By Lesley Porcelli

Yiming Zhao, assistant professor of mathematics, has been awarded an NSF grant for his research on shape recovery problems on convex objects. His work builds on the classic Minkowski problem, a basis for developments in mathematics through the 20th century. “Shape recovery” implies the ability to project the curvature of an object with only local data about its dimensions. This has implications for engineering and design, as in the case of an antenna reflector, which employs reflecting illumination and signal patterns in transmitting and receiving signals, as well as economics, such as in issues like calculating the most efficient paths for optimal transport of resources.