How image processing is related to new scientific breakthroughs
Many of today’s important scientific breakthroughs are being made by large, interdisciplinary
collaborations of scientists working in geographically widely distributed locations, producing, collecting,
and analyzing vast and complex datasets.
One of the computer scientists who works on a large interdisciplinary
scientific team is Dr. Cecilia Aragon. She is an associate professor in the
Department of Human Centered Design & Engineering and the eScience
Institute at the University of Washington, where she directs the Scientific
Collaboration and Creativity Lab. Previously, she was a computer scientist in
the Computational Research Division at Lawrence Berkeley National
Laboratory for six years, after earning her Ph.D. in Computer Science from
UC Berkeley in 2004. She earned her B.S. in mathematics from the California
Institute of Technology.
Her current research focuses on human-computer interaction (HCI) and computer-supported
cooperative work (CSCW) in scientific collaborations, distributed creativity, information visualization,
and the visual understanding of very large data sets. She is interested in how social media and new
methods of computer-mediated communication are changing scientific practice. She has developed
novel visual interfaces for collaborative exploration of very large scientific data sets, and has authored
or co-authored many papers in the areas of computer-supported cooperative work, human-computer
interaction, visualization, visual analytics, image processing, machine learning, cyberinfrastructure,
and astrophysics.
In 2008, she received the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE) for her
work in collaborative data-intensive science. Her research has been recognized with four Best Paper
awards since 2004, and she was named one of the Top 25 Women of 2009 by Hispanic Business
Magazine. She was the architect of the Sunfall data visualization and workflow management system for
the Nearby Supernova Factory, which helped advance the study of supernovae in order to reduce the
statistical uncertainties on key cosmological parameters that categorize dark energy, one of the grand
challenges in physics today.
Cecilia Aragon is also one of the most skilled aerobatic pilots flying today.
A two-time member of the U.S. Aerobatic Team, she was a medalist at the
1993 U.S. National Championships and the 1994 World Aerobatic
Championships, and was the California State Aerobatic Champion.