Cornell scientist turns photos into 3-D buildings

10:49 pm | Architecture, Cornell, Software | No comment

A set of algorithms that generated three-dimensional models from unstructured collections of two-dimensional photos was enhanced by a Cornell computer scientist, Noah Snavely, while working on his Ph.D. dissertation at the University of Washington.  PhotoCity, a new method that developed from his original work. There are teams of students at the University of Washington and Cornell that have been playing the PhotoCity game. The researchers plan to mix their system with a social game that allows teams to add images where they are necessary to enhance the visual models in order to improve the quality of the renderings. Researchers are planning to open it for public use to be able to gather three-dimensional renderings in cities like New York and San Francisco. An iPhone application that uses the phone’s camera, or upload collections of digital images can be used by the participators.

Kathleen Tuite, a University of Washington graduate student and a computer graphics researcher who is one of the designers of PhotoCity said that researchers are suggesting to award real prizes that would create incentives similar to Geocaching, the popular Internet GPS game.

BT Young Scientist & Technology Exhibition 2010

7:25 pm | Student Competitions | No comment

The exhibition Thursday, Jan. 14 until Saturday, Jan. 16 went ahead as planned and was opened to the public.

Innovative projects about science, technology, engineering, and math surfaced for the BT Young Scientist & Technology Exhibition 2010 by the students from all over Ireland.

Various remarkable technologies at the exhibition such as of the PanSphere, a project of Kevin Bluett, a fifth-year student at CBS KILkenny that requires creating a supercomputer to simulate pandemics including swine flu (H1N1) and other human viruses. The infrastructure for a virtual supercomputer that has the ability to simulate pandemics in order to produce accurate analysis patterns and track its movement globally has been encoded and created by the students engaged in the project.

One more distinguished project: the Ubuntu Linus operating system Zorin OS have been put into an experiment by a group of students interested to find if it can be a free, dependable, open-source and a better option to Windows.

The group of Richard O’Shea, an 18 year old student from Scoil Mhuire Gan Smal, Blarney, Co Cork is focusing at a global health issue about designing and developing a biomass-fired cooking stove for growing countries that is clean and economical and can be made from waste materials, such as tin cans.

NJIT students solving Urban Challenge

5:15 pm | Architecture, New Jersey Institute of Technology | No comment

Thirteen students at the New Jersey Institute of Technology are trying their best to find an answer to an urban challenge: Can an inexpensive home avoid ending up like their horrible box-like pioneers?

A student Joan Lui shows her hand made model of a townhouse that she has been working on for Habitat Newark during an architecture class at NJIT in Newark in November.

Part of an alliance with Habitat for Humanity, students were given real-world experience and gives the non-profit with new concepts for its homes.

The students have drawn numerous ideas last September that will be utilized to construct 7 multi-family townhouses on Ridgewood Avenue like a simple project that will restore the city’s building design.

The city builders said that three-level buildings lack design qualities, and it should be replaced by a design that requires organizing it into place than in a Rubik’s Cube, with a topsy- turvy regulations, green aspect, and stretched budgets that must be monitored.

Detailed shot of sketch and a hand-made model that Cara Constantino, NJIT student, has been working on to design townhouses for Habitat Newark during an architecture class.

The working designs still consist of ingenious characteristics in the assigned 1,500 square-feet. There are uncovered courtyards inside, private places amid the house for children’s safety. Others have added environmental features, such as tilted roofs that will catch and store rainwater in a rain garden, and “solar chimneys”, vertical shafts that better aerate apartment buildings.

Alex Merlucci, 21, of Kinnelon , one of the students who describes the mission as noble though it is complicated and challenging, said that their concentration is to build efficient homes with the significance of architecture – “a reason for every designed component”. They are not only trying to give people a shelter, but also a home.

Students design projects for vacant Phoenix lots

5:57 pm | ASU, Architecture | No comment

On December 8, there will be a presentation at the ASU Downtown Phoenix campus regarding low cost ideas like the construction of planter boxes and the transformation of vacant lots in downtown Phoenix for temporary use.

The university students in an urban design practice class educated by Nan Ellin, an associate professor produced the multimedia presentation of research models.

The mayor’s office asked for the ASU students to produce a model for the temporary use of publicly owned vacant lots to address the vexing challenge and as a result, students created the Desert TULIP – Temporary Urban Laboratory Infill Project – a low-cost method to convert vacant lots until their progress.

An area on the lots on the south of Garfield between Third and Sixth Streets chosen to become part of the Phoenix Biomedical Campus were particularly asked for the students to concentrate on.

Undergraduate and graduate students of different backgrounds and majors looked worldwide for city vacant lot schemes.

To visualize Desert TULIP projects, high-resolution 3-D models of Phoenix were employed while the joint project of building planter boxes was considered as a first step toward transforming Phoenix’s vacant lots into urban facilities.

ASU sustainability students Carissa Taylor (left), Truman Kiyaani and
Braden Kay with a planter box nearing completion.

There will be a panel of discussion that includes representatives from the city of Phoenix, the    Phoenix Community Alliance and Roosevelt Row after the multimedia presentation with the outcome from the class research that contains the introduction of the demonstration planter box project. The presentation is scheduled from 11 a.m. to noon in the Phoenix Urban Research Laboratory which is located on the eight floor of the Security Building on the southwest corner of Van Buren Street and Central Avenue.

New Zealand Student Realise the Dream event

7:55 pm | Student Competitions | No comment

Thirty one students from around New Zealand have been chosen to attend Realise the Dream 2009.

The peppermint power, a magnetic bio carbon, a remote controlled lawn mower, and the optical tube are just a few of the research and technology projects developed by students selected for the event to be held in Wellington next month.

Realise the Dream is a six-day event from December 6 – 11 which celebrates, and awards students who have carried out an outstanding piece of science research, or a technology or engineering project. Some of the prizes being offered are scholarships, cash prizes and international travel to destinations such as China and Europe.

Royal Society of New Zealand organiser Debbie Woodhall says that the works produced by these students are really innovative and it is a real achievement to be chosen as all of the entries are of very high criteria with students completing some exceptional projects.

Candidates will give a two minute presentation about their project and then the judges will get the chance to ask the students questions.

Morgan Archer of Samuel Marsden Collegiate School in Wellington studied about the importance of the peppermint and discovered that only peppermint provides a significant improvement in reaction times, mostly at the times of day when we are least alert – early morning, mid afternoon and late at night.

It shows that sucking on a peppermint is much better than taking barley sugars and chocolates if you wish to concentrate better, need more energy and focus.

Liam Ellis of Hutt Valley High School in Lower Hutt has designed a device to alleviate back pain from bad posture.

Samantha Stevenson of Kerikeri High School in Kerikeri has investigated the ideal temperature and the amount of food required when transporting bees.

While the students are in Wellington they will be engaged in visiting various science and technology organizations such as Industrial Research Ltd, GNS Science and the Island Bay Education Marine Centre.

Massey University in Wellington has also prepared a full day programme for all the participants.

Students will also take part in a full day workshop on public speaking and how to write their own news media stories. Social activities that include attending a pantomime at Circa Theatre, a science quiz night and a function is hosted by UNESCO.

For the next few months, students are required to share their work with their communities, before returning to Wellington for the awards dinner next year on March 10 where the award winners will be announced.