With this in mind, the present document briefly outlines a number of ways in which the College of Computing (CoC) can contribute to, and benefit from, initiatives in life and environmental sciences and bioengineering. It should be observed that CoC already has a number of related academic and research activities that are highly relevant to these initiatives and which represent strengths of the faculty within the College to conduct further research in these areas. They include, but are not limited to, the following:
Database systems: capturing the complex structural and operational
aspects of biological and environmental data; and the design and
implementation of multimedia database systems supporting genome and
environmental research.
High performance
computing: distributed and parallel systems aimed
at facilitating the study of complex environmental simulations.
Graphics and animation: creation of physically-based models,
simulations, and animations of biomechanical structures and human motion;
and approaches to simulate and control behaviors.
Modeling, imaging, and
visualization: analysis, interpretation, and
visualization of medical imagery and volumetric datasets; and methods for
modeling, simulating, and interacting with biomedical structures and
processes.
Distributed simulation: simulations of complex biological systems
from molecular structures to ecosystems.
Human-computer interaction: user-interface design and collaborative
methods to support easy, intuitive interactions with, and communication
about, biomedical information, especially in the context of genome research
and telemedicine.
Algorithms: algorithms for assembling genome sequences and to
construct computational approaches to solving biological problems.
Intelligent systems and
neuroscience: robotics research drawing
from, and contributing to, neuroscientific methods; and knowledge-based
systems.
Networking and communications: models and techniques to support
and enhance the transmission and real-time communication of information
contained in a variety of media.
Artificial
intelligence and cognitive
science: methods of learning,
reasoning, and decision-making to interpret and understand biomedical
phenomena.
Software
engineering: systems designed to deal with large, complex
collections of information.
Virtual environments: study of immersible methods to systematically
diagnose and treat phobia, currently emphasizing vertigo, and surgery
simulation systems.
Extended computing environments: creation of approaches and
prototype systems to aid in navigating and/or functioning in physical
spaces, such as navigational aids and audio-based interfaces for the blind.
Several of the aforementioned areas represent capabilities that are vital to any information-intensive application environment. The biological and environmental areas are particularly rich in complex information and processes, and are typically worked on by interdisciplinary teams of collaborating scientists around the globe. Many of these bioscience-, biomedical-, and environmentally related computing activities are further detailed at the end of this document. Clearly, there is a critical mass of ongoing research that centers around the biosciences, and CoC would therefore be building on its strengths and interests. In this context, initiatives in the biosciences would draw from, as well as enrich, our intellectual base. It is also worth mentioning that during the past year, a software program (designed to visualize medical imagery and resulting from a collaboration between CoC, OIP, and Emory University) has been commercially licensed.
In addition to these research activities, a number of our faculty have participated in, and continue to be involved in, a variety of academic programs in bioscience and bioengineering. These include the graduate degree-granting program in bioengineering, courses in medical image processing and visualization, and the Whitaker Foundation-funded program. It is expected that these academic activities would increase as the Institute's initiatives expand.
