Most students don’t take the time to get to know their professors. But then again, most professors can’t put students on the moon — virtually at least.
Electrical engineering and computer science associate professor Robert Kooima isn’t like most professors.
After growing up in Rock Valley, Iowa, Kooima obtained a bachelor and master’s degree in computer science from the University of Iowa. Kooima took his degrees to Hampton, Va., where he worked at the NASA Langley Research Center.
Working in a government lab taught Kooima that he didn’t want to spend his career working on someone else’s research.
“I realized that, unless I got a Ph.D., I would always be working for someone else determining the direction of the research,” Kooima said.
Kooima decided to go back to college at the University of Illinois at Chicago, and completed his Ph.D. in four years.
“When we met, I saw him conducting highly impressive display research,” said Brygg Ullmer, associate professor with a joint affiliation with the College of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science and the Center for Computation and Technology. Ullmer met Kooima during their postdoctoral activities because of the collaboration between the University’s CCT and the
University of Illinois at Chicago.
Kooima’s thesis dealt with interactive real time graphics. Kooima’s dissertation, entitled Tellurion, created an accurate virtual representation of planetary environments.
“I realized that I had the ability to see the moon in a way that other people couldn’t,” Kooima said about his programming work at Langley. “I wanted to bring that to the public.”
After receiving his Ph.D., Kooima found a job at LSU.
Last year, Kooima developed an application that he continues to work on called Orbiter: Moonwalk Mk II. This program utilizes the research from his dissertation, creating a three dimensional environment that accurately depicts, in great detail, the surface of the moon. An individual using this program can view the surface of the moon as if they were there.
“Bob’s work does a beautiful job of riding the line between academic research and sparking enthusiasm from the general public,” Ullmer said.
The necessary data to bring this project to life comes from NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter.
“That’s the project that really gets me going the most,” Kooima said.
Kooima’s work ethic and high standards motivate his students to put their best foot forward.
“He was able to revive classes, like applied computer graphics, that hadn’t been taught in nine years,” said Kevin Cherry, a computer science graduate student who is currently working with Kooima to obtain a Ph.D. in computer graphics.
Kooima also teaches introductory computer graphics and video game design. In the classroom, Kooima takes a cross-platform approach to working with students, Cherry said. Cross-platform refers to the versibility of his teaching style to fit multiple operating systems.
“It’s very important,” said Cherry. “And he teaches principles of being cross-platform to his students as well.”
He found his niche with computer graphics, Cherry said, who also mentioned Kooima’s academic curiosity makes him unique among his peers. His projects and experiences in the computer science field bring innovation to the University and Baton Rouge’s growing role in the digital media industry.