2006 Courses

Fall 2006

Boston University


AM 520 Acoustics I
Prof. Robin Cleveland - Introductory Graduate/Senior Level Undergraduate Course

Introduction to wave propagation and sound. General concepts such as quantitative measures of sound, plane waves, and acoustic energy density and intensity. Derivation of wave equation. Reflection, transmission and refraction of sound. Normal modes: vibrating membranes, and sound in a rectangular enclosures. Acoustic horns. Propagation in stratified media - ray acoustics. Absorption and attenuation of sound waves. Acoustic waves in spherical co-ordinate systems. Sound radiation from pistons. Text Book for Course: D.T. Blackstock, Fundamentals of Physical Acoustics, (Wiley 2000)

Day(s) and Time(s): Monday and Wednesday, 2pm - 4pm

Distance Learning: Available to Boston Area Students

 

Introduction to Photonics (ENG SC 560)
Prof. Luca Dal Negro - Graduate Course

Introduction to ray optics, wave optics, Fourier optics and holography, absorption, dispersion. Polarization, anisotropic media, and crystal optics. Guided-wave and fiber optics. Elements of photon optics. Laboratory experiments: interference; diffraction and spatial filtering; polarizers, retarders, and liquid-crystal displays; fiber-optic communication links. 4 cr.

Prerequisites: CAS PY 313

Day(s) and Time(s): Lectures - Tuesday and Thursday, 2:00pm to 4:00pm; Labs to be arranged Starting Tuesday, September 5th

Distance Learning: Available to BU and NU Students Only

 

Biomedical Optics and BioPhotonics (ENG SC 765 and BE 765)
Prof. Irving J. Bigio - Graduate Course

This course surveys the applications of optical science and engineering to a variety of biomedical problems, with emphasis on optical and photonics technologies that enable real, minimally-invasive clinical applications. The course teaches only those aspects of biology itself that are necessary to understand the purpose of the application. The first weeks introduce the optical properties of tissue, and following lectures cover a range of topics in three general areas: 1) Optical spectroscopy applied to diagnosis of cancer and other tissue diseases; 2) Photon migration and optical imaging of subsurface structures in tissue; and 3) Laser-tissue interactions and other applications of light for therapeutic purposes. In addition to formal lectures, recent publications from the literature will be selected as illustrative of various topical areas, and for each publication one student will be assigned to prepare an informal presentation (with overhead slides or PowerPoint) reviewing for the class the underlying principles of that paper and outlining the research results.

Prerequisites: Prior course in optics/photonics is highly recommended, and some cellular biology or physiology is also useful.

Day(s) and Time(s): Tuesdays and Thursdays, 4:00 - 6:00 PM, Starting Tuesday, September 5, 2006

Distance Learning: Available to Boston Area Students

 

 

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute


Cell and Tissue Image Analysis
Prof. Badri Roysam - Graduate Course

Survey of image analysis applications in biology, biotechnology, and medicine; Introduction to biological microscopy and selected medical imaging systems; Image reconstruction and preprocessing; Grayscale and geometric corrections; adaptive image segmentation; blob analysis, cell/colony counting, and cell morphometry; vessel and neuron tracing algorithms, with applications to neurobiology and medicine; feature extraction, pattern analysis, cluster analysis and classification; image registration algorithms with applications to mosaicing, spatial referencing, motion estimation, and change detection.

Prerequisites: A course in programming. Exposure to basic statistical concepts is desirable.

This class is open to a variety of students ranging from Biology majors to Engineering and Computing majors. Each student will be required to perform some image analysis programming using MATLAB, so some programming background is necessary. Individuals, or teams of two students each, can do the course projects. Cross-disciplinary teaming is encouraged, for example a biologist teaming with a computer scientist. Expectations on these projects will vary based on the student's background.

Day(s) and Time(s): Lectures -To Be Determined

Distance Learning: YES - Available to BU, NU, RPI, and UPRM Students

Additional Information: To view course information for the Fall 2005 course which will be similar in form and content to the Fall 2006 course, go to http://www.ecse.rpi.edu/~roysam/CTIA/ where you will find files of voice-annotated PowerPoint lectures.

 


 

Spring 2006

Boston University

Lasers (ENG SC 570)
Prof. Selim Unlu - Graduate Course

Review of wave optics. Gaussian and Hermite-Gaussian optical beams. Planar-and spherical-mirror resonators. Photon streams. Absorption,
spontaneous emission, and simulated emission. Laser amplification and gain saturation. Laser oscillation; pulsed lasers. Photon interactions in
semiconductors. LEDs and semiconductor injection lasers. Photon detectors. Laboratory experiments: beams; divergence and collimation; electroluminescence; semiconductor injection lasers.

Prerequisites: CAS PY313

Distance Learning: Available to Boston Area Students

Day(s) and Time(s): Tuesdays and Thursdays - 4:00pm to 6:00pm

 

Northeastern University


Biomedical Signal Processing and Medical Imaging (ECE U664)
Prof. Dana Brooks - Undergraduate Course for upperlevel (junior/senior) undergrads

The first part of this course will cover some important bioelectric signals, with particular emphasis on electroencephelograms and electrocardiograms, and relevant signal processing techniques for these signals. The second part ill be a survey of some medical imaging modalities including CT, PET and SPECT, ultrasound, and MRI, with emphasis on image formation from a signal processing point of view. The exact coverage will depend partly on student background and interest, and students will be expected to participate actively in the class.

Prerequisites: A Probability or Stochastic Processes course and a Linear Systems course

Distance Learning: Available to BU and NU students only.

Day(s) and Time(s): Mondays & Thursdays 11:45 AM-1:25 PM

 

Intro to Subsurface Sensing and Imaging (ECE U1467)
Prof. Charles DiMarzio and Prof. Eric Miller - Undergraduate Course

This course is an introductory unified look at the emerging field of subsurface sensing and imaging (SSI). Major themes include the interrelatedness of the three technological levels of sensing, modeling and signal processing, and computational technology, the similarity of SSI across diverse problem domains and size scales, and the variety of information extraction strategies such as localized imaging and the use of multiple views in space, wavelength, etc. The course will be organized around hands-on experience with a particular SSI modality which will include experimental measurement and subsequent processing and visualization of the measured data using Matlab. The format and content will be similar to last time the course was offered, for more details - http://www.ece.neu.edu/courses/eceu692/2004sp.

Prerequisites: ECE 1333 (Discrete Linear Systems), ECE 1360 (Electromagnetic Fields and Waves), and MTH 1230 (Linear Algebra for Engineers), or by permission of instructor. Note: Interested CE majors who are concerned about the ECE 1360 and MTH 1230 prerequisites are urged to talk to Prof. Miller or Prof. DiMarzio about their background.

Distance Learning: Available to BU and NU students only.

Day(s) and Time(s): Tuesdays & Fridays from 1:35 - 3:15 PM, beginning January 10th.

 

Pattern Recognition (ECE G313)
Prof. Jennifer Dy - Graduate Course

Discusses introductory concepts, statistical classification problem, and the Bayes classifier. Covers parametric estimation and supervised learning, ML and Bayes approaches, and Bayes learning. Topics include nonparametric techniques, Parzen windows, nearest neighbor rules, convergence properties, and error bounds. Examines linear discriminant functions, linear separability, perceptrons and their training, and relaxation techniques. Discusses unsupervised learning and clustering, unsupervised Bayes learning, ML estimates, k-means algorithm, and learning vector quantization. Introduces neural network structures, feed-forward nets, ADALINE, Widrow-Hopf approach, the back propagation training algorithm, Kolmogorov's theorem, and capacity of feed-forward nets. Focuses on Hopfield model and learning, associative memory, bidirectional associative memory, stable states and convergence, and capacity of the Hopfield model. Also covers unsupervised learning, adaptive resonance theory, and self-organizing feature maps.


Prerequisites: ECE G204

Distance Learning: Available to BU and NU Students Only

Day(s) and Time(s): Monday, Wednesday, Thursday 1:30pm to 3:10pm

 

Quantum Optics (ECE G398)
Prof. Charles DiMarzio and Prof. Anthony Devaney -
Graduate Course

This year (2005) Professor Roy J. Glauber, of Harvard University, shared the Nobel Prize in physics "for his contribution to the quantum theory of optical coherence," making this a particularly appropriate semester to present our first-ever course in Quantum Optics. Most of optics can be treated classically by the use of Maxwell's equations, supplemented by the occasional mention of the photon when absolutely necessary. This pedagogical approach creates the unfortunate impression of a dichotomy between "wave theory" and "particle theory." This course, taught by Profs. Devaney and DiMarzio, will show how these two concepts are reconciled through quantization of the field, and will provide the student with the fundamental principles underlying the operation of lasers and detectors, the theory of signals and noise in optics, and the principles of such inherently quantum-mechanical phenomena as squeezed states, entangled-photon interferometry, and quantum cryptography. We will use the recent book (2004) Introductory Quantum Mechanics, by Gerry and Knight but, recognizing that most ECE students lack a strong background in quantum mechanics, we will begin with a review of the basic principles, and then cover about the first seven chapters. We also intend to supplement the reading with some of Prof. Glauber's original papers. Our goal is for the students to gain
- An ability to read and understand the literature on new developments in quantum optics,
- An ability to use absorption and emission of light by materials in modern spectroscopic instrumentation, including multi-photon microscopes,
- An understanding of the fundamental limits on noise in optical and other systems.

For more information on this course, go to http://www.ece.neu.edu/faculty/dimarzio/2share/eceg398.html.

Prerequisites: TBA

Distance Learning: Available to BU and NU Students Only

Day(s) and Time(s): Mondays and Wednesdays from 2:30pm to 3:30pm, beginning on Monday, January 9, 2005.

 

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute


Intro to Subsurface Sensing and Imaging Systems (ECSE-4962-01; CRN54506)
Dr. Kai E. Thomenius, Chief Technologist, Imaging Technologies, GE Corporate R&D Center - Undergraduate Course

Engineers are often faced with the problem of sensing and imaging objects that are hidden under a surface. For example, detecting tumors using laser scanning microscopy, locating underground mines using radio waves, imaging infants using ultrasound, detecting cracks in machine parts and bridges, and medical imaging by x-ray radiography, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and computer assisted tomography (CAT). This course will introduce the student to the basics of subsurface sensing and imaging:

Properties of probes such as optical beams, x-rays, ultrasonic waves, and electromagnetic waves. .How the probes interact with media-transmission, reflection, scattering, diffusion.Sensors for detecting subsurface signals .Extracting information from subsurface signals using multi-view tomography (MVT), Localized probing and mosaicing (LPM), and multi-spectral discrimination (MSD).

Prerequisites: ECSE-2100 (Fields and Waves I), ECSE 2410 (Signals and Systems)

Day(s) and Time(s): Tuesdays & Fridays: 12:00 - 12:50 PM

Distance Learning: NO