ITG News
The ITG News page archives all announcements and news items pertaining to the Imaging Technology Group. Its purpose is to inform the ITG user community of relevant updates and changes in the capabilities of the ITG facilities, and to highlight newsworthy events and achievements by ITG staff.
Archived News
Biophysical Journal Cover by ITG
The October 21, 2009 edition of the Biophysical Journal features a cover created by Olga Svinarski and ITG staff in the Visualization Laboratory. Staff members Alex Jerez and Zach Johnson collaborated with Svinarski, using 3D modeling and compositing techniques to make the final rendered image. The cover artwork accompanies a feature story titled "Common Structural Transitions in Explicit-Solvent Simulations of Villin Headpiece Folding" by Peter L. Freddolino and Klaus Schulten, both of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
ITG Creates Journal of Biophotonics Cover
The November 2009 edition of the Journal of Biophotonics features a cover created by ITG Staff Alex Jerez in the Visualization Laboratory. Jerez created the cover artwork to accompany the feature story "Imaging engineered tissues using structural and functional optical coherence tomography" by Xing Liang, Benedikt W. Graf, and Stephen A. Boppart of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Analytical Chemistry Cover by ITG
ITG Staff Alex Jerez, Zach Johnson, and Eric Shoemaker collaborated to create the cover of the September 15, 2009 edition of the journal Analytical Chemistry in the Visualization Laboratory. The cover image depicts microfabricated electrodes and molecular interaction via functionalized particles and it accompanies the feature article by Sang Woo Lee of Yonsei University and Rashid Bashir of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, titled Dielectrophoretic Technique for Measurement of Chemical and Biological Interactions.
Advanced Materials Cover by ITG
The September 25, 2009 edition of the journal Advanced Materials features a cover photograph captured by ITG staff Chas Conway in the Visualization Laboratory. Conway used the ITG's macro-photography system, including a Canon 1Ds Mark-III SLR, macro lens, and custom lighting setup. The cover imagery accompanies the feature article Ultrathin Silicon Circuits With Strain-Isolation Layers and Mesh Layouts for High-Performance Electronics on Fabric, Vinyl, Leather, and Paper by Dae-Hyeong Kim, Yun-Soung Kim, Jian Wu, Zhuangjian Liu, Jizhou Song, Hoon-Sik Kim, Yonggang Y. Huang, Keh-Chih Hwang, and John A. Rogers. The paper describes various stretchable high-performance CMOS circuit demonstrations on unconventional substrates, which may open up new and important application possibilities for electronics.
New High Speed Video Imaging System at ITG
Members of the ITG staff have constructed a new system for imaging dynamic processes at ultra-high frame rates while recording the video output (up to 153,846 frames per second). The captured video can be slowed down to reveal processes that occur at speeds undetectable with the human eye. The new system is based around a Vision Research Phantom v9.1 CMOS high speed color digital camera. In addition to the camera, several new pieces of supporting equipment comprise the system, including a Zeiss Stereo Discovery V.20 microscope, a suite of wide field and macro lenses, specialized lighting equipment, a wall mounted 30-inch external preview monitor, a Mark-10 motorized test stand, and high-speed video acquisition/editing software. The camera offers the ability to capture 1016 frames per second at its native resolution of 1632 x 1200. As resolution is incrementally reduced, the camera can capture up to 153,846 frames per second. Most experiments will find optimized resolution and frame rate settings somewhere in between these ranges (1632 x 1200 resolution and 153,846 frames per second), as the camera's sensor employs CAR (continuous adjustable resolution). The system is currently available for use in the ITG Visualization Laboratory. Please see the fees page for current rates and the calendars page for making reservations. All users must complete training with ITG staff prior to their initial use of the high speed video system. Contact Darren Stevenson for training and further information.
Advanced Materials Cover by ITG
The July 20, 2009 edition of the journal Advanced Materials features a cover created by ITG staff Alex Jerez, Eric Shoemaker, and Zach Johnson in the Visualization Laboratory. Jerez, Shoemaker, and Johnson used a variety of advanced techniques for 3D modeling and rendering to create the final graphic as seen on the cover. The cover artwork highlights the issue's feature article titled "DNA Sensors: Highly Sensitive, Mechanically Stable Nanopore Sensors for DNA Analysis" by Bala Murali Venkatesan, Brian Dorvel, Sukru Yemenicioglu, Nicholas Watkins, Ivan Petrov, and Rashid Bashir all of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
ITG Staff Creates Book Cover
ITG staff Janet Sinn-Hanlon created cover art in the Visualization Laboratory for the recent book Functional Nucleic Acids for Analytical Applications, available from Springer publications. The book was written by Yingfu Li of McMaster University and Yi Lu of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Checmical Reviews Cover Art by ITG
ITG staff Janet Sinn-Hanlon created cover artwork for the May 13, 2009 edition of the journal Chemical Reviews. Sinn-Hanlon used 3D modeling and advanced rendering techniques to composite the final image, which accompanies the article "Functional Nucleic Acid Sensors" by Juewen Liu, Zehui Cao, and Yi Lu.
Lab on a Chip Artwork by ITG
The back cover of the August 7, 2009 edition of Lab on a Chip was created by ITG staff Janet Sinn-Hanlon in the Visualization Laboratory. The artwork accompanies an article by University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign faculty member Rashid Bashir and his research group, titled "Dielectrophoresis-Based cell Manipulation Using Electrodes on a Reusable Printed Circuit board". The paper describes a convenient and affordable approach to implement dielectrophoresis (DEP) particle manipulation without micro-fabrication on a chip.
Cover of Biophysical Journal
ITG Staff Alex Jerez collaborated with the Beckman Institute's Theoretical and Computational Biophysics Research Group, to create the cover of the June 17, 2009 edition of the Biophysical Journal. The cover artwork accompanies the feature article by Ilia A. Solov'yov of Frankfurt Institute for Advanced Studies and Klaus Schulten of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, titled "Magnetoreception through Cryptochrome May Involve Superoxide". The Theoretical and Computational Biophysics Research Group is an NIH Resource for Macromolecular Modeling and Bioinformatics that studies the structure and function of biopolymers and biopolymer aggregates by theoretical and computational means.
Learning and Memory Cover by ITG
The June 2009 edition of the journal Learning & Memory features a cover created by ITG staff Janet Sinn-Hanlon in the Visualization Laboratory. The cover artwork highlights a previous Learning and Memory feature article titled "Intrahippocampal infusions of anisomycin produce amnesia: Contribution of increased release of norepinephrine, dopamine, and acetylcholine" by Zhenghan Qi and Paul E. Gold both of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Journal of Materials Chemistry Cover by ITG
The April 7, 2009 edition of the Journal of Materials Chemistry (Vol. 19, Num. 13) features cover artwork created by ITG staff Janet Sinn-Hanlon. The cover imagery accompanies the feature article by UIUC researchers Zidong Wang and Yi Lu. The article summarizes recent progress in the development of biosensors by integrating functional DNA molecules with different types of nanomaterials, including metallic nanoparticles, semiconductor nanoparticles, magnetic nanoparticles, and carbon nanotubes.
ITG creates Advanced Materials Cover
The January 5, 2009 edition of Advanced Materials features 3D graphic artwork on its front cover created by ITG staff Steve Eisenmann. Eisenmann created the grahpic in the Visualization Laboratory. This image accompanies the feature article Direct Laser Writing of Photoresponsive Colloids for Microscale Patterning of 3D Porous Structures by Matthew C. George, Jennifer A. Lewis, and Paul V. Braun of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Ali Mohraz of the University of California, Irvine, and Martin Piech and Nelson S. Bell of Sandia National Laboratories.
EE Times Cover by ITG
The September 22, 2008 edition of EE Times features an image created by ITG staff Chas Conway. The cover photograph accompanies an article describing a variety of recent advances in bendable, stretchable, high-performance integrated circuits by Beckman Institute faculty John Rogers, et al. The image was captured by Conway using the macro-photography system in the ITG Visualization Laboratory.
PNAS cover by ITG
The December 2, 2008 edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (PNAS) features a cover image created by ITG staff Chas Conway. Conway created and photographed the scene by constructing an intricate sample holder for the circuit and a combination of light sources. He used the ITG's Canon 1Ds Mark III digital SLR camera and macro-photography system in the VMIL. The cover imagery accompanies the PNAS feature article describing stretchable circuits titled Materials and noncoplanar mesh designs for integrated circuits with linear elastic responses to extreme mechanical deformations, by John A. Rogers, Dae-Hyeong Kim, Hoon-Sik Kim, and Rak-Hwan Kim of UIUC, Jizhou Song of University of Miami, Won Mook Choi of Samsung Advanced Institute of Technology, Zhuangjian Liu and Yong-wei Zhang of Institute of High Performance Computing, Yonggang Y. Huang of Northwestern University, and Keh-Chih Hwang of Tsinghua University.
ITG creates Advanced Materials Cover
The December 17, 2008 edition of Advanced Materials features a cover image created by ITG staff Steve Eisenmann and UIUC researcher Robert Shepherd. The cover artwork accompanies the feature article Stop-Flow Lithography of Colloidal, Glass, and Silicon Microcomponents by Robert F. Shepherd and Jennifer A. Lewis of UIUC, Priyadarshi Panda, T. Alan Hatton, and Patrick S. Doyle of Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Zhihao Bao and Kenneth H. Sandhage of Georgia Institute of Technology. The cover image was created by Eisenmann and Shepherd using Maya software in the VMIL.
Fluorescence Correlation Spectroscopy (FCS) and Imaging System at ITG
A new Fluorescence Correlation Spectroscopy and Imaging System has been assembled in space that was recently remodeled and added to the ITG Microscopy Suite in the Beckman Institute. The Alba FCS™ instrument, manufactured by ISS (Champaign IL), is a dual-channel spectrometer that combines a laser scanning mirror module and a Nikon inverted confocal microscope with fluorescence correlation spectroscopy (FCS). Optimized for single-photon excitation, the system utilizes a single-photon avalanche photodiode detector for the collection of light at extremely low levels. Currently a diode laser (470 nm) is available for light excitation. The microscope is equipped with a 60x 1.2NA water objective and a 100x 1.4NA oil objective. The Vista software package, from ISS, is used for the acquisition of FCS, raster imaging correlation spectroscopy (RICS) and 3D imaging, and the analysis of autocorrelation function. Applications of this system include molecular dynamics measurements, acquisition of kinetic rate constants, visualization of antibody–antigen interactions, ligand–receptor interaction, nucleic acid hybridization and chemical reactions at the single-molecule level. This system was funded with a DURIP grant from the Army Research Office to Dr. Paul Braun and a generous grant from the Beckman Foundation. For more information about using the FCS and Imaging System, please contact Duohai Pan (dhpan@illinois.edu; 217 333-4387).
New Bitplane Imaris software and workstation at ITG
ITG has acquired the Bitplane Imaris advanced image analysis software suite. This package consists of the Imaris base application and each of the following Imaris analysis modules: MeasurementPro, ImarisTrack, ImarisColoc, ImarisXT, FilamentTracer, and InPress. The software is designed for 2D, 3D, and 4D image sets and allows users to visualize and quantify most varieties of image data. All major microscopy formats are natively supported. The Bitplane Imaris package has been installed on a new high-end workstation in the VMIL, named "Calder". To handle large image datasets, this workstation has been equipped with 64-bit Windows Vista Ultimate and the following components: two Quad-Core 3.00 Ghz processors, 32GB RAM, NVIDIA Quadro FX4600 video card, and two 24-inch LCD monitors. For access to use the VMIL or questions regarding Imaris software please contact Darren Stevenson.
ITG Image on Cover of Nature Materials
The November issue of Nature Materials features a cover photo by ITG staff Darren Stevenson. The image accompanies an article by Beckman Institute researchers Jongseung Yoon, Sang-Il Park, Joseph B. Geddes, III, Rak Hwan Kim, Tae-Ho Kim, and John Rogers, et al. titled "Ultrathin silicon solar microcells for semitransparent, mechanically flexible and microconcentrator module designs". Stevenson captured the photo using the VMIL's macro photography system and ITG's Canon 1Ds Mark III 21.1 megapixel digital SLR camera. He later used Photoshop software for color balancing and sizing adjustments.
ITG Creates MRS Bulletin Cover
ITG staff members Alex Jerez, Kyle Scoggin, and Eric Shoemaker collaborated to create cover imagery for the August 2008 Materials Research Society Bulletin. The Materials Research Society (MRS) is an organization of materials researchers from academia, industry, and government that promotes communication for the advancement of interdisciplinary materials research to improve the quality of life. The ITG cover artwork acompanies a paper titled Bioinspired Materials for Self-Cleaning and Self-Healing by Jeffrey Youngblood and Beckman Institute researcher Nancy Sottos, who both served as guest editors for this edition of the bulletin. You can read the full paper here. Jerez, Scoggin, and Shoemaker created the imagery in the VMIL using Maya for 3-D modeling and After Effects and Photoshop for final compositing.
Nature Cover Features Image by ITG
The August 7, 2008 edition of the journal Nature features a photograph created by ITG staff. The cover story and photograph accompany the published article A hemispherical electronic eye camera based on compressible silicon optoelectronics based on the research of UIUC and Northwestern University researchers Heung Cho Ko, Mark P. Stoykovich, Jizhou Song, Viktor Malyarchuk, Won Mook Choi, Chang-Jae Yu, Joseph B. Geddes III, Jianliang Xiao, Shuodao Wang, Yonggang Huang & John A. Rogers. ITG staff Darren Stevenson captured the photograph using the VMIL macro photography system with the ITG's Canon 1Ds Mark III 21.1 megapixel digital SLR camera and a 100mm macro lens. He used Photoshop for final sizing and color corrections of the image.
Advanced Functional Materials Cover Created by ITG
ITG created the cover image for the July 9, 2008 edition of Advanced Functional Materials. The cover artwork accompanies a paper describing two significant advances for solvent-based self-healing of epoxy materials. The paper, titled Full Recovery of Fracture Toughness Using a Nontoxic Solvent-Based Self-Healing System, was contributed by Beckman Institute researchers Mary M. Caruso, Benjamin J. Blaiszik, Scott R. White, Nancy R. Sottos, and Jeffrey S. Moore. ITG staff visulization specialists Alex Jerez, Kyle Scoggin, and Eric Shoemaker collaborated to create the final cover image in the VMIL, using RealFlow, Maya, and AfterEffects software packages.
Lab on a Chip cover created by ITG
The July 2008 issue of the Royal Society of Chemistry journal Lab on a Chip features a cover image created by ITG staff Janet Sinn-Hanlon in the Visualization Media & Imaging Laboratory. The cover artwork accompanies a paper by Kidong Park, Jaesung Jang, Daniel Irimia, Jennifer Sturgis, James Lee, J. Paul Robinson, Mehmet Toner and Rashid Bashir. The highlighted paper describes their current research with living cantilever arrays for characterization of mass of single live cells in fluids. Janet combined models created in Maya and Photoshop for the final composited image.
ITG Director Search Extended, Currently Accepting Applications
The Imaging Technology Group has extended its search for a new group director. Read the full announcement and job description. Applications must be received by July 31, 2008 for full consideration. If you have questions, please contact jobs@beckman.uiuc.edu.
New ZCorp High-Resolution Color 3D Printer
ITG has acquired a new ZCorp Spectrum Z510 high-resolution color rapid prototyping machine. It is fully installed and ready for users to access in the VMIL. The new machine achieves very high color detail, outputting individual layers at 600dpi. The build volume is 10" x 14" x 8 " (254mm x 356mm x 203mm) with a selectable layer thickness of 0.0035"-0.008" (89µm-203µm). The machine operates in either full 24-bit color or monochrome (white) modes. Objects printed on the Z510 are suitable for data visualization, presentation materials, product testing, molds for direct casting, simulation parts, and certain types of functional devices. For information about using the new 3D printer, contact VMIL Manager Darren Stevenson.
Image from ITG on Cover of Chemical Reviews
The cover for the February 2008 edition of Chemical Reviews includes an image produced in the Visualization, Media, and Imaging Laboratory. The image, which is bottom right on the cover collage, depicts a plasmonic crystal array. It accompanies a paper by Matthew E. Stewart, Christopher R. Anderton, Lucas B. Thompson, Joana Maria, Stephen K. Gray, John A. Rogers, and Ralph G. Nuzzo on Nanostructured Plasmonic Sensors. ITG Visualization Specialist Alex Jerez created the image in the VMIL using several software packages, inclduing Amira, Maya, Photoshop, and After Effects.
New High Resolution X-Ray Micro-CT from Xradia
New High Resolution X-Ray Micro-CT from Xradia A new high resolution X-Ray micro-CT from Xradia has been installed and is ready for users. The new micro-CT provides 1 micron resolution compared to the 5 micron resolution from SkyScan 1172 micro-CT currently in VMIL. Xradia micro-CT also comes with proprietary ultrafast reconstruction program that takes minutes rather than hours to reconstruct a 3-D model from hundreds of 2-D images. The new micro-CT includes a micro-focused 10W (40~150 KeV) Tungsten tube, TE-cooled 4 mega-pixel CCD camera, 5 microscopic objectives (2X, 4X, 10X, 20X and 40X), and high-precision 4-axis motorized sample stage. The 40~150 KeV X-ray energy level allows a wide spectrum of materials that can be imaged by the new system. Please contact Leilei Yin for more information.
Cover of Nature Photonics Created by ITG
The January 2008 issue of Nature Photonics features a cover image created by ITG depicting the work of Stephanie Rinne, Florencio García-Santamaría, and Paul Braun. The highlighted article describes their current research with embedded cavities and waveguides in three-dimensional silicon photonic crystals. The image was produced in the Visualization, Media, and Imaging Lab by ITG 3D Artist Steve Eisenmann. Eisenmann combined models created in a 3D application, bringing them into Maya for rendering and Photoshop for final compositing.
ITG Creates Cover for Nature Chemical Biology
ITG created the cover image for the December 2007 cover of Nature Chemical Biology. The image illustrates the work by Hee-Kyung Kim, Ivan Rasnik, Juewen Liu, Taekjip Ha and Yi Lu, and accompanies their paper titled Dissecting metal ion–dependent folding and catalysis of a single DNAzyme. The image was created by Alex Jerez, Hee-Kyung Kim and Yi Lu.
Cover of Inorganic Chemistry by ITG
ITG created the cover image for the October 29, 2007 issue of Inorganic Chemistry. The cover highlights the work of chemistry professor Greg Girolami, graduate students Do Young Kim and Yu Yang, and research professor John Abelson. The paper which accompanies the image describes their work in the invention and development of new chemical vapor deposition precursors, and the image specifically illustrates the synthesis of new magnesium compounds of the octahydrotriborate ion B3H8-, which have volatilities rivaling those of the most volatile magnesium compounds known. The image was created by ITG 3D artist Steve Eisenmann using Maya and custom MEL scripts he authored.
ITG Animation Makes Semifinals in NSF Visualization Challenge
An animation produced by ITG to illustrate multidisciplinary research on artificial bone development was awarded a Semifinalist honor in the 2007 Visualization Challenge (sponsored by the National Science Foundation and the journal Science). The animation, titled 'Mandible Reconstruction Project', chronicles a unique effort that involved the University of Illinois College of Engineering, the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, Sandia National Laboratories, and Carle Foundation Hospital to develop an alternative approach to bone replacement--one that obviates the bone harvest surgery without diminishing the superior clinical outcomes associated with autografting. Portions of the animation have been shown on television news programs nationwide, and the full work was previously selected to be part of SIGGRAPH 2004's Computer Animation Festival.
ITG's Virtual Microscope Highlighted by Lifehacker.com
Lifehacker, one of the world's most highly-read blogs on technology and life, recently highlighted ITG's Virtual Microscope project as an incredibly useful and interesting resource available from the nation's universities. The Virtual Microscope provides simulated microscopy software to browser and analyze high-resolution multi-dimensional image datasets. The software, which is open-source and available free to the public, has been downloaded over 75,000 times and is used worldwide for education and research. Lifehacker's link to our project pushed web traffic to the site up 1000% and increased software downloads by 300%. Lifehacker is rated as the #6 most-linked-to blog in the world by Technorati.
ITG Lands $2 Million Award from NSF for New X-Ray Nanotomography Instrument
ITG has been awarded $2 million from the National Science Foundation's Major Research Instrumentation (MRI) program to acquire a revolutionary multi-length scale x-ray nanotomography (nano-CT) instrument. This device, which will be the first such instrument at a US university, will support nondestructive internal 3-D imaging of samples as thick as 0.1 millimeter while resolving features as small as 30 nanometers in width. The award, which was for the full amount requested ($1.998 million), puts it in the top 1% of MRI awards historically (in terms of funding level), and is the largest MRI award ever made to UIUC. As a result, the nano-CT will become the most expensive instrument in ITG by about $1 million, and should cement UIUC as a center for micro- and nano-tomographic imaging. The grant effort was led by ITG Director Ben Grosser and Materials Science Professor Paul Braun. We hope to have the instrument up and running in Spring 2008.
Applied Physics Letters Features ITG Image on Cover
The cover for the May 21, 2007 edition of Applied Physics Lettersfeatures an image produced in the Visualization, Media, and ImagingLab for John Rogers' group. The image accompanies a paper by Jong-Hyun Ahn, John Rogers, et al. on the topic of bendable integrated circuits on plastic substrates. The final image is made up from a blend of several photographs, each containing a different point of focus. This method increased the depth of field so that the entire circuit area could be in focus. The image was created by ITG staff member Chas Conway.
Image from ITG on Cover of Chemical Reviews
The cover for the April 2007 edition of Chemical Reviews includes an image produced in the Visualization, Media, and Imaging Lab for John Rogers' group. The image, which is bottom center on the cover collage, depicts a section of a multiple-active layer single-crystal silicon TFT array. The overall image accompanies an extensive paper by Etienne Menard, John Rogers, et al. on Micro- and Nanopatterning Techniques for Organic Electronic and Optoelectronic Systems. The image was created using Amira and Photoshop in the VMIL by Janet Sinn-Hanlon, and utilizes the original confocal image data.
ITG Designs Nanoscience Handbook Cover
The image is of the cover of the 2nd edition of the Handbook for Nanoscience, Engineering, and Technology from CRC Press, which was published on April 26, 2007. The book, whose first edition cover was also produced by ITG, is seen as perhaps the definitive reference for nano researchers worldwide. Its content includes work by a number of current and former Beckman faculty and students, including Narayan Aluru, Karl Hess, Jean-Pierre Leburton, Umberto Ravaioli, Slava V. Rotkin, Trudy van der Straaten, William McMahon, Blair Tuttle, and Martin Staedele. You can read more about this image and view a large version on it's Image of the Week page.
Microscopy Suite Installs New Stereology Microscope
ITG's Microscopy Suite has a new stereology microscope built around the Zeiss AxioImager A1 upright microscope and software from MBF Bioscience and Optronics MicroFire Progressive Scan CCD camera. The system is equipped with 10 port filter wheels and a six port filter cube assembly making it the most flexible light microscope for fluorescent, bright field and reflected light imaging in the Suite. Conventionally, stereology is a discipline that utilizes proven statistical sampling techniques to estimate the total population of cell types in an organ, usually the brain. Our new 'scope now fully supports Beckman's neuroscientists, but because of the flexibility of its hardware, the instrument can also assist researchers with samples from other disciplines like thin films, mirrors, polished metallurgical samples, integrated circuits, dyed fibers, diffuse metallic specimens, composite materials, and polymers. Please contact Jon Ekman for more information.
Nature Nanotechnology Uses ITG Image on Cover
The April, 2007 issue of Nature Nanotechnology features an image designed by ITG for Beckman faculty member John Rogers' group. The cover image, which depicts his lab's high-performance single-walled carbon nantube arrays, accompanies their paper in the journal. The image was produced using Maya and Amira in the Visualization, Media, and Imaging Lab by ITG Visualization Specialist Alex Jerez. Jerez used SEM and AFM data of the nanotube arrays as the basis for generating the models used in the image.
ITG Image Featured on World's #1 Blog
An image produced by ITG for Beckman faculty member John Rogers appeared in a story on the popular blog Engadget. The blog entry picks up on a story from the UIUC News Bureau that describes new work by Rogers' lab on the development of dense nanotube arrays for thin-film semiconductor material. The image was produced using Maya and Amira in the Visualization, Media, and Imaging Lab by ITG Visualization Specialist Alex Jerez. Technorati, a blog indexing service, currently rates Engadget as the most linked to blog on the Internet.
Job Opening for Interactive Web Designer
ITG has a job opening for a part-time student interactive web designer. Read the announcement, and if you have any questions, please contact Ben Grosser.
Nature Features ITG Work on Cover and Website
The March 22, 2007 cover of the journal Nature (large image of cover) features an image designed by ITG for Beckman's Autonomous Materials Systems group in order to accompany their new article titled "Biasing reaction pathways with mechanical force". The paper describes research by Beckman faculty Jeff Moore, Scott White, and Nancy Sottos, and the article's lead author is graduate student Charles Hickenboth. The image depicts the way a mechanically active molecule, or mechanophore, reacts to an external mechanical force.
Nature has also posted several supplemental videos that include clips from ITG-produced animations on self-healing materials. The animations and cover image were produced in ITG's Visualization, Media, and Imaging Laboratory. Details about the science behind the image are detailed on the Beckman group's Mechanics Meets Chemistry page. The UIUC News Bureau also has an article up.
Journal of Materials Chemistry Cover Designed by ITG
The cover of the Journal of Materials Chemistry for March 7 features an image designed by ITG to accompany an article by Beckman faculty member John Rogers. Rogers and Yugang Sun wrote an article for the issue titled Structural forms of single crystal semiconductor nanoribbons for high-performance stretchable electronics. The cover image (PDF) was created in the Visualization, Media, and Imaging Laboratory using Maya, and depicts the stretchable nanoribbons as seen in SEM images in the paper.
Chemical & Engineering News Writes About MRS Film Festival
Chemical and Engineering News has written an article (link only works from uiuc.edu domain or with subscription) that describes each winning entry in the recent Materials Research Society Scientific Film Festival. ITG's winning entry, Stretchable Silicon, which describes the research of Beckman's John Rogers, won 3rd place in that festival. ITG staff member Alex Jerez is quoted at length in the article, and a copy of the video is included.
Virtual Microscope Wins Award
ITG's Virtual Microscope has been awarded a NASA Software Award by Michael Griffin, NASA's Administrator. The award recognizes significant technical contributions to NASA, and is made under the authority of the National Aeronautics and Space Act of 1958. The Virtual Microscope is part of NASA's Virtual Lab, and provides free software to the world for high-resolution, multi-dimensional image viewing and analysis. To date, it offers 90 specimens from light, electron, and scanned probe microscopes, and the application has been downloaded over 40,000 times. Congratulations to the Virtual Microscope team for this award.
ITG Wins 3rd Place in MRS Film Festival
ITG won 3rd place in the Materials Research Society's first ever Scientific Film Festival. The winning work, titled Stretchable Silicon, uses video and animation to demonstrate the potentialapplications of flexible circuitry from John Rogers' research group. ITG staff members Alex Jerez, Janet Sinn-Hanlon, Darren Stevenson, and Ben Grosser contributed to the work.
PNAS Journal Cover Features Image by ITG
The cover of the October 10, 2006 issue of PNAS (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences) features an image that accompanies an article by Mai T. Dang et. al titled Disrupted motor learning and long-term synaptic plasticity in mice lacking NMDAR1 in the striatum. The cover image of a mouse medium spiny neuron was taken by ITG microscopist Jon Ekman on ITG's Zeiss Axiovert 200 Fluorescence Microscope. Authors M. Dang, F. Yokoi, Y. Wang, and Y. Li are all members of Beckman's Neurotech Group.
ITG Places Two Works in MRS Film Festival Finals
Two films produced by ITG placed in the finals at the Materials Research Society's first ever Scientific Film Festival. These works illustrate the work of Beckman faculty members whose work is in materials science. Self-Healing Materials: Automatic Repair of Everyday Objects (top) animates the concepts behind the self-healing materials from Scott White's Self-Healing Research Group. Stretchable Silicon (bottom) uses video and animation to demonstrate the potential applications of flexible circuitry from John Rogers' research group. Attendees to the MRS Fall Meeting will be able to vote on the works, and the awards will be made public on November 30th in Boston, MA.
ITG Images at Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago
Images from ITG's various galleries are part of an exhibit featured at Chicago's Museum of Contemporary art from September 16 to December 31, called Massive Change: The Future of Global Design. This exhibit, by Bruce Mau Design and the Institute without Boundaries explores how innovative design can create a green, sustainable, and socially conscious society. A component of the exhibit, called Image Economies, presents thousands of images from an atomic to a universal scale. Their page on Image Economies Details includes one of ITG's images included in the exhibit: a 3D rendering of AFM data of red blood cells.
Refraction Research Sponsors Bugscope
Refraction Research has decided to sponsor ITG's Bugscope project with a research grant. Refraction Research is a non-profit fund that provides smaller, supplemental grants for projects in a variety of areas, including neuroscience, physics, and K-12 science education. Bugscope is an ongoing educational outreach project that provides real-time control of our scanning electron microscope so that kids worldwide can image bugs at high-magnification. The funds will be used to improve and sustain this highly-successful project.
Animation Produced by ITG for Rogers Group Illustrates Work Highlighted in PC Magazine
PC Magazine recently highlighted John Rogers' work on stretchable silicon as one of their 10 Coolest Technologies You've Never Heard Of. ITG created an animation (requires Quicktime 7) and still images for Rogers that illustrate the concept. PC Magazine used the images and animation as part of their article.
Artwork Produced in ITG Exhibited at International Museum of Surgical Science
Artwork by former UIUC graduate student Leslie Speicher will be exhibited at the International Museum of Surgical Science in Chicago, IL from August 4 to October 20, 2006 as part of their Anatomy in the Gallery series. The exhibition will include several works that were produced in collaboration with ITG staff, and that utilized ITG's equipment and software (e.g. 3D printer, fluoresence microscope, Amira). Speicher's work has been the subject of previous ITG Images of the Week, including 2/10/2004, and 11/30/2004. The show's opening is August 4 from 5-7pm.
DVD of Award-Winning Film Produced in VMIL
A film by VMIL user Yu Hasegawa-Johnson titled Crystal's Sigh, a 5-minute short film extracted from her feature film titled Aura, IL, recently won a prestigious CINE Golden Eagle Award . The DVD for Crystal's Sigh was produced in the VMIL. Congratulations to Yu!
Materials Today Cover Designed in ITG Facilities by Rogers Group
ITG recently learned that the cover of the February, 2005 issue of Materials Today featured an image produced in the VMIL. This image accompanies an article by Beckman faculty member John Rogers et. al titled Recent progress in soft lithography. The image, which depicts a polymer nanostructure filter element, was was also chosen as ITG's September 14, 2004 Image of the Week.
ITG ShapeCam & Fossil Hominin Research
The ITG ShapeCam is currently touring some of Europe's premier museums & scientific institutions as VMIL regular Jodi Blumenfeld collects data for her research on fossil hominin brow-ridge morphology. Follow her adventures on her personal blog "The Bugaboo Diaries".
Soft Matter Journal Cover Designed by ITG for Lewis Group
The cover of the March 2006 issue of Soft Matter accompanies an article by Jennifer Lewis' research group on biomimetic silicification of polyamine-rich scaffolds. ITG worked with lead author Mingjie Xu to design the cover based on the data used to fabricate the structures.
Nature Materials Journal Cover Designed by ITG for Rogers Group
The cover of the January 2006 issue of Nature Materials accompanies an article by John Rogers' research group on stamp-printable micro/nanostructures. Chas Conway and Ben Grosser helped lead author Matt Meitl photograph and prep the cover image in ITG's Visualization, Media, and Imaging Laboratory.
Joint Collaboration between ITG and Industrial Design discussed in IMPACT Conference Proceedings
Beckman and Industrial Design Professor Deana McDonagh and ITG Co-Director Ben Grosser discussed the results of their recent course collaboration (based in part on the Mandible Reconstruction Project) in IMPACT, a limited-edition conference book. Their paper was titled "Relevant Design: Enhancing Quality of Life Through the Fusion of Art & Techhnology.
ITG Launches New Virtual Projects Website and Releases New Virtual Microscope Software (VSEM & VLM)
ITG has launched their new Virtual Projects website that highlights their work with the Virtual Laboratory project. This launch corresponds with the release of a substantial new software version (version 2.0 beta), of their Virtual SEM and Virtual Light Microscope, which is now available for free download on the new website.
Light Microscopy Position
Applicants are being sought for the position of Specialist Light Microscopist in the Imaging Technology Group (ITG) at the Beckman Institute at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
ARSC Hosts Bugscope
The Arctic Region Supercomputing Center (ARSC) will host Bugscope team member Umesh Thakkar for a talk and demonstration of ITG's Bugscope project on Thursday, June 30th at 2pm CDT. You will be able to observe their live use of Bugscope by visiting the Bugscope website during that time.
Science Magazine Highlights Virtual Lab
ITG's Virtual Laboratory Project was highlighted in Science Magazine's Netwatch (8 April 2005, Vol 308, p. 173). The Virtual Laboratory is an ITG project funded by NASA's Kennedy Space Center and Learning Technologies Group that involves the development of virtual scientific instrumentation to view high-resolution, multi-dimensional image datasets for education and research. You can also view the Virtual Lab site at NASA.
X-Ray Microtomography Instrument Installed in VMIL
We have just installed our new Skyscan 1172 x-ray microtomography instrument. This high-resolution device is the first of its kind in the United States, and was funded by an NSF Instrumentation for Materials Research grant to directly support the research of faculty from across the University of Illinois. The micro-CT is housed in the VMIL, and is now available for use. Please contact Ben Grosser or Dan Weber for more information.
Particle Sizing Instruments Have Arrived
A NiComp 380 ZLS Particle Sizer, a dynamic light scattering instrument with Zeta potential measurement capability, and an AccuSizer FX Particle Sizer from Particle Sizing Systems have arrived this January. Both instruments are housed in room B650G. Please contact Glenn Fried for more details.
Ig Nobel Prize-Winning Research Done in ITG Facilities
The 2004 Ig Nobel Prize for Public Health was awarded to Jilian Clarke for investigating the validity of the five-second rule. Imaging for this work was completed using ITG's ESEM.
ITG's Work at SIGGRAPH 2004
An original ITG computer animation about the Mandible Reconstruction Project was recently selected from over 600 entries to be part of the SIGGRAPH 2004 Computer Animation Festival in Los Angeles, CA. In all, 83 entries were chosen by jury to participate, and ITG's entry was one of only two scientific visualizations to make it into the festival. You can view the entry and read more about it here.
International Bugscope in the Media
The News-Gazette has posted a story about the Bugscope Project's first overseas school session, with St. Wolstans School in Celbridge, Ireland. View the school's Bugscope homepage, or visit their database to see the 324 images they collected.
ITG Virtual Instrumentation in the Media
ITG's completed Virtual SEM prototype, and its recent $250,000 grant with NASA for further virtual instrumentation development is covered in the News-Gazette.
NSF Funds New Instrument in ITG
The National Science Foundation has notified ITG that they will fully fund their request for an x-ray microtomography (micro-CT) instrument. This $315,000 device will support major research projects by Beckman and UIUC faculty, and will provide the first option on campus for imaging the 3-D internal structure of optically opaque samples with 5-um resolution.
NASA Funds ITG for Virtual Instrumentation Development
NASA's Kennedy Space Center has funded ITG's continued development of virtual instrumentation software. This $250,000 grant will support the continued development of ITG's Virtual SEM, as well as new instruments, including a Virtual Light Microscope and a Virtual AFM.
New Journal Cover: Materials Today
An image by ITG director Ben Grosser and graduate student Greg Gratson was selected as the cover image for the July/August issue of Materials Today. The image illustrates a concept by Gratson and Beckman faculty member Jennifer Lewis. ITG staff members Janet Sinn-Hanlon and Carl Burton also contributed to the image.
New Journal Cover: APL
An image by Ben Grosser and Beckman researcher Slava Rotkin was chosen as the cover image for the April issue of Applied Physics Letters. The cover, which illustrates the research of Rotkin and Beckman faculty member Karl Hess, was also an 'Image of the Week,' and was a featured article in the Beckman news.
ITG Contributes Image to President's Budget
An SEM image by ITG electron microscopist Scott Robinson was featured as a full-page insert in the President's FY 2004 Budget Supplement. That document is now available online (scroll to page 6).
Forums on Summer Break
The weekly ITG forums are on a hiatus for the summer. We will resume the normal schedule on August 30th.
International Bugscope in the Media
The News-Gazette has posted a story about the Bugscope Project's first overseas school session, with St. Wolstans School in Celbridge, Ireland. View the school's Bugscope homepage, or visit their database to see the 324 images they collected.
Gigabit Networking Upgrade
The ITG network infrastructure has been upgraded to gigabit. This change, which accomodates data transfer at 30-60+ MB/sec., brings connectivity improvements between both ITG facilities and other departments on campus. Contact sysadmin for more information.
Applications of the Shapecam
Computer Graphics World Magazine has posted a story about Beckman Institute Research with ITG's ShapeCam, a portable 3D scanner now available for use.
ITG in Tokyo's Medical Tribune
The Medical Tribune of Tokyo, Japan featured an article about the Mandible Reconstruction Project on October 23, 2003.
Applications of the Shapecam
DigitalVideoEditing.com has posted a story about Beckman Institute research with ITG's new ShapeCam, a portable 3D scanner now available for use.
ITG in the News
ACES News featured an article entitled "If You Drop It, Should You Eat It? Scientists Weigh In on the 5-Second Rule".
New Facility Rates
New Facility Rates are in effect as of August 1, 2003 . Please see the Fees pages for more information.
ITG in the News
"UI Research Scales Back", The News-Gazette, March 30, 2003
ITG in the News
The News-Gazette featured an article about the Mandible Reconstruction Project. Please see the June 15, 2003 issue to read the story.
Mandible Reconstruction Project
ITG has posted a set of pages describing the Mandible Reconstruction Project, a multi-disciplinary effort between ITG, UIUC Materials Science Dept., Carle Hospital, and Sandia National Laboratories.
Carl Burton Honored
Carl Burton was honored with the "Outstanding Graduating Senior in Art & Design" by the University for his creative production "The Art of Simon Fischer". For more details, see Image of the Week - May 20, 2003.
ITG in the News
"Student film brings Hollywood feel", Daily Illini, April 30. 2003
ITG in the News
"Tech chief says Google looking into the future", The News-Gazette, April 23, 2003.
ITG in the News
"UI Project Simply Buggy, On Purpose", The News-Gazette, January 26, 2003
Newsletters (1998-2002)
Copyright
2005. All rights reserved. University of Illinois at
Urbana-Champaign.
The Imaging Technology Group
405 North Mathews, Urbana IL 61801 USA
Phone: 217.244.0170
FAX: 217.244.6219
Email: I T G