Relightable Neural Radiance Fields for Novel View Synthesis

This paper describes relighting neural radiance fields for novel view synthesis. View synthesis is the problem of using input images with corresponding camera angles to produce a photorealistic 3D model of an environment and its objects. Neural radiance fields (NeRFs) were created as a solution to view synthesis. Neural radiance field models work well for generating realistic 3D models from 2D image inputs; how-ever, they do not support changing the lighting or placing the objects from the input images into different environments. The problem comes from the fact that NeRFs rely on a neural network that is essentially overfitted to the original environment used in the training. This means an object in a given scene cannot be placed into a different scene using the NeRF neural network model. A new model, relightable neural radiance fields (ReNeRFs), has been proposed to combat this issue. ReNeRFs have the ability to control the lighting of an object and place it into novel environments using an image-based relighting approach

Determination of the Reaction Mechanism for the Tautomerization of Tröger’s Base

Tröger’s base is a unique V-shaped, bicyclic, chiral molecule that has the flexibility to have derivatives added to its carbon backbone. This allows for Tröger’s base to be used in many material applications. This research focuses on the addition of a carbamoyl group(-CONEt2) to Tröger’s base that can form either an endo- or exo-isomeric form. The exo-derivative of Tröger’s base is shown to be the more stable species. Recent work has shown that the endo-derivative can be selectively produced by sequential proton transfer under highly-basic, cold conditions, through deprotonation followed by a protic quench. Prior research has predicted that this reaction proceeds through a charged enolate intermediate, but has not shown a clear mechanism for selectivity of the endo-product. This project focused on determining the impact of the THF solvent and the effect temperature has on both mechanistic steps using Density Functional Theory (DFT) calculations

Plastron...Plastroff: Sometimes It\u27s Hard to Tell Turtles Apart

https://digitalcommons.morris.umn.edu/tafs/1080/thumbnail.jp

Peyton Snow Interview, 2025

Peyton Snow discusses her experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic when she was a middle school student living in Owatonna, Minnesota.https://digitalcommons.morris.umn.edu/covid19/1000/thumbnail.jp

John Amundson Interview, 2025

John Amundson, owner of John\u27s Total Entertainment, discusses his store in Morris, Minnesota, as well as other Main Street businesses in Morris.https://digitalcommons.morris.umn.edu/main_street_business/1004/thumbnail.jp

Securing AI-Generated Code

The increasing use of AI for code generation presents significant security challenges, as these tools often lack inherent security awareness and can produce vulnerable code. This paper investigates these security risks, outlining common types of vulnerabilities (such as injection flaws and improper resource handling) found in AI-generated code. It further explores and evaluates mitigation techniques aimed at im-proving code security, including model fine-tuning and adversarial strategies like Security Verifier Enhanced Neural Steering (SVEN). Findings indicate that while current methods offer promising ways to reduce vulnerabilities, ongoing research and development are crucial for the secure and responsible deployment of AI in software development

Faculty/Staff Recognition Celebration 2025

Award Winners: Horace T. Morse Award for Outstanding Contributions to Undergraduate Education: Mark Collier UMM Faculty Distinguished Research Award: Ann DuHamel UMM Alumni Association Teaching Award: Sylke Boyd Morris Academic Staff Award: Matt Johnson Bill and Ida Stewart Award for Racial Justice Advocacy: Clement Loo Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (JEDI) Award: Cristina Ortiz Community Engagement Award: Kerry Michael Mary Martelle Memorial Award: Kathy Dingman Outstanding Support Staff Awards: Makiko Legate, Kathy Dingman, Lynn Johnson Retirees: David Brown, Keith Brugger, John Hamerlinck, Sarah Mattson, Mike Miller, Cynthia Schneider, Ray Schultz, Sheila Warnerhttps://digitalcommons.morris.umn.edu/facstaffrecognition/1032/thumbnail.jp