wux@spruce.ulowell.edu (Xiang Wu) (05/03/91)
UNIVERSITY IMAGING INCENTIVE PROGRAM ...a program to make commerical imaging software systems affordable to non-profit educational institutions and to encourage the exchange of imaging software to extend technology BACKGROUND Today, there are about 40 non-profit educational institutions world- wide using the Visualization Workbench and serveral are beta-testing a new product called Paragon ELT/2. Paragon has supported university research by.. * providing sources to our imaging algorithm library * multi-vendor support including workstationof DEC, Sun, etc * OSF/Motif compliance * 70+% educational discount(commercial price $9,900) Since there is a serious continual curtailment of university research funding, Paragon is providing all of its software systerm for $495 (second copy for $295) through a program for non-profit educational institutions(not affiliated with the federal government), called the University Imaging Incentive Program has been created. The goal of the UIIP is to foster the exchange of imaging software to.. * eliminate duplicate development efforts within universities * foster imaging technology * foster imaging science education Charter members include individual staff members with the Dept of Radiology at *John Hopkins University*, Electrical and Computer Engineering Department at *UC Irvine*, Material Science Center at *Cornell University*, Chemistry Dept at *NYU medical Center*, Department of Radiology at *University of Michigan* Medical School, Medical Imaging Division at *UCLA* School of Medicine, Dept of Radiology at *Brigham & Women's Hospital*, Dept of Radiation and Oncology at St Francis Medical Center (University of Illinois), Division of Imaging Physics at *Georgetown University* Medical Center, the Department of Human Genetics at the *University of Utah*,etc. The University Imaging Incentive Program provides all Paragon Imaging's products-Paragon ELT/2 plus the Visualization Workbench - for $495 for the first user license and $295 for each additional user. The only exception to the pricing is our existing university users. They will be able to obtain additional licenses for only $295 each. The program was put in effect March 25, 1991 and is limited to the United States only. The following sections further explain the program. They are... Section Contents 1. Objective 2. What will universities receive from Paragon? 3. Distribution options for University developed software. 4. Program Scope & Licensing Fees 5. Comments by charter members We look forward to and thank you for your participation. 1.0 OBJECTIVE: TO FOSTER THE IMAGING SOFTWARE TECHNOLOGY AND EDUCATION. The program... * addresses university's needs for fully supported image analysis, research and application develoopment software which can be utilized for imaging research and education * encourages the free distribution of user's software developments to other users. * provides universities with a product at an affordable licensing fee. 2.0 WHAT WILL UNIVERSITIES RECEIVE FROM PARAGON? Paragon will provide universities with... a. A combined software system including.. * ELT/2 an interactive image analysis system * visual programming system for application prototyping plus the Imaging Library(binary license) of 160 algorithms * 2D & 3D scientific plotting system(xprism) for images & math functions * Imaging Libraary (source code license) of 160 algorithms * Development Tools(dt) for generating new algorithms for the Imaging Library(ipl) and for modifying the user interface Please note that full sources to the image processing library is provided. All products are built on UNIX and X-Windows, are OSF/Motif compliant, run under Sun's Open Windows and DECwindows, and are available for workstations from Sun, DEC, IBM, etc. b. manuals for the above products.. * Visualization Workbench New User's Guide(90+ pages) - information on getting started and tutorials. * Visualization Workbench Reference Manual(300+ pages)- man pages for imaging algorithms, utilities and data formats. * Visualization Workbench Programming Guide(180+ pages)- information on programming and extending the system. * Electronic Light Table Users Guide (40+ pages)- information on getting started and tutorials. * Visualization Workbench Release Notes (90+ pages) * Training Manual for the Visualization Workbench and Development Tools (60+ pages) - provides classroom guide. 3. DISTRIBUTION OPTIONS FOR UNIVERSITY DEVELOPED SOFTWARE. For universities who want to distribute internally developed software, the following classification is proposed.. Classification Explanation I Software to be distribute at no charge to users &/or placed in the public domain. II Same as I, but the University will provide support. In both cases, it is expected that Paragon will be given the opportunity to distribute the software on a "no charge tape cartridge" to other users. Also, the software distributed can not be software that is previously copyrighted by Paragon Imaging or others. 4. PROGRAM SCOPE & LICENSING FEES The program is limited to non-profit educational institutions with the United States and Canada. Governmental or for-profit institutions can not join the program. To purchase the Visualization Workbench System, either... * issue a purchase order, or * call in or mail in an order and pay for it with either a Visa or Master Card. To order the product at the UIIP discount, the following information is needed.. Product # Product Description Price UIIP Single User License to ELT/2 and the Visualization Workbench System for______________________________ $9,990. workstation, operating system,rev# Less, UIIP Discount $9,495. Net Price 495. shipping Charge 50. Options: Each additional license 295. System upgrades per user License for one year 195 5.0 CHARTER MEMBERS' COMMENTS ON THE UNIVERISTY IMAGING INCENTIVE PROGRAM The following are the comments received from charter members of the University Imaging Incentive Program. The comments are personal views and are independent of the views of the institution with whom the individual is associated. Rick Cochran, Cornell University, Material Science Center Comment: Paragon's University Imaging Incentive Program will enable us to develop image analysis and real-time control applications for various areas of microscopy. This development would be difficult-to-impossible otherwise. Douglas D. Robertson, MD, Ph.D, Johns Hopkins University, School of Medicine Comment: The availability of a ccommercial visual programming system will help all our lab personnel to productively use image processing for quantitative geometric and tissue characterization CT and MRI images. Glen Healey, Electrical and Computer Engineering Department, UC Irvine Comment: This is a great program and will benefit us in our research and teaching mission. Ed Huff, Chemistry Dept.,NYU Medical Center Comment: Paragon's program will enable us to effectively use visual programming techniques to efficiently evaluate alternative image processing strategies. Seong Ki Mun, Ph.D, Director, Div. of Imaging Physics, Georgetown Med. Center Comment: We are very excited about Paragon's University Imaging Incentive Program. The fields of image analysis and image processing are expanding very rapidly. This program will help us to incorporate the latest techniques into our ultrasound tissue characterization studies. Alan Bleier, Department of Radiology, Brigham & Women's Hospital Comment: The University Imaging Incentive Program will not only save scarce research funds, but also time we would have spent building tools for ourselves. This lets us concentrate on our real problems and solve them more quickly. Scott Dulebohn, Dept. of Radiation & Oncology, St Francis Med. Ctr., University of Illinois Comment: It is an exciting program to share code libraries with other universities. Paragon provides a good framework and libraries to provide consistency across platforms. This will allow us to easily segment programs. Contact: Paragon Imaging Lowell, Ma 01852 Tel (508) 441-2112 Fax (508) 459-9719 e-mail uiip@paragon.com