Fall / Winter 2012 - Rochester Institute of Technology

Focus Area | Impact as an Undergraduate
Presenting Critical Information on Child Abuse: Danielle Burnash, center, unveiled results from
her undergraduate thesis, a study of child abuse and maltreatment among the deaf and hard of
hearing, at the annual meeting of the Association of Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies. The
Associated Press ran a story on the findings and the team was contacted by the National Institute
on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders about utilizing the results in future studies.
sensors to control a virtual camera within
a 3D scene. Ilo argues the technology
could some day assist doctors in
conducting remote surgeries or be used
by film directors to create 3D movies.
The REU is funded through the
National Science Foundation and is one
of three such centers on campus. The
other two are located in the Chester F.
Carlson Center for Imaging Science and
the School of Mathematical Sciences.
Analyzing Childhood
Maltreatment
Child abuse and maltreatment
are an ongoing
social and public policy
issue, particularly in the
Danielle Burnash
deaf and hard-of-hearing
community where communication
barriers can often reduce options for
assessment and intervention.
Danielle Burnash, in collaboration
with Gail Rothman-Marshall, associate
professor of liberal studies at NTID, and
Lindsay Schenkel, assistant professor of
psychology in the College of Liberal Arts
and the lead investigator on the project,
conducted one of the first studies to
compare childhood maltreatment and
abuse between deaf and hearing children.
The results indicate that the incidence
of maltreatment, including neglect and
physical and sexual abuse, is more than
25% higher among deaf and hard-ofhearing
children than among hearing
kids. The research also shows a direct
correlation between childhood mal -
treatment and higher rates of negative
cognition, depression, and post-traumatic
stress disorder in adulthood.
“By providing clear data on the high
rate of childhood maltreatment in the
deaf community we hope to shine a light
on the issue and provide mental health
professionals with the necessary data to
better treat both children and adults
suffering from mental and behavioral
disorders,” notes Burnash, a 2011 graduate
in psychology who conducted the research
as part of her undergraduate thesis.
The findings were unveiled at the
annual meeting of the Association of
Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies,
Engaging Freshmen
in Imaging Science
The Chester F. Carlson
Center for Imaging Science
created the Freshman
Imaging Project to provide
students with a hands-on,
Stefano Prezioso student-driven introduction
to imaging science, research, and
technology creation.
“I think there is so much value in a
student-driven, project-driven class where
you are forced to go learn for yourself,”
says Stefano Prezioso, now a second-year
double major in imaging science and
biomedical photography who took the
course in 2010.
Prezioso and his classmates, including
second-year imaging science major
Scarlett Montanaro (shown above), were
charged with designing and building an
enhanced imaging device, based on the
concept of polynomial texture maps (PTMs).
To date, PTMs have been used primarily by
professionals working in the preservation of
historical documents, manuscripts, and
small artifacts. PTMs use visible light to
illuminate a subject from different directions
and angles and allow for examination of
subtle surface textures and features, such
as dents and cracks in an artifact.
The phase one device was completed
and unveiled at RIT’s Innovation and
Creativity Festival in May 2011. At the
request of an RIT alumna working at
the Boston Public Library, four of the team
members traveled to Boston and utilized
the PTM system they had designed and
built to produce high-quality images of
artifacts held by the library.
The students involved are now continuing
the project, even though the class is
over. They are working on a proof of concept
for a novel multispectral device that will
extend the instrument’s imaging capability
to the infrared wavelength. It will be the first
PTM device to utilize multispectral imaging.
Research at RIT
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