Catherine Blake
Assistant Professor, School of Information and Library Science

Catherine Blake works with RENCI information retrieval experts to create an information synthesis system. The system will be able to retrieve information across disciplinary boundaries and address the differences in semantics and syntax used by different disciplines. Called Claim Jumper to signify modern-day gold miners searching for nuggets of knowledge on the cyber frontier, the system will automatically generate summaries of information in literature from many disciplines. The system addresses the increasing need for information from many disciplines by researchers and practitioners in public health, environmental science, education, genomics, economics, and other fields.

Charles C. Finley
Research Associate Professor, School of Medicine

Charles Finley’s research team uses high-performance computing and advanced visualization tools to improve the design and application of cochlear implants, devices that have helped to restore functional speech understanding in patients with severe hearing losses. Finley is developing patient-specific computational models to determine the final positioning of electrode contacts in the implant that take advantage of the patients’ functioning neurons. These models also will provide insight into the stimulation mechanism that occurs in the cochlea, which could impact the design and fitting of implant devices.

Joyce Rudinsky
Associate Professor, Communication Studies

Joyce Rudinsky, a visual artist, participated in the Carolina Performing Arts’ Death Penalty Examined project, a season-long campus- and community-wide exploration of death penalty issues. Working with RENCI visualization and collaborative technologies specialists, she created a media installation that surrounds viewers with images and video and audio recordings that offer thoughts and insights on capital punishment. The system has a spatial tracking system that track viewers' actions and focuses of attention and use that information to determine what to present next. The installation premiered Friday, March 28, in the Social Computing Room at RENCI at UNC Chapel Hill.

Ted Zoller
Assistant Professor, Kenan-Flagler Business School

Ted Zoller aims to develop a more sophisticated understanding of the underlying economic activities that lead to the creation of technopoles—a term used to describe regions that favor the development of entrepreneurial firms based on advanced technology R&D and the economic development activities in those regions. Research Triangle Park is a technopole, and Zoller’s project is identifying the factors that explain firm formation and development in RTP. His data on RTP will be analyzed using RENCI’s capabilities in advance visualization techniques, social networking analysis and computational modeling.