To anyone (if there is anyone) who has ever wondered - what the heck does Amanda do? - I am here to answer your question.
To anyone who doesn't know, I am a graduate student at the University of Michigan in the department of Electrical Engineering & Computer Science. The program is HUGE. There are 90 faculty, 800 undergrads and 700 graduate students. So, it is further subdivided into Systems, Normal Electrical Engineering (I don't know what that one is called), and Computer Engineering. I am in Systems. That is further subdivided into 3 categories - Signal Processing, Control, and Communications. I am in Signal Processing. And in that, I work in the Image Computing Lab. So, to reiterate
UMich -> College of Eng. -> EECS -> Systems -> Signal Processing -> Image Computing Lab -> Me
Contrast to Katsu who is in the Divison of Kinesiology and there are like 10 graduate students.
So, now you know where I am located, in the hierarchial sense ... but what do I do???
Well, until this summer, I was solely going to classes. But now, lo and behold, I do DO something - research. No, I do not get to wear a cute lab coat like Katsu. I work at a computer or at a desk by myself. Here is a short run through of what I am working on ...
I am working especially in the world of Medical Imaging - think CT, MRI, Ultrasound, etc. These medical images are complicated to make (no, I can't read and diagnose them). I have to learn about the physics of how they make these pictures. Unfortunately, the images aren't perfect - they have noise in them (think static on the radio or a TV) and they are often blurry. And in addition, sometimes we take tons of 1 and 2D images together to make a 2D or 3D image like ultrasound or CT. Using this knowledge, I use statistics to make better pictures. To understand how to combine all those images to make a CT and how to do it fast (because doctors hate to wait). To understand why the images are noisy and blurry and how to get rid of it. Or at least how to manage it.
So I use PHYSICS + MATH (probability + calculus) + ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING SYSTEMS = better medical images!!!
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3 comments:
Hi, it's nice to see another female engineer. I went to WVU for mechanical and aerospace engineering, and then to UofM-Dearborn for graduate automotive engineering.
Hope you love whichever state to decide to move to!
that is a huge program (not that I'm suprised, but still!!!)
I'm more like Katsu. There will be 10-12 of us in the program this comming year. But alas, no lab coat.
As far as stats/probabiliy, are you modeling spatial aspects and imputing or what?
Thanks for all the great posts. We love to read them. Thanks for book reviews. We are always looking for a new book. We love to read also. Love you
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