Vladimir Ivanov was born and raised in Sofia, Bulgaria. In 2005 he moved to Hilo with his family. He is currently attending University of Hawai’i at Hilo as a freshman. Vladimir is majoring in Computer Science, with a minor in Business Administration. He enjoys hiking, biking, jogging, swimming, and most of all, playing soccer.

Institution when acceptedUniversity of Hawaii, Hilo

Akamai Project: Creating an Image Database Catalog

Project Site:  W.M. Keck Observatory

MentorsShui Kwok and Peggi Kamisato

Project Abstract:

Images are a tremendous source of information. Especially in the engineering and technical field where just one image can provide visual information that can’t be explained otherwise. The W.M. Keck Observatory headquarters are located in Waimea and the actual Keck telescopes are up on the summit of Mauna Kea. This distance creates difficulties for the people who are responsible for maintaining the equipment of the telescopes. Images from the summit give the maintenance staff the opportunity to give directions without losing time traveling to the summit. In order to solve this problem, an image database catalog was created. The software, InMagic, was selected to help build and upload the database on the local area network of Keck. Each record of the catalog contains not only an image but also detailed information, such as identification number, title, date, photographer, credit, copyright and more. The main limitation is the speed of the database. This constraint was overcome by writing a script which creates a thumbnail for each uploaded image file. A local database was created, which was afterwards populated with records by importing text files. Once the catalog is accessible for all Keck personnel, it will grow proportionally. Each user will have the opportunity to insert new records into the database by filling out an edit/submit form. The database will enable Keck employees to have use of all.

Link to a PDF of Vladimir’s project presentation.