ITT Visual Information Solutions Supports RIT High Performance
Boulder, CO – August 27, 2007 - ITT Visual Information Solutions, a wholly owned subsidiary of ITT Corporation, (NYSE: ITT), announced that they recently donated licenses of ENVI software and the IDL programming language to the Rochester Institute of Technology’s (RIT) Chester F. Carlson Center for Imaging Science in support of the Center’s new cluster computing environment. The new licenses now allow every student in the program to access ENVI and IDL to analyze the images and data used for class projects, theses and public service contributions. In addition, the donation allows students to distribute computationally intensive processing tasks among hundreds of idle computers located throughout the RIT campus. In the past, students were limited to the processing capabilities of their individual desktop computers.
Students Have Widespread Access to ENVI and IDL Image and Data Processing Power
Each student in the Imaging Science program, from undergraduate to Ph.D level, completes research projects during their coursework based on remotely sensed, medical, or astronomical imagery or data. Students may choose projects that allow them to provide governmental agencies or corporate sponsors with analyzed data, algorithms and completed research that benefits public interests, such as fire damage assessment and mapping, or they may choose independent projects based on their own research initiatives.
Carl Salvaggio, an Associate Professor in the Center for Imaging Science is a strong advocate of students using ENVI and IDL throughout the program because of each product’s ease of use. “It used to be that you had to take our graduate level classes to learn advanced data and image processing techniques. Now with ENVI, I can teach them at the undergraduate level. The kids can code, make enhancements to algorithms with IDL, and incorporate them with ENVI, usually within ten weeks,” said Salvaggio.
The Need for Computing Power
Since student projects use high-spectral and spatial resolution imagery as their foundation, datasets can be many gigabytes in size, and analyzing them can require more processing power than single computers can provide. The research staff and faculty within the Center were the primary drivers in creating a cluster-computing environment that is now being spread across the rest of the campus, advocating for providing the processing power students needed to process their data efficiently.
To facilitate the RIT high performance-computing environment, researchers in the Digital Imaging and Remote Sensing (DIRS) laboratory and the Laboratory for Imaging Algorithms and Systems (LIAS) used Condor software, a free product that allows one computer to act as a task server, while distributing computationally intensive tasks among other available computers in cluster. In the case of RIT, students use ENVI to perform image analysis on a dataset, and Condor distributes the tasks among up to 300 computers also equipped with ENVI.
ITT has contributed licenses to RIT programs since 2002. “We feel it is our responsibility - as developers of innovative scientific tools - to support the field of image science, and to help ensure the progression of remote sensing technologies,” said Jim Kelley, VP of Global Services for ITT Visual Information Solutions. “These donations allow the students, who are future remote sensing professionals, to learn to use tools that will foster their personal success, and contribute to the future of the industry.”
About ITT Corporation
ITT Corporation supplies advanced technology products and services in several growth markets. ITT is a global leader in the transport, treatment and control of water, wastewater and other fluids. The company plays a vital role in international security through its defense communications and electronics products; space surveillance and intelligence systems; and advanced engineering and related services. It also serves the growing leisure marine and electrical connectors markets with a wide range of products. Headquartered in White Plains, NY, the company generated $7.8 billion in 2006 sales. In addition to the New York Stock Exchange, ITT Corporation stock is traded on the Euronext, London and Frankfurt exchanges.
About ITT Visual Information Solutions
ITT Visual Information Solutions (formerly Research Systems, Inc./RSI), a wholly owned subsidiary of ITT Corporation, provides integrated software solutions that help scientists, engineers, researchers, and medical professionals turn complex data into useful information. The company’s 150,000 customers from more than 80 countries use IDL, ENVI and IAS to analyze data and imagery and deploy imaging applications. ITT Visual Information Solutions’ products are used in a variety of industries, including remote sensing, engineering, earth sciences, aerospace, defense and intelligence, medical imaging, oil and gas exploration and biotechnology. Combined with a host of support services including training, consulting and technical support, ITT Visual Information Solutions offers the most complete data visualization, image analysis and image delivery solutions available.
About RIT
Founded in 1829, RIT is an internationally recognized leader in professional and career-oriented education enrolling more than 15,000 students in eight colleges. The Chester F. Carlson Center for Imaging Science is an academic unit in the College of Science of the Rochester Institute of Technology. The Center strives to be foremost in the minds of those interested in education and academic research on techniques, processes, and systems for imaging. Find more information at http://www.cis.rit.edu/.