Title:  Welcoming Remarks

Matt Huenerfauth is a Professor and Dean of the Golisano College of Computing and Information Sciences at Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT). He studies technology design to benefit people who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing or who have low written-language literacy, and his team of research students operates bilingually in English and American Sign Language (ASL). He has secured $5.25 million in external research funding since 2007, including a U.S. National Science Foundation CAREER Award in 2008. He has authored over 115 peer-reviewed scientific journal articles, book chapters, and conference papers, including at top venues in human-computer interaction and computing accessibility. He is a five-time recipient of the Best Paper Award at the top computing research conference in the field of computing accessibility, the ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS), which is more than any other individual in the conference history. In 2021, he was elected Chair of the ACM SIGACCESS special interest group on accessible computing for a three-year term, and in 2019, he completed a maximum six-year term as editor-in-chief of the ACM Transactions on Accessible Computing (TACCESS) journal. In 2018, RIT awarded him the Trustees Scholarship Award, the university’s highest honor for faculty research.

Title:  Snail-Inspired Surface Robots for Microplastic Collection

Prof. Sunghwan (Sunny) Jung

Abstract

Animals inhabit intricate environments and carry out various functions. By studying animal behaviors, we can uncover valuable insights to enhance the design and development of engineering devices. We explore the intriguing abilities of snails to capture floating food particles on the water surface using their undulating foot. By studying the undulator's two-dimensional traveling waves, we unveil a mechanism for large-scale pumping of thin liquid near the liquid-air interface. Surprisingly, we discover that the flow rates depend non-monotonically on the wave speed, and we propose an optimal speed that maximizes pumping efficiency through our analysis of the thin-film equations. 

Building on this discovery, we propose a new design of bioinspired surface robots that emulate snail-like feeding motions to collect floating microplastics. These robots utilize undulatory motion to actively draw in particles, offering an energy-efficient and scalable approach to environmental cleanup. This talk highlights the synergy between biomechanics and robotics, illustrating how fundamental insights into fluid-structure interaction can lead to practical engineering solutions for emerging environmental challenges.

Dr. Sunghwan (Sunny) Jung is a Professor in the Department of Biological and Environmental Engineering and Director of Graduate Studies. He received his Ph.D. in physics at the University of Texas at Austin, and then became a postdoctoral researcher at the Courant Institute at NYU & a math instructor at MIT.

Dr. Jung’s research interest is to investigate various physics and biology problems emerging from the interaction of biological systems with surrounding environments. His group has integrated mathematical modeling, fluid dynamics, and physical & biological experiments to understand animal behaviors and plant physiology for better functions and performance. Some examples include how animals drink, how birds dive into water, how animals jump out of water, how plant spores are dispersed, how raindrops impact biological surfaces, and more.

Dr. Jung has trained students with diverse backgrounds to acquire knowledge and skills integrate and perform multidisciplinary research rather than learning skills in narrow fields of interest.

Title: Immersive Audio and AI

Prof. Sungyoung Kim

Abstract

Immersive audio—also known as spatial audio—is currently experiencing unprecedented attention from both the audio industry and academic communities. This surge in interest is fueled by a longstanding aspiration to transcend the limitations of traditional two-channel stereophony and to enable sophisticated manipulation of periphonic (full-sphere) sound within virtual environments. As in many other domains, artificial intelligence (AI) is becoming a transformative force in immersive audio. AI technologies are helping to overcome longstanding technical bottlenecks, enabling more intuitive and realistic spatial sound control—even at the consumer level. This presentation introduces recent projects that explore the convergence of immersive audio and AI. Specifically, we highlight three ongoing applications: (1) auditory space understanding to interpret spatial sound objects and environment, (2) an augmented reality (AR) game designed to enhance auditory engagement for hard-of-hearing users, and (3) a virtual museum experience within the Metaverse that leverages spatial audio for immersive cultural interaction. All projects are being carried out in collaboration with partner institutions across the world, and the presentation will conclude with a discussion of this international collaborative framework and its significance for interdisciplinary research in immersive audio and AI.

Dr. Sungyoung Kim is an Associate Professor at both the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) and the Graduate School of Culture Technology at KAIST. He leads the Applied and Innovative Research for Immersive Sound (AIRIS) Lab at KAIST, where his research focuses on immersive music recording and reproduction, spatial audio rendering, gamified ear training, virtual acoustics, and the digital preservation of aural heritage.

Dr. Kim has been a faculty member in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering Technology at RIT since 2012. Prior to his academic career, he worked as a recording engineer at the Korean Broadcasting System (KBS) from 1995 to 2001 and as a research fellow at Yamaha Corporation in Japan from 2007 to 2012.

He earned his B.S. in Computer Science from Sogang University, Korea, in 1996, and both his Master of Music and Ph.D. from McGill University, Canada, in 2006 and 2009, respectively. His expertise extends to spatial audio perceptual evaluation and auditory training for hearing rehabilitation. In 2022, he and his students successfully captured and digitally reconstructed the unique acoustics of RIT’s Allen Chapel, contributing to the preservation of its aural heritage.

Dr. Kim is also a visiting scholar in the Department of Architecture and Architectural Engineering at Kyoto University in Japan. In December 2024, he was honored with the KAIST Global Research Collaboration Award for his contributions to strengthening KAIST’s international research network with institutions such as New York University, McGill University, and Yamaha.

For more information about his work, visit the AIRIS Lab.

Panelists

Dr. Jung earned his doctoral degree in Medical Physics in 2017 at Sungkyunkwan University in South Korea. He received the postdoctoral training at UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, TX. Afterwards, he went on to complete his residency training at VCU in Richmond, VA before joining the University of Rochester.

Dr. Sungha Hong is a Research Assistant Professor at the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry. In 2023, he received a Brain Aneurysm Foundation Research Grant, marking a significant milestone in his research career.  Dr. Hong’s work contributes to advancements in medical research and education.

Bryan S. Kim is an Assistant Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at Syracuse University's College of Engineering and Computer Science. He completed his B.S. in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from the University of California at Berkeley in 2006 and earned his Ph.D. degree in Computer Science and Engineering from Seoul National University in 2018. His research interests center around building performant, reliable, and scalable memory and storage systems for data-intensive applications using emerging hardware technologies. 

Dr. Ji Hwan Park is an Assistant Professor in the School of Interactive Games and Media at Rochester Institute of Technology’s Golisano College of Computing and Information Sciences. His research focuses on data visualization, visual analytics, and human-AI teaming, with applications spanning biomedical data, digital twins, and immersive technologies such as VR/AR. Prior to joining RIT, Dr. Park served as an assistant computational scientist at Brookhaven National Laboratory and as an assistant professor at the University of Oklahoma. He holds a Ph.D. in Computer Science from Stony Brook University.