Visual Intelligence Laboratory

About Us

The Visual Intelligence Laboratory is a research group I direct at the University of Iowa. We conduct fundamental research in computational geometry, vision, and machine learning, targeting at a wide variety of multidisciplinary applications—geometric machine (deep) learning, statistical shape analysis, 4D scanning, computational design and fabrication, digital human modeling, driver state detection/analysis, sports performance analytics, injury prediction, etc. Interested students, researchers, or any other individuals are always welcome to contact us!

 

Join Our Group!

We are always looking for a self-motivated, highly competent, and friendly graduate students to pursue Ph.D. degree. For all positions, the minimum requirements are as follows:

• Bachelor’s degree in a relevant discipline (engineering, computer science, etc.);
• Proficiency in at least one programming language (C/C++, Python, MATLAB, etc.);
• B+ or above in linear algebra or equivalent; AND
• Capability to communicate in spoken/written English.

Students with one or more of the following qualifications will be preferred:

• Master’s degree in engineering, computer science, or other relevant areas
• B+ or above in computer vision, machine learning, computer graphics, and/or similar courses
• One or more published articles in peer-reviewed international journals/conferences
• Software development experience (other than school projects)

Students with the above qualifications are strongly encouraged to contact Prof. Stephen Baek (stephen-baek@uiowa.edu) by sending an up-to-date CV and official/unofficial transcripts.

 

Facility and Equipment

Studio360

Driver360

GPU Computing Server

Lambda Labs - Lambda Blade

• GPUs: 8x NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080Ti
• Processor: 2x Intel Xeon(R) Processor E5-2650 v4
• Memory: 512 GB DDR4 ECC RAM
• Storage: Intel DC P3600 2.0 TB (2600 MB/s read)

Form II

Form Labs - Form II

• Technology: Stereolithography (SLA)
• Build Volume: 145 x 145 x 175 mm (5.7 x 5.7 x 6.9 in)
• Operating Temperature: Auto-heats to 35° C (95° F)
• Self-heating Resin Tank
• Z-Resolution (Layer Thckness): 25, 50, 100 microns
• Laser Spot Size: 140 microns

MakerBot Z18 Replicator

Makerbot - Replicator Z18

• Technology: Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM)
• Build Volume: 300 x 305 x 457 mm (11.8 x 12.0 x 18.0 in)
• Z-Resolution (Layer Thckness): 100 microns
• Nozzle Diameter: 0.4 mm

 

Faculty

Stephen Baek, Ph.D.

4611 Seamans Center, Iowa City, IA 52242, United States
stephen-baek@uiowa.edu
http://www.stephenbaek.com
+1 (319) 384-0810

Affiliations:

• Assistant Professor of Industrial and Systems Engineering (Primary)
• Assistant Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering
• Assistant Professor of Radiation Oncology
• Researcher, Center for Computer-Aided Design

Bio:

I’m interested in theories and applications of computational geometry and machine learning, or more specifically, I’m interested in mathematical representations and algorithms for learning trends and patterns in geometric objects. For my research, I have a lot of fun with photographs, videos, depth images, 3D models/scans, and medical images. My current and past research spans a variety of interdisciplinary subjects including statistical human body shape analysis and modeling, vision-based human motion tracking and analysis, driver state monitoring in autonomated/autonomous vehicles, data-driven physics simulation, and medical image analysis.

Curriculum Vitae
Google Scholar Citation Record

Education:

• Ph.D. Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Seoul National University, Korea, 2013.
• B.S. Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Seoul National University, Korea, 2009.

 

Research Scientists

Siyeop Yoon

 

Nima Hamidi Ghalehjegh

208 Engineering Research Facility, 330 S. Madison St., Iowa City, IA 52242, United States
nima-hamidi@uiowa.edu

Bio:

I am pursuing a Master of Computer Science at the University of Iowa. Prior to this, I received a Ph.D. in music composition from the University of Iowa. I am currently working as a graduate research assistant at the Visual Intelligence Laboratory located in the Center for Computer-Aided Design (CCAD). My research interests include signal processing, computational musicology, and machine learning. More recently I am working on the integration of deep learning in both computer vision and music information retrieval tasks.

Education:

• M.S. Computer Science, University of Iowa, 2019 (expected).
• Ph.D. Music Composition, University of Iowa, 2017.
• M.A. Music Composition, Soureh Institution of Higher Education, Tehran, Iran, 2010.
• B.S. Civil Engineering, Azad University, Iran, 2007.

 

Ph.D. Students

Jessica Shull

208 Engineering Research Facility, 330 S. Madison St., Iowa City, IA 52242, United States
jessica-shull@uiowa.edu

Bio:

I am a first year Ph.D. student in Industrial Engineering at the University of Iowa. I received my B.S.E. in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Iowa in 2018. I now work as a graduate research assistant at the Visual Intelligence Laboratory at the Center for Computer-Aided Design (CCAD) on campus. I am also an ergonomics trainee in the Heartland Center for Occupational Health and Safety. My research focus is on biomechanics and ergonomics, and combining these concepts with machine learning algorithms. I am currently studying the application of machine learning to human motion analysis techniques.

Education:

• B.S.E Biomedical Engineering, University of Iowa, 2018
• Minor Human Physiology, University of Iowa, 2018

 

Zhiyu Sun

208 Engineering Research Facility, 330 S. Madison St., Iowa City, IA 52242, United States
zhiyu-sun@uiowa.edu

Bio:

I am currently a Ph.D student in Industrial Engineering at the University of Iowa. I work as a graduate research assistant at the Visual Intelligence Laboratory at the Center for Computer-Aided Design (CCAD). I received my B.S. and M.S. degrees in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Iowa (2014, 2015) with an elective focus area in solid mechanics. My current research interest is in computational design, mainly focused on design algorithms based on performance-geometry relationship. I am currently studying fundamental computational geometry theories such as statistical shape analysis, shape descriptor, correspondence detection, and etc., and utilizing machine learning algorithms to automate geometry design processes.

Education:

• Ph.D. Industrial Engineering, University of Iowa, 2019 (expected).
• M.S. Mechanical Engineering, University of Iowa, 2015.
• B.S. Mechanical Engineering, University of Iowa, 2014.

 

Yusen (Forest) He

208 Engineering Research Facility, 330 S. Madison St., Iowa City, IA 52242, United States
yusen-he@uiowa.edu

Bio:

I am a PhD student in Industrial Engineering at the University of Iowa. I have received my B.S. in Applied Mathematics in 2013 from Chengdu University of Technology in China and M.S. in Statistics with an emphasis in Actuarial Science in 2015 from the University of Iowa. I am currently working as a graduate research assistant at the Visual Intelligence Laboratory at the Center for Computer-Aided Design (CCAD). My research interest is on the application of deep learning techniques to discover the relationship between the process parameters and the manufacturing quality in 3D metal printing processes.

Education:

• Ph.D. Industrial Engineering, University of Iowa, 2019 (expected).
• M.S. Statistics (with emphasis in Actuarial Science), University of Iowa, 2015.
• B.S. Applied Mathematics, Chengdu Univerity of Technology, China, 2013.

 

Se Hyun (Eric) Chun

208 Engineering Research Facility, 330 S. Madison St., Iowa City, IA 52242, United States
sehyun-chun@uiowa.edu

Bio:

I am a Ph.D student in Industrial Engineering at the University of Iowa. I received my B.S. degrees in Physics and Mathematics in 2017 from the University of Iowa. I am working as a graduate research assistant at the Visual Intelligence Laboratory at the Center for Computer-Aided Design (CCAD). I am currently studying markerless human motion capture techniques applied with deep machine learning approaches.

Education:

• B.S. Physics, University of Iowa, 2017.
• B.S. Mathematics, University of Iowa, 2017.

 

Joseph Choi

208 Engineering Research Facility, 330 S. Madison St., Iowa City, IA 52242, United States
boogun-choi@uiowa.edu

Bio:

I am a Research Assistant at the Visual Intelligence Laboratory at the Center for Computer Aided Design (CCAD). I have received my B.S. degrees in Computer Science and Mathematics from the University of Iowa in 2016 with focus on the Computational Mathematics and Big Data. My research interest is in machine learning, differential geometry, and manifold theory. I am currently studying 3D human models, specifically methods for generating statistically realistic 3D human models.

Education:

• B.S. Computer Science, University of Iowa, 2016.
• B.S. Mathematics, University of Iowa, 2016.

 

Venous Roshdibenam

208 Engineering Research Facility, 330 S. Madison St., Iowa City, IA 52242, United States
venous-roshdibenam@uiowa.edu

Bio:

N/A

Education:

N/A
 

M.S. Students

Benjamin Perlson

208 Engineering Research Facility, 330 S. Madison St., Iowa City, IA 52242, United States
benjamin-perlson@uiowa.edu
+1 (847) 722-7722

Bio:

I am currently an undergraduate student in Industrial Engineering, at the University of Iowa. My focus in my degree is in design and manufacturing. I work as a research assistant at the Visual Intelligence Laboratory at the Center for Computer-Aided Design (CCAD). I am very interested in machine learning, 4D motion capture, and task analysis.

Education:

• BS/MS Industrial Engineering, University of Iowa, 2019 (Expected).

 

Undergraduate Students

Marc Gozali

208 Engineering Research Facility, 330 S. Madison St., Iowa City, IA 52242, United States
marc-goazli@uiowa.edu

Bio:

N/A

Education:

• B.S. Computer Science, University of Iowa, 2020 (Expected).

 

Jaykang Heo

208 Engineering Research Facility, 330 S. Madison St., Iowa City, IA 52242, United States
jaykang-heo@uiowa.edu

Bio:

I am currently an undergraduate student in Computer Science at the University of Iowa. I work as an undergraduate research assistant at the Visual Intelligence Laboratory at the Center for Computer-Aided Design (CCAD). My current research interest is on the application of deep learning and computer vision techniques to solve real life problems.

Education:

• B.S. Computer Science, University of Iowa, 2020 (Expected).

 

Alumni

Zachary Nolte

(Master’s Student 2015~2017)

• M.S. Industrial Engineering, University of Iowa, 2017.
• B.S. Industrial Engineering, University of Iowa, 2015.
  • Minor in Psychology

 

Samuel S, Mate

(Master’s Student 2015~2016)

• M.S. Mechanical Engineering, University of Iowa, 2016.
• B.S. Mechanical Engineering, University of Iowa, 2014.