Javier Concha of Rochester Institute of Technology wins regional Student of the Year award

SPIE Student Member Javier Concha, a PhD student at Rochester Institute of Technology's Chester F. Carlson Center for Imaging Science, was recently named Student of the Year by the Central New York Region of the American Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing.

Selected from applicants in upstate New York, Vermont and north central Pennsylvania, Concha received a one-year society membership, a certificate and $250 at the society's annual meeting in April.

"This award highlights my perseverance and passion for the field," said Concha in a RIT press release. "It is awesome to be recognized by my peers and scholars. It not only reinforces the importance of doing research but also the benefit of being a part of professional societies in your area of specialty. It opens doors for our future. I strongly encourage students to become members of and participate actively in these organizations."

Originally from Concepción, Chile, Concha is a member of RIT's SPIE/OSA Student Chapter and next year will serve as secretary. He came to RIT on a Fulbright scholarship to work on his master's degree in the Center for Imaging Science. He earned his MS in 2012 and expects to finish his Ph.D. in spring 2015.

His thesis research explores the use of NASA's Landsat 8 Earth-imaging satellite for monitoring fresh and coastal waters. He recently presented the paper "A model-based ELM for atmospheric correction over Case 2 water with Landsat 8" at SPIE DSS 2014.

SPIE.org profile: http://spie.org/profile/Javier.Concha-152366
SPIE DSS paper: http://spie.org/Publications/Proceedings/Paper/10.1117/12.2050589
RIT press release: http://www.rit.edu/news/story.php?id=50784