Center for Automation Research — One of 16 Centers and Labs in the University of Maryland Institute for Advanced Computer Studies

CfAR FACULTY

YIANNIS ALOIMONOS
Professor, Computer Science
Computer vision, cognitive systems, integration of sensorimotor information

RAMA CHELLAPPA
Professor and Chair, Electrical and Computer Engineering
Face and gait analysis, markerless motion capture, 3-D modeling from video, image and video-based recognition and exploitation, hyper spectral processing

LARRY DAVIS
Professor, Computer Science, CfAR Director
Object/action recognition/scene analysis, event and modeling recognition, image and video databases, tracking, human movement modeling, 3-D human motion capture, camera networks

RAMANI DURAISWAMI
Professor, Computer Science
Scientific computing, spatial audio, machine learning and computer vision

DAVID JACOBS
Professor, Computer Science
Computer vision object recognition, vision with human interaction

HANAN SAMET
Distinguished University Professor, Computer Science
Indexing spatial and image databases, Geographic Information Systems, computer vision, computer graphics, digital government, image approximation and compression, pictorial query specification, spatial algorithms, multidimensional and metric data structures

ABHINAV SHRIVASTAVA
Assistant Professor, Computer Science
Computer vision, machine learning, robotics and related fields

AMITABH VARSHNEY
Professor, Computer Science, and Dean of the College of Computer, Mathematical, and Natural Sciences
3-D graphics and scientific visualization, virtual and augmented reality, high-performance computing

Center for Automation Research — One of 16 Centers and Labs in the University of Maryland Institute for Advanced Computer Studies

YIANNIS ALOIMONOS (left) is exploring autonomy in robotics that involves computational mechanisms for generating new behaviors in robots. The project integrates natural language processing and visual action/object recognition tools with motor skills and learning skills already available in certain robotic systems.

RESEARCH FACULTY

CORNELIA FERMÜLLER
Associate Research Scientist
Computational vision, developing cognitive robotic systems, computation of image motion, 3-D motion estimation, reconstruction and shape estimation, segmentation of the scene

NAIL GUMEROV
Senior Research Scientist
Acoustics, physicochemical hydrodynamics, multiphase flow, electromagnetic waves, computer vision

CORNELIA FERMÜLLER (above) is investigating visual processes of motion using a new, neuromorphic event-based camera. The technology can be used to track and compute the position and orientation of different parts of the human hand over a period of time. This, in turn, may lead to a portable, robotic glove to improve hand function in stroke patients.

DAVID JACOBS (right) is collaborating with researchers at Columbia University and the Smithsonian Institution on LeafSnap, an innovative electronic field guide for mobile devices that can identify trees and large shrubbery. The app has been downloaded more than a million times, and the cross-institutional research team has launched a new app called BirdSnap to help people identify birds in the wild.

BEHZAD SADRFARIDPOUR
Postdoc Associate
Control and human-robot interaction

YASER YACOOB
Associate Research Scientist
Interactive toys/robots, representation and analysis of human hair, visual analysis of the hand in augmented reality systems, motion analysis in video sequences, tracking deformable and articulated objects in motion

DMITRY ZOTKIN
Associate Research Scientist
Spatial audio capture and reproduction, microphone arrays, auditory scene analysis, fast numerical methods for the acoustic wave equation

RAMANI DURAISWAMI (above, right) leads research in refining new technology that combines acoustical sound waves with light to create a 3-D “acoustic camera.” The technology can be used to improve security systems, enhance concert hall acoustics, and protect industrial workers’ hearing.

AMITABH VARSHNEY (far right) is collaborating with radiology experts at the University of Maryland School of Medicine to develop new tools for diagnosing mild traumatic brain injury in patients showing otherwise normal MRI scans. The research combines innovative methods for data analysis and visualization with advanced imaging techniques to map subtle changes in gray- and white-matter fibers within the human brain.

Center for Automation Research — One of 16 Centers and Labs in the University of Maryland Institute for Advanced Computer Studies

VISITING FACULTY

LEILA DE FLORIANI
Visiting Professor, UMIACS
Geometric modeling, computer graphics, algorithms and data structures for spatial data handling and graph-theoretic data structures, multi-resolution modeling, geometric algorithms and data structures for applications to scientific data visualizations, solid modeling, Geographic Information Systems, computer vision

NATHAN NETANYAHU
Visiting Professor, UMIACS
Algorithm design and analysis, computational geometry, image processing and pattern recognition, robust estimation, remote sensing