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Sherry Olson |
Investigating the Unseen: Using Image Processing
to Tackle the Unknown
Sherry Olson
April 2004
Sherry Olson would be the first to admit that image isn't everything.
But during her career at MITRE, it's counted for a lot.
Olson, a senior principal imagery scientist, has spent her career
looking beneath the surface to find hidden evidence of all kinds,
all in the service of the public good. "If there's been a theme
to my work, it's been helping the government use data sources more
effectively to solve problems," she says.
In her case, "solving problems" has meant leading efforts for everything
from tackling medical mysteries to investigating tell-tale traces
of hazardous substances left behind in the environment. It's also
meant taking a hands-on role in the days following September 11.
Olson first joined MITRE in 1980 in Bedford, Massachusetts, soon
becoming part of a team designing the network monitoring and control
system for MITRENET, the corporation's pioneering broadband local
area network. In 1985, her information technology expertise drew
the attention of Bahaa Fam, who was setting up MITRE's new Image
Processing Research Laboratory. This began Olson's explorations
into image processing; she became director of the lab in the late
1980s. The lab's work program ranged over a wide set of challenges,
such as developing fingerprint and mugshot compression algorithms
for the FBI, extracting features from imagery to identify man-made
objects, and developing algorithms for the early detection of breast
cancer and glaucoma.
In 1994, MITRE offered her the opportunity to use her management
and scientific skills to support the Technology Fellowship Program,
sponsored by the National Reconnaissance Office. She helped coordinate
a successful pilot of the program, which is designed to bring bright
young people from industry into one-year government research projects.
In 1995, she received her own fellowship and became a technology
liaison between the National Aeronautics and Space Administration
(NASA) and the Department of Defense (DOD). She supported the exchange
and transfer of spacecraft technology, focusing on remote sensing
and data processing.
Olson relocated to northern Virginia to fill the NASA spot. After
completing her stint in the fellowship program, she started a hyperspectral
data laboratory at MITRE, which she now directs. Hyperspectral imaging
uses specialized sensors that can detect and analyze characteristics
of material unseeable by the human eye. This latest work is all
part of the "theme" of her career.
Her current lab, the Exploitation Systems Laboratory, puts state-of-the-art
remote sensing and hyperspectral data systems to work for a variety
of MITRE's government customers. One of her current research projects,
called Vegetation Forensics, focuses on using the hidden clues of
plant life—clues that might point to illegal activities such
as chemical dumping.
Solving Problems at Ground Zero
Although it's clear Olson is enthusiastic about all her assignments
at MITRE, one stands above the rest: using her experience to support
the emergency rescue teams at the World Trade Center following 9/11.
Like many MITRE employees, she answered the call for help immediately,
supporting the Federal Emergency Management Agency. She also enlisted
the help of her husband, Christopher Simi, who works at the Army
Night Vision and Electronic Sensors Directorate. Simi builds sensors
for an Army research lab, resulting in a fortuitous teaming. Olson
convinced her husband to cut a special hole in his survey plane
for a calibrated thermal sensor. Using the instrument's heat-sensing
capabilities, she was able to help supply information to firefighters
about the temperature of fires throughout the site.
Although Olson's spent her career working on a variety of satisfying
projects, nothing else compares to the WTC. "It's an experience
I'll never forget," she says. "You couldn't tell the enormity of
the disaster site just from TV.
"It made me really proud to be at MITRE."
—by Alison Stern-Dunyak
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