APAM Senior Wins International Poster Contest

Feb 23 2012
Willie Neiswanger’s winning entry in a poster contest won him a free trip to Saudi Arabia.
 
Click poster to see larger version
Neiswanger (left) is a senior researching machine learning in the Department of Applied Physics and Applied Mathematics and working toward a minor in computer science. In January, he presented his paper that accompanied the poster – “Computational Tools for T Cell Motility” – at the King Abdullah University of Science & Technology (KAUST) Undergraduate Poster Competition in Saudi Arabia.
 
“My research involves developing computational tools for studying the behavior of organisms,” says Neiswanger. “This poster focused on making machine vision tools to study T cell motility.”
 
Neiswanger was one of two first-prize winners and among 40 other poster presenters flown last month from around the world to the KAUST campus, about 50 miles north of Jeddah. The competition,which called for posters on energy, water, food, and the environment, is part of the university's first annual Winter Enrichment Program.
 
“I had a great time meeting other undergraduates throughout the country and world,” Neiswanger says. “Some are doing similar work as me, and I hope to see or collaborate with some of them in graduate school.”
 
He is especially grateful to his supervisor Chris Wiggins, associate professor of applied mathematics, and Vivek Mayya of the Michael Dustin Laboratory at NYU, both of whom helped him on the project.

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