Harris Corp. & Florida Tech Agreement Bears Fruit in Image Processing Patent

MELBOURNE, FLA. — A 2006 collaborative agreement between Florida Institute of Technology and Harris Corp. bore fruit in the form of an image processing
patent approved last November.

The patent is for a computer system, including a database and processor, for processing a type of radar (SAR) image. The system developed is useful both
for military and civilian applications.

Inventors on the patent are Harris Corp. Image Processing division researchers Kenneth Sartor (formerly of Harris Corp.); Josef Allen, Emile Ganthier and
Bernard S. Gilbert; and Gnana Bhaskar Tenali, a Florida Tech mathematical sciences professor. Sartor, Allen and Ganthier all hold doctoral degrees from
Florida Tech. Tenali was faculty adviser for Sartor and Allen on their doctoral theses.

“There was such a rich exchange of informal ideas among Harris personnel and Florida Tech faculty that two-and-a-half-years ago we decided to formalize the
relationship. Our hope was that joint projects would emerge such as this patented methodology,” said Robert Merrill, Florida Tech director of technology
transfer.

The relationship began with Tenali finding that nearly half the students in one image processing courses he taught were from Harris Corp. Conversations
between Harris students and Tenali resulted in new courses that are relevant to emerging technology.

Collaborations continue with plans for Ganthier and Tenali to team-teach a Florida Tech course in mathematical methods for radar image processing next
fall.

Florida Tech is accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools to award associate, baccalaureate, master’s
education specialist and doctoral degrees.