Creating a better image for Mirror Lake

By Jo McCulty Mirror Lake has long been a centerpiece of the Columbus campus.

Construction project will help fortify old campus landmark

Mirror Lake, a longtime landmark on the Ohio State campus nestled in a sleepy hollow beside Pomerene Hall and the Browning Amphitheatre, will be undergoing a facelift this spring and summer.

The project will begin in early April and be completed by the first week of September.

The existing stacked stone walls of the lake are structurally failing and will be replaced with new stone-faced concrete walls, said Colin McBride, construction manager with the University Engineer's Office. At the same time, the sidewalks and steps around the lake will be replaced with new concrete walks and improvements to the landscape surrounding the lake are also planned.

"It's going to be a new look, and it's going to be a cleaner look," McBride said.

The shape of the lake will be modified slightly to accommodate the roots of two large cypress trees overhanging the lake that serve as landmarks.

"We're going to soften a few curves to give the trees a little breathing room," McBride said, adding that it will reduce the size of the lake slightly.

Once a wetland fed by Neil Run and a nearby spring, in 1895 Mirror Lake was dredged and expanded to three times its original size. Islands were constructed and connected by footbridges, while the grassy banks were fortified with rocks. But over time, the lake's elegant shape was simplified, the islands removed, and the masonry walls built to stabilize the banks began to erode.

The project could help cut maintenance costs associated with Mirror Lake by thousands of dollars each year, said Chuck Smith, director of Physical Facilities' Roads and Grounds Division.

"For the past 30 years, the main part of the biannual draining and cleaning of the lake consisted of patching the stacked limestone walls," Smith said. "Now, with formed and poured concrete walls, that will not be necessary."

The cost of the renovation project is approximately $500,000, which will be paid by the state and Physical Facilities. The project was designed internally by Gary Collier, project designer in the University engineer's office. "The changes are mostly structural, but to the pedestrian it will be an aesthetic change that they observe," Collier said. "The walls have a natural stone facing along with a stone cap that will be very pleasing to the eye. The elevation of the top of the wall has been set at a uniform elevation unlike the old wall, which had a wavy look to it."

McBride said that Mirror Lake will be fenced off during the construction period, but the steps leading from South Oval Drive down to Mirror Lake will remain open during most of the project. There will be temporary interruptions in traffic as equipment and supplies are trucked into the area.

25 doctoral students and counting

Professor Toni Schenk works with a student.     By Jo McCulty

OSU professor has been influential in development of digital photogrammetry

It is not unusual for faculty to be agents of change -- they change the lives of their students by introducing them to new knowledge, and they change the future when those students make their mark on the world.

One Ohio State professor can take pride in having changed the field of photogrammetry -- not only through his research, teaching and publications, but also through the work of the 25 doctoral students he has advised and mentored through their education process.

Toni Schenk, professor of civil and environmental engineering and geodetic science, has been influential in developing the field of digital photogrammetry, the science of making reliable measurements by the use of photographs, especially aerial photographs.

And in December, Schenk watched proudly as his 25th Ph.D. student, Grady Tuell, presented his dissertation, graduated and moved into his position as a faculty member at the University of Florida.

Schenk joined Ohio State in 1985, during a time when photogrammetry moved from using manual techniques for mapping into the age of digital information. Ohio State is one of the premier universities in photogrammetry education, and Schenk's textbook, Digital Photogrammetry, is used worldwide to teach photogrammetry courses.

Photogrammetry is the acquiring, measuring and interpreting of images, obtained with special cameras that are mounted on airplanes or satellites. Images may be analog (photographs) or digital, and are typically of very high resolution and high geometric fidelity. The images are often used for surveying and mapping, and therefore must be precise and accurate.

For example, photographs obtained with an aerial camera at an altitude of 6,000 feet depict details smaller than half a foot in length, and satellite imagery has a resolution of three feet.

Most maps, such as city and state maps, or topographic maps (maps with contour lines) at all scales, are produced by photogrammetric means and in digital form. Photogrammetry is the most important source for generating and updating Geographic Information Systems (GIS), a computer system capable of assembling, storing, manipulating and displaying geographically referenced information, such as data identified according to their locations.

"The major research challenge in digital photogrammetry is automation," Schenk said. "How can a computer be endowed with the mental capabilities of a human operator to interpret images and to extract objects, say, buildings and roads? This quest makes digital photogrammetry very interdisciplinary, and our students take courses in image processing, computer vision and artificial intelligence that are offered by other departments."

In addition to providing the research and skills to aid in his field's move from analytical photogrammetry into the highly specialized realm of digital photogrammetry, Schenk takes pride in all the students that he has advised. His students come from all over the world -- Israel, Taiwan, Korea, Saudi Arabia, Greece, Nepal, Thailand, Kenya, China, the United States -- and many of these students have returned to their home countries to practice their discipline.

"We are a world leading center in digital photogrammetry," Schenk said. "The excellent interdisciplinary environment Ohio State provides and the strong alliances we have formed with researchers across campus is very attractive to the students who come from all over the world to study a special niche in information technology.

"The 17 Ph.D. students who went back to their home countries did not only take a diploma back home, but a unique experience gained in working closely together with us and their fellow students for four to five years. This multinational environment with distinctly different cultural backgrounds has an impact on everybody. I am convinced that students who have participated in this learning experience do not only take theories, algorithms and equations home, but also a better understanding of other people's background and culture."

Schenk reminisces about an experience during the Gulf War in the early 1990s, when his diverse group of graduate students emotionally discussed the war.

"The Ph.D. students I advised at that time included two Israelis, two Saudi-Arabians, one Iraqi, two Greeks and one American -- an army officer," Schenk remembered. "All were from countries that were directly involved in the conflict or who came from that region. I remember well the nightlong, heated discussions, and I also remember well that afterwards, everybody, including me, had developed a better understanding of the complex problems in this troubled region and an appreciation of the diverse views."

Recent Ph.D. graduate Tuell praised Schenk's abilities as a researcher and a mentor. "Dr. Schenk has changed the character of the discipline of digital photogrammetry," Tuell said. "He is a unique individual, and he provides intellectual freedom to his students."

Kirwan leads charge to update Ohio economy

The state's opinion leaders have taken notice of -- and given credit to -- President Brit Kirwan for his key role in advancing the need to transform Ohio's economy.

Kirwan testified on March 13 before the General Assembly's Ohio Plan Study Committee, urging legislators and other members of the committee to support methods of funding the Ohio Plan initiative for technology and economic development.

The Ohio Plan is intended to promote collaborative efforts among state government, higher education, and business and industry that will lead to development of science and technology applications and, ultimately, new business start-ups in the state and increased economic prosperity and opportunity for all Ohioans.

"In my view, we have no higher priority than reversing the negative economic trend of recent decades, and transforming Ohio into one of the nation's strongest competitors in the global economy of today and tomorrow," Kirwan told the committee.

Since his arrival at Ohio State, Kirwan has led the charge for state efforts to shift Ohio's economy from one based on manufacturing to one based on knowledge and technology. He has repeatedly conveyed that the state needs a strong research university to provide the knowledge and workers to allow Ohio to compete in this new economy. His message has been well-received across the state, including by members of the General Assembly, who on March 13 lauded the president for keeping the issue of Ohio's economic future at the top of the legislative agenda and praised the University for leading efforts to seek technology funding.

"We need our research universities to change from ivory tower to revving economic engines," Kirwan testified. "We need our state to invest in building centers of research and commercialization excellence. And we need the private sector to create the seed and venture funds necessary to transform great ideas into successful enterprises. If all those things happen, I have no doubt that the people of Ohio will be the beneficiaries."

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