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The 2023 Art of Science competition drew over 55 entries, highlighting the creativity
of ������Ƶ faculty, graduate and undergraduate students, postdocs
and staff members.

The top prize, Best in Show and First Place in The World Around Us, went to Jessica
Fridrich, distinguished professor of electrical and computer engineering. Her entry,
titled “Celestial Cotton Candy,” featured violent weather in the Southwest.
“Monsoons can be dangerous and destructive as well as awe inspiring and outright
beautiful,” she wrote in her entry. “I am a researcher. My job is to look for new
problems and open people’s eyes. My photography does the same as I search for
new compositions and ways to portray remote places.”

Ling Wang, a lecturer in biomedical engineering, took home top prize in the
Visualizing the Unseen category for an image and 3D rendering of breast cancer
cells.

Four additional entries were honored as Judge’s Choice Selections:

• “Levitating Gel Donut,” entered by Kirsten Krick, a graduate student in
  biomedical engineering.
• “Dermal Nebula,” entered by Ash Spina, a doctoral candidate in biomedical
  engineering.
• “Fruit Flies Stealing Nectar from a Killed Bee,” submitted by Pavel Masek,
  assistant professor of biological sciences.
• “Celestial Cotton Candy,” also entered by Jessica Fridrich, distinguished
  professor of electrical and computer engineering.

Images are evaluated based on scientific significance, originality and artistic and
visual impact.

This year’s judges were Evan Henderson, creative marketing specialist, Harpur
College of Arts and Sciences; Jeffrey Mativetsky, associate professor of physics,
applied physics and astronomy and director of the Materials Science and
Engineering Program; Blessin McFarlane, an English major and a member of the
Class of 2023; and Meera Sampath, associate dean of research, Thomas J. Watson
College of Engineering and Applied Science.

You can see all of the 2023 entries in this video: