Announcing the 2007 Science and Engineering Visualization Challenge Winners

Photography: First Place (tie)

What Lies Behind Our Nose?

Kai-hung Fung

Scientific visuals should not be confined to the
scientific community nor to a particular discipline. It’s the visuals
that make science exciting and intriguing to the layperson. The goal of
the National Science Foundation’s annual Science and Engineering Visualization Challenge
is to celebrate the advances in imaging technologies and visualization
techniques in depicting scientific knowledge. This years winners
contain a gorgeous collection of images, from the airways behind our
nose to visualizing the physiologic mechanism of tobacco dependence.

According to the NSF’s guidelines, “Entries should have scientific
significance, freshness and originality, as well as have an
aesthetically pleasing composition and drama. The spirit of the
competition is for communicating science, engineering and technology
for education and journalistic purposes.”

All entries are judged according to the following criteria:

Visual impact

Effective communication

Freshness/Originality

And the categories for submission include:

Photography

Illustration

Interactive media

Animation

Sadly there were no winners under the illustration category. Looks
like 3D is where it’s at in terms of visualization techniques. Be sure
to check out the entire gallery of winners.

But here are all the rest of the medical visualization winners for your instant gratification.

How Does a Muscle Work?

Credit: Mark McGowan, Pat Murphy, David Goodsell, Leana Rosetti

Breast Cancer Virtual Anatomy

Credit: CCG Metamedia, Steve Rothman, Cathryn Tune, Nicola Landucci, Joseph Speiser, Samantha Belmont

Nicotine: The Physiologic Mechanism of Tobacco Dependence

Credit: Jane Hurd, Donna DeSmet, Jason Guerrero, Donald Tolentino