Fort Anne image captures top Art of Science prize

Two faculty members and a staff member took top honors in this year’s Art of Science competition at Binghamton University.

This contest, organized by Martha Terry from the Office of Research Advancement, offers students, faculty and staff members an opportunity to share the beauty of science through photographs and images that describe some aspect of research captured visually.

The campus community was invited to submit images in three categories:

• The World Around Us: images in which the subject is visible to the naked eye
• Visualizing the Unseen: images captured with the use of optics that extend beyond what the eye can see, such as microscopes and telescopes
• Imagining Science: images that depict objects too small to be visualized directly, models of scientific phenomena or processes or interpretations of scientific information.

Images were evaluated based on scientific significance, originality and artistic and visual impact.

The Best in Show prize went to the first-place entry in The World Around Us. Michael Jacobson, research development specialist in the Office of Strategic Research Initiatives, took the prize for his entry titled “Fort Anne.”

First place for Imagining Science went to Congrui Grace Jin, an assistant professor of mechanical engineering, for her entry titled “Meshed Grains.”

In Visualizing the Unseen, first place was awarded to Jeffrey Mativetsky, an associate professor of physics, for an entry titled “Shards.”

This year’s judges were Hiroki Sayama, director of the Center for Collective Dynamics of Complex Systems and professor in the Department of Systems Science and Industrial Engineering; John Tagg, SUNY distinguished professor of art history; Anju Sharma, senior scientist in the Analytical and Diagnostics Laboratory; undergraduate Rebecca Kiss, photo editor of Pipe Dream; and alumnus and professional photographer Wasim Ahmad.

You can see all the entries in this slideshow.