Software engineering student Ana Knutson spent her summer participating in a Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) at the University of Houston.

“My project was focused on developing a scalable machine learning model using a Mask R-CNN to be able to differentiate between nuclei and other structures from microscopy images,” said Knutson. She used images of rat brain tissue that she then cropped to be able to focus in on smaller portions so she could segment and input them into the model.

“I’ve always been interested in developing software for healthcare purposes, so this project was right up my alley!”

REUs are competitive summer research programs for undergraduates studying science, engineering or mathematics. The programs are sponsored by the National Science Foundation and are hosted in various universities. Knutson was encouraged to apply for an REU by Dr. Ian Wang, Computer Science and Software Engineering Department.

“I knew that I was interested in pursuing the REU for this summer and enhancing my skills through academia rather than an industry internship this summer. With Dr. Wang’s guidance, I applied for multiple REU programs and was selected to participate in the one at University of Houston, which I was excited to accept!”

Knutson worked solely on her REU project under the guidance of her mentor, Dr. David Mayerich, University of Houston associate professor. Her research is being continued by other members of the lab at the University of Houston. They are building off of Knutson’s 2D work to go into the 3D space. The ultimate goal for this project is to be able to train the model on small 3D images, and make it scalable to generate segmentation for entire rat brain images.

MSOE prepared Knutson to take on this work by providing her with the ability to solve coding problems. “While I am still working on this skill, I have been able to learn what to do when I'm stuck, whether that be due to a logic error or when I simply am trying to figure out how to transfer how I see a model in my head into code.”

The REU experience taught Knutson that in research, you often take three steps forward and then two steps back. “You may try something new and go down one path, only to figure out that isn't the best route or that it isn’t working. While you may feel like you’re going backwards, you now know that route doesn’t work, and you can try a different approach to solve your problem instead.”

The research experience empowered her to advance her skillsets while also collaborating with new people in a new city. “It was fun to make new connections while also getting a taste of Texas for the summer!”

Knutson is originally from Brookfield, Wisconsin and was drawn to software engineering after taking an AP Computer Science Principles course in high school. “That course introduced me to coding and I fell in love with figuring out the logic of how to generate a program that will perform a task.”

At MSOE, Knutson is part of the Student Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC), the Software Engineering Industrial Advisory Committee (SE IAC), and a member of the women’s volleyball team, which she says is like a second family to her. “I have met people that will be my friends for the rest of my life.”