9/5/2023 Jenna Kurtzweil, Beckman Institute 2 min read
Written by Jenna Kurtzweil, Beckman Institute
What do researchers look at all day? Perhaps a lush, green-and-purple rainforest of muscle fibers. Maybe a microscopic swallowtail scale. Sometimes, a computer-generated sea slug.
These perspectives and more are represented by the six winners of the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology's fifth annual research image contest. Each chosen image is associated with a different academic department on campus, and winners include students, postdocs, staff, and faculty members.
This year, MechSE doctoral student Md Saddam Hossain was one of the winners in the graduate student category. Hossain studies under Professor Taher Saif, who is also faculty in Beckman’s Neurotechnology for Memory and Cognition Working Group.
His image was generated with a laser confocal microscope in the Beckman Institute Microscopy Suite.
The annual contest is open to Beckman-affiliated researchers as well as non-Beckman affiliates on campus who use the institute's core facilities.
“It’s gratifying to see the diversity of Beckman's research reflected in these images,” said Beckman Institute Director Nadya Mason. “This contest is just a small sample of the 40 academic units we represent, and it shows how many disciplines are impacted by the imaging facilities and capabilities here at Beckman. I love how the beauty and diversity of the science shines through.”
A team of Beckman administrators, staff, and faculty members blind-judged the entries on their visual and research appeal. As in previous years, the winning images will be displayed for one year in the Beckman Director's Conference Room before finding permanent homes across the institute.