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Beckman Institute expert wins Science magazine contest for best visualization
Catherine
Zech, Beckman Institute
217-244-7114; zech@illinois.edu
9/23/04
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. —
A researcher at the Beckman Institute
for Advanced Science and Technology has won first place in the Science
and Engineering Visualization Challenge sponsored by Science magazine
and the National Science Foundation.
The computer-generated illustration by Emad Tajkhorshid (pronounced
uh-MOD tazh-CORE-shid) depicts water molecules being transported through
cell membranes. The illustration is in the Sept. 24 issue of the magazine
and on its Web site and the NSF Web site.
The winning image, based on the research of Tajkhorshid, group director
Klaus Schulten and others, has been the subject of numerous papers and
articles since its publication in Science in 2002.
Tajkhorshid’s entry was competing with entries from fields such
as astronomy, which often produce spectacular images that capture the
popular imagination more than research into molecular structures.
“We really didn’t think we had a very good chance,”
Tajkhorshid said. “Of course I am very excited and very happy.”
Tajkhorshid’s illustration was produced using VMD, a program created
over several years by the theoretical and computational biophysics group
at the institute.
The challenge “is designed to recognize outstanding achievements
by scientists, engineers, visualization specialists, and artists in
the use of visual media to promote understanding of research results
and scientific phenomena,” according to the NSF.
The Beckman Institute at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
is an interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary research institute devoted
to basic research in the physical sciences, computation, engineering,
biology, behavior and cognition.
