Freedman’s grant will fund research on improving medical and other imaging at the Weizman Institute of Science in Rehovot, Israel.

Freedman’s research will focus on computer image segmentation. Segmentation is an imaging process that breaks a digital image into regions of pixels, making the image easier to analyze and understand. Using complex algorithms, the regions of an image can be finely divided based on texture, color, intensity, and other attributes. These imaging capabilities are important in medical imaging when looking for the boundaries of a tumor or organ. It is also important for military and security, assisting with face recognition and satellite imaging.

Freedman joined the Rensselaer faculty in 2000 from Harvard University, where he earned his master’s and doctoral degrees and served as a research assistant. He earned his bachelor’s from Princeton University in 1993. He received the National Science Foundation Career Award in 2002. In addition to segmentation, Freedman’s research focuses on other aspects of computer vision including tracking, graph cuts, and learning. His research also works on
geometric algorithms to make computer modeling systems more accurate.

Since its establishment in 1946 under legislation introduced by the late Senator J. William Fulbright, the Fulbright Program has provided 279,500 scholars with the opportunity to observe others’ political, economic, educational, and cultural institutions, to exchange ideas, and to embark on joint ventures of importance to the general welfare of the world’s inhabitants. Recipients of Fulbright awards are selected on the basis of academic or professional achievement, as well as demonstrated leadership potential in their fields.

For more about Daniel Freedman’s research, go to www.cs.rpi.edu/~freedd/.