CSE168: Rending Algorithms First, Second and Honorable Menions...Grand Prize Winner to Come

Update July 2: here is the grand prize image for CSE168. The 2010 CSE 168 Rendering Algorithms press release is here. The first, second and some of the honorable mention images are below. These are all images that computer science students created using rendering algorithms and C++ (not photoshop/illustrator/etc)

(Photos from the competiton are here.)

Update Friday June 11: last two images are new.

First Place: William George and Robert Gross




Second Place: Jason Obenberger




Honorable Mention: Jennifer Chandler



Honorable Mention: Steven Upham



Honorable Mention: Tim Etler



Honorable Mention: Oleg Bisker




Update Friday June 11: Two new honorable mention images below.

Honorable Mention: Joel Chelliah





Honorable Mention: Sid Vijay

200 fly or rendering algorithms of water?

Is it harder to swim 200 fly or write the C++ code to render algorithms for swimming pool water? That's the question I hope to get answered tomorrow by a computer science senior on the UCSD women's swim team. I'm waiting on the winning images from the CSE 168 rendering algorithms competition for spring 2010.

Laser Looks for Rail Line Cracks

Structural engineering professor Francesco Lanza di Scalea is in the news today. He is leading a project to use lasers and microphones to detect cracks in railroad tracks. Gary Robbins from the San Diego Union Tribune covered the story. Check it out here.

The crack-detecting prototype is out at the UC San Diego Englekirk Structural Engineering Center.

Making Graphics with Rendering Algorithms: Class and Contest

I popped into the final presentations for CSE 168 (Rendering Algorithms) taught by computer science professor Henrik Wann Jensen. I'm waiting for the final results, but in the meantime, here are some of the photos from the class. Above: UC San Diego senior Nick Echols shows off a "behind the scenes" graphic tied to his CSE 168 project.

The C++ computer code in the image (below) highlights the fact that these images are created by computer science students who write and manipulate lines of C++ code. This is not about using software that has already been created. It's much more involved than learning Photoshop, Illustrator and 3D graphics programs.

Photos of Winner of UC San Diego Entrepreneur Challenge

Congratulations to Yu Mike Chi, the electrical engineering PhD student who leads the startup that won the 2009-2010 UC San Diego Entrepreneur Challenge. Below are photos of Chi, Chi and his advisor, bioengineering professor Gert Cauwenberghs, and the wireless sensors (and some wired versions for contrast).

Video from Thursday's Sanyo / UC San Diego Announcement

Below is video and audio from Jan Kleissl's talk at the Sanyo-UC San Diego smart grid / solar / energy management announcement on Thursday. The video is of the UC San Diego sky imager from Jan Kleissl's lab in the MAE Dept here at the Jacobs School.



The San Diego Union Tribune and KPBS and many other news outlets covered this story.

TIES Gets UC San Diego on Presidential Community Service Honor Roll

The Jacobs School's Teams in Engineering Service (TIES) played an important role in getting UC San Diego on the 2009 President's Community Service Honor Roll with distinction.

TIES is an innovative academic program that offers partnerships between engineering students and non-profit organizations in the local community leading them to identify, address and solve engineering problems.

TIES is modeled after the EPICS Program at Purdue University, a program originating in the mid-90s, which has proven to be enormously successful in its efforts to provide its engineering students with the opportunity to work in the real world.

The best way to start to understand TIES is to browse the list of current TIES projects.

Read the full story by Christine Clark here.

Update Monday June 7: The San Diego Union Tribune covered the story.