"Finding backbone substructures that match an arbitrary query structural motif, composed of multiple disjoint segments, is a problem of growing relevance in structure prediction and protein design" -- Gevorg Grigoryan.
Gevorg's lab built a tool called Method of Accelerated Search for Tertiary Ensemble Representatives MASTER, which is essentially a partial distance search engine for the Protein Data Bank.
I took on building a PyMol module and a server API component as a weekend project to allow his lab at first but then others to be able to use his _MASTER_ search database for building proteins.
Crafting 3D paper pop-ups can yield complex, expressive geometries, and can help develop spatial reasoning skills. However, designing the cuts and folds is often a frustrating process due to the strict geometric constraints. Foldlings is a tool that assists in this exploratory process, allowing a user to draw lines and be guided in creating well-defined pop-ups. We simulate the pop-up in 3D, allowing users to quickly preview their design before printing or laser cutting. We created an iOS app written in Swift, and performed informal user tests with 23 undergraduate students.
Based on Foursquare's engineering blog (which has lots of good technical information about how they do things) we decided to give Lift a try and learn Scala along the way! Did we like it? Yes and no...
I had wanted to play/hack a Kinect so I completed an independent study project researching motion detection techniques, physics reconstruction, and geometry sculpting. I implemented a program to sculpt some 3D geometry with your hands using the Kinect.
