sprite (drink), Sprite. Overview In the pre-planning stages, Teem was known ...

- collection of libraries for representing, processing, and visualizing scientific

raster data upright=1, The Smiley, smiley face in the top left corner is a raster image. When enlarged, individual pixels appear as squares. Enlarging further, each pixel can be analyzed, with their colors constructed through combination of the values for ...

* Manta Interactive Ray Tracer - interactive ray tracing environment designed for both workstations and supercomputers

Notable researchers and alumni

* David M. Beazley - wrote ''Python Essential Reference'', co-awarded the

Gordon Bell Prize The Gordon Bell Prize, commonly referred to as the Nobel Prize of Supercomputing, is an award presented by the Association for Computing Machinery each year in conjunction with the SC Conference series (formerly known as the Supercomputing Confere ...

in 1993 and in 1998 *

Juliana Freire Juliana Freire de Lima e Silva is a Brazilian computer scientist who works as a professor of computer science and engineering at the New York University.. She is known for her research in information visualization, data provenance, and computeriz ...

- developed

, Fellow of the

Association for Computing Machinery The Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) is a US-based international learned society for computing. It was founded in 1947 and is the world's largest scientific and educational computing society. The ACM is a non-profit professional member ...

* Amy Ashurst Gooch - developed

Gooch shading Gooch shading is a non-photorealistic rendering technique for shading objects. It is also known as "cool to warm" shading, and is widely used in technical illustration. History Gooch shading was developed by Amy Gooch et al. at the University of ...

for non-photo realistic rendering (NPR), authored first book on NPR * Charles D. Hansen - co-editor of ''

The Visualization Handbook ''The Visualization Handbook'' is a textbook by Charles D. Hansen and Christopher R. Johnson that serves as a survey of the field of scientific visualization by presenting the basic concepts and algorithms in addition to a current review of visu ...

'' *

Gordon Kindlmann Gordon L. Kindlmann is an American computer scientist who works on information visualization and image analysis. He is recognized for his contributions in developing tools for tensor data visualization. Biography Gordon Kindlmann graduated fro ...

- developed tensor glyphs * Aaron Lefohn - Director of Research at

* Miriah Meyer -

TED Fellow TED Conferences, LLC (Technology, Entertainment, Design) is an American-Canadian non-profit media organization that posts international talks online for free distribution under the slogan "ideas worth spreading". TED was founded by Richard Sau ...

and

MIT Technology Review ''MIT Technology Review'' is a bimonthly magazine wholly owned by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and editorially independent of the university. It was founded in 1899 as ''The Technology Review'', and was re-launched without "The" in ...

TR35 The Innovators Under 35 is a peer-reviewed annual award and listicle published by ''MIT Technology Review'' magazine, naming the world's top 35 innovators under the age of 35. at ''Technology Review'' with lists of winners at technologyreview.com ...

listee, pioneer in

interactive visualization Visualization or visualisation (see spelling differences) is any technique for creating images, diagrams, or animations to communicate a message. Visualization through visual imagery has been an effective way to communicate both abstract and c ...

for

basic research Basic research, also called pure research or fundamental research, is a type of scientific research with the aim of improving scientific theories for better understanding and prediction of natural or other phenomena. In contrast, applied resear ...

* Erik Reinhard - Distinguished Scientist at Technicolor Research and Innovation, founder and Editor-in-Chief for ''

ACM Transactions on Applied Perception ''ACM Transactions on Applied Perception'' (''ACM TAP'') is a quarterly peer-reviewed scientific journal covering interdisciplinary computer science topics relevant to psychology and perception. It was established in 2004 by Erik Reinhard and Hei ...

'' *

Theresa-Marie Rhyne Theresa-Marie Rhyne is an expert in the field of computer-generated visualization and a consultant who specializes in applying artistic color theories to visualization and digital media. She has consulted with the Stanford University Visualizat ...

- founding director of the

SIGGRAPH SIGGRAPH (Special Interest Group on Computer Graphics and Interactive Techniques) is an annual conference on computer graphics (CG) organized by the ACM SIGGRAPH, starting in 1974. The main conference is held in North America; SIGGRAPH Asia ...

Cartographic Visualization Project and the

Environmental Protection Agency A biophysical environment is a biotic and abiotic surrounding of an organism or population, and consequently includes the factors that have an influence in their survival, development, and evolution. A biophysical environment can vary in scale f ...

Scientific Visualization Center *

Peter Shirley Peter Shirley (born 1963) is an American computer scientist and computer graphics researcher. He is a Distinguished Scientist at NVIDIA and adjunct professor at the University of Utah in computer science. He has made extensive contributions to i ...

- Distinguished Scientist at

recognized for contributions to real time ray tracing * Claudio Silva - chair of

IEEE Computer Society The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) is a 501(c)(3) professional association for electronic engineering and electrical engineering (and associated disciplines) with its corporate office in New York City and its operati ...

Technical Committee on Visualization and Graphics The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) is a 501(c)(3) professional association for electronic engineering and electrical engineering (and associated disciplines) with its corporate office in New York City and its operati ...

, developed

* Peter-Pike Sloan - developed the

precomputed radiance transfer Precomputed Radiance Transfer (PRT) is a computer graphics technique used to render a scene in real time with complex light interactions being precomputed to save time. Radiosity methods can be used to determine the diffuse lighting of the scene, ...

rendering method *

Ross Whitaker Ross T. Whitaker is an American computer scientist and Director of the University of Utah School of Computing. Biography Whitaker graduated summa cum laude in electrical engineering and computer science from Princeton University in 1986. Followi ...

- director of the

and

IEEE Fellow As of 2019, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) has 5,082 members designated Fellow, each of whom is associated with one of the 41 societies under the IEEE. The Fellow grade of membership is the highest level of membershi ...

External links

SCI Institute GitHubScientific Computing and Imaging Institute: A History

References

{{Coord, 40, 46, 3.72, N, 111, 50, 42.00, W, type:edu, display=title Computing in medical imaging University of Utah Education in Salt Lake City Computational science Information technology research institutes Research institutes in Utah Anatomical simulation Computer science institutes in the United States Research institutes established in 1992