Watson entries take top honors in Art of Science contest

This year’s Art of Science competition drew 64 entries, highlighting the creativity of Binghamton University faculty, graduate and undergraduate students, postdocs and staff members.

Kirk Butler, a doctoral candidate in biomedical engineering, worked with undergraduate Alondra Osorno on the entry that took Best in Show and First Place in the Visualizing the Unseen Category. Here’s how Butler described the image, titled “Migration into Mesenchyme:” “Heart epithelial cells (nuclei in blue), grown from stem cells, migrate outward from a central aggregate mass and transition into fibroblasts. The presence of smooth muscle actin (red) within a pronounced actin cytoskeleton (green) suggests these are contractile myofibroblasts, which play an important role in heart wound repair and fibrosis.”

Butler and Osorno created the image while doing research in the lab of Tracy Hookway, an assistant professor of biomedical engineering.

Jessica Fridrich, distinguished professor of electrical and computer engineering, won First Place in The World Around Us Category for her photograph titled “Visceral.” That means the Watson School of Engineering and Applied Science can claim both winning entries this year.

Here’s how Fridrich described her submission: “White Pocket in Arizona is the result of an ancient landslide. In this photograph, the amorphous formations contrast with a dramatic illumination due to sunlight scattered on smoke from a nearby wildfire.”

Martha Terry, creative services manager in the Office of Research Advancement, coordinated the competition. “I’m excited an impressed with the vast variety of images this year,” she says. “It brings attention to the creativity of our campus research community.”

For more details and a video featuring all of the entries, visit the web.