Brian Dean (Ph.D. student in electrical engineering) shows his project for sensing changes in ambient light.

UW Student Earns Top Honors
at Rocky Mountain
Bioengineering Symposium

May 11, 20098 -Engineering and Applied Science faculty members Steve Barrett, Jeff Anderson, and Cameron Wright attended the 46th Rocky Mountain Bioengineering Symposium (RMBS) on April 17-19 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. In addition, two graduate students, Brian Dean from Rawlins, Wyo., (Ph.D. student in electrical engineering) and Geoff Luke, from Cheyenne, Wyo., (M.S. student in electrical engineering) were in attendance and presented some of their work. Ph.D. candidate Brian Dean won the award for best research paper presentation for his paper entitled: “The Design of an Analog Module for Sensor Adaptation to Changes in Ambient Light: A Bio-inspired solution.”

Both graduate students conduct research with Barrett and Wright in the Fly Eye Sensor group of the Wyoming Information, Signal Processing, and Robotics (WISPR) Labs. Luke will graduate with his M.S. in August. Dean is on track to finish his Ph.D. in May 2010.

Brian Dean’s paper describes a design that will enable the new fly eye vision sensor (being developed in the WISPR labs) to automatically adapt to a wide range of lighting conditions. This will allow the sensor to be used in many real-world situations, from caves to desert, in bright daylight or the dark of night. Geoff’s paper described a new, more compact optical design for the sensor that provides enhanced performance. The fly eye sensor provides many capabilities not possible with traditional vision sensors such as CCD cameras, and the work is being funded by both DoD and NIH. This interdisciplinary research project enjoys collaboration with faculty and grad students of the UW Neuroscience program. Cameron Wright serves as Brian Dean’s advisor within the College.

Anderson, Barrett and Wright all served as session chairs at this year’s conference and are long-time members of the RMBS Board of Directors. The three UW faculty members are bringing the symposium to Laramie in April 2010, where it will be held at the UW Conference Center.

The RMBS is the longest running continuously held biomedical engineering conference in North America. This year’s attendees came from all over the U.S. and from five other countries.