P.O. Box 2008, Oak Ridge National Lab, Oak Ridge ,TN 37831-6075
Wk: (865) 574-8521, Fax: (865) 576-8993
E-mail: tobinkwjr@ornl.gov

Dr. Kenneth Tobin is a Corporate Research Fellow and Group Leader of the Image Science and Machine Vision Group at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee. The group performs applied computer vision research and development in industrial inspection, biomedical imaging, and national security. His technical focus is on object segmentation and feature generation from multi-spectral, multi-source imagery for the development of robust human-level classifiers and image archival and retrieval applications. He has authored and co-authored 135 publications (i.e., 12 book chapters and editorial works, 26 invited and refereed journal publications, 71 published proceedings, and 26 published technical reports) and he currently holds seven U.S. Patents with two additional patents pending in the areas of computer vision, photonics, radiography, and microscopy. He has given over 19 invited presentations on his work both in the US and abroad.

Dr. Tobin is a Fellow of the International Society for Optical Engineering (SPIE) where he is founder of Data Analysis and Modeling for Process Control, part of SPIE’s Microlithography Symposium, and where he is currently an Associate Editor (Vision Systems) for the Journal of Electronic Imaging. Dr. Tobin is also a Senior Member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) where he was the first invited U.S. organizer of the 6th International Conference on Quality Control by Artificial Vision held in 2003. Dr. Tobin was the Tennessee Academy of Science's Industrial Scientist of the Year in 2001 for his work in image-based analysis and metrology. He was the recipient of the R&D 100 Award by R&D Magazine in 2002 for his work in content-based image retrieval, and he was the recipient of the Southeast and National Federal Laboratory Consortium Awards for Excellence in Technology Transfer for his work in digital holography in 2002. He currently holds a Department of Energy Q-clearance.

Nuclear Engineering, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, Virginia, 1984.
Thesis: Iodine Spiking in Pressurized Water Reactors.

Tobin, K.W., Karnowski, T.P., Chaum, E., “A Method for the Diagnosis of Blinding Eye Disease using Image Content and an Archive of Diagnosed Human Patient Data,” UT-Battelle, LLC, Invention Disclosure No. 1596, DOE No. S-105,198, July 2005.

Tobin, K.W., Karnowski, T.P., Lakhani, F. “A Method for the Reduction of Image Content Redundancy in Large Image Libraries”, UT-Battelle, LLC, Invention Disclosure No. 1485, US DOE S-105,086, December 2005.

Tobin, K.W., Karnowski, T.P., “A Method for Directed Indexing of Image Databases for Content-based Retrieval Applications”, UT-Battelle, LLC, Invention Disclosure No. 1151, September 2002.

Tobin, K.W., Karnowski, T.P., Ferrell, R.K., “Method for Indexing and Retrieving Manufacturing-Specific Digital Imagery Based on Image Content”, ERID No. 0668 / Q&B 6321-131, U.S. Patent No. 6,751,343, June 15, 2004.

Tobin, K.W., Karnowski, T.P., Ferrell, R.K., “Method for Localizing and Isolating an Errant Process Step”, U.S. Patent No. 6,535,776, March 18, 2003.

Paulus, M.J., Sari-Sarraf, H., Tobin, K.W., Gleason, S.S., Thomas, C.E., “Ultra-High Resolution Computed Tomography Imaging”, U.S. Patent No. 6421409, July 16, 2002.

Tobin, K.W., Thomas, C.E., "X-ray Confocal Coded Aperture Imaging System”, U.S. Patent No. 6,195,412, February 27, 2001.

Tobin, K.W., Jr., Gleason, S.S., Karnowski, T.P., and Sari-Sarraf H., “Automated Defect Signature Analysis for Semiconductor Manufacturing Process Improvement”, U.S. Patent No. 5,982,920, January 7, 1997.

Dooley, J.B., Muhs, J.D., Tobin, K.W., “Fiber Optic Vibration Sensor”, U.S. Patent No. 5,381,492, January 10, 1995,

Muhs, J.D., Jordan, J.K., Tobin, K.W., LaForge, J.V., “Apparatus for Weighing and Identifying Characteristics of a Moving Vehicle”, U.S. Patent No. 5,260,520, November 9, 1993.

Hanson, G.R., Bingham, P.R., Tobin, K.W., “High-Speed Transmission and Reflection Measurements using Spatial-Heterodyne Interferometry for Complete Inspection/Metrology of Translucent Objects”,UT-Battelle, LLC, Invention Disclosure No. 1225, S-101,813, November 2002.

Bingham, P.R., Hanson, G.R., Tobin, K.W., “A System for High-Speed Transmissive Spatial-Heterodyne Interferometric Measurements”, UT-Battelle, LLC, Invention Disclosure No. 1224, S-101,812, November 2002.

National Federal Laboratory Consortium Award for " MicroCAT Small Animal Imaging System ", recognition for Excellence in Technology Transfer, May 2005.

Southeast Region Federal Laboratory Consortium Award for "MicroCAT Small Animal Imaging System", recognition for Technology Transfer Project of the Year, September 2004.

Elected to the grade of Senior Member of IEEE, The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, August 2004.

National Federal Laboratory Consortium Award for "Automated Image Retrieval System for Semiconductor Yield Improvement", recognition for Excellence in Technology Transfer, May 2003.

Southeast Region Federal Laboratory Consortium Award for "Automated Image Retrieval Technology", recognition for Excellence in Technology Transfer, January 2003.

R&D Magazine’s R&D 100 Award for applied research in the development of the Defect Source Identifier – Automated Image Retrieval (DSI-AIR) System for Semiconductor Image Data Management, 2002.

National Federal Laboratory Consortium Award for Excellence in Technology Transfer, "Direct-to-Digital Holography for High-Speed, High Resolution Defect Inspection", March 2002.

Southeast Region Federal Laboratory Consortium Award for "Direct-to-Digital Holography for High-Speed, High Resolution Defect Inspection", recognition for the new category of Excellence in Technology Transfer Award of the Year, November 2002.

UT-Battelle, LLC, Awards Night Director’s Award for Outstanding Team Accomplishment in Science and Technology, for Successful Development of a Content-based Image Retrieval System for Semiconductor Yield Improvement October 2002.

UT-Battelle, LLC, Awards Night Recognition for Outstanding Engineering Development Team Accomplishment, for Successful Development of a Content-based Image Retrieval System for Semiconductor Yield Improvement October 2002.

Elected to the grade of Fellow of SPIE, The International Society for Optical Engineering, March 2001.

UT-Battelle, LLC, Awards Night Recognition for Distinguished Engineer (Individual) for Developing an Internationally Recognized Program in Computer Vision and Semiconductor Metrology, November 2001.

UT-Battelle, LLC, Awards Night Recognition for Engineering Development by a Team for Development of a Direct-to-digital Holographic System for Metrology and Inspection, November 2001.

Tennessee Academy of Science, Industrial Scientist of the Year, for Leadership and Scientific Contributions to Semiconductor Metrology, November 2000.

Tobin, K., Chaum E., "Automated screening aids diagnosis of diabetic eye disease," Biomedical Optics & Medical Imaging, SPIE Newsroom (newsroom.spie.org), September 3, 2006. (PDF document)

Tobin, K.W., Aykac, D., Govindasamy, V.P., Gleason, S.S., Gregor, J., Karnowski, T.P., Price, J.R., and Wall, J., “Image-based Informatics for Preclinical Biomedical Research,” 2nd International Symposium on Visual Computing, LNCS 4292, Springer-Verlag, Berlin, 2006, pp. 1740-1750. (PDF document)

Karnowski, T.P., Govindasamy, V.P., Tobin, K.W., Chaum, E., “Locating the Optic Nerve in Retinal Images: Comparing Model-Based and Bayesian Decision Methods,” 28th Annual International Conf. of the IEEE EMBS, August 2006. (PDF document)

Bourgeat, P., Tobin, K.W., Gorria, P., Meriaudeau, F., “Gabor Feature Extraction on Complex Images: Application to Defect Detection on Semiconductors,” Accepted for publication in The Imaging Science Journal, February 2006.

Tobin, K.W., Bhaduri, B.L., Bright, E.A., Cheriyadat, A., Karnowski, T.P., Palathingal, P.J., Potok, T.E., Price, J.R., “Automated Feature Generation in Large-Scale Geospatial Libraries for Content-Based Indexing,” Journal of Photogrammetric Engineering and Remote Sensing, Vol. 72, No. 5, May 2006. (PDF document)

Tobin, K.W., Chaum, E., Govindasamy, V.P., Karnowski, T.P., Sezer, O., “Characterization of the Optic Disk in Retinal Imagery using a Probabilistic Approach”, SPIE International Symposium on Medical Imaging, San Diego, California, Proceedings of SPIE, Vol. 6144, February 2006. (PDF document)

Paquit, V., Price, J.R., Seulin, R., Meriaudeau, F., Farahi, R.R., Tobin, K.W., Ferrell, T.L., “Near-infrared imaging and structured light ranging for automatic catheter insertion,” SPIE International Symposium on Medical Imaging, San Diego, California, Proceedings of SPIE, Vol. 6141, February 2006. (PDF document)

Bourgeat, P., Tobin, K.W., Gorria, P., Meriaudeau, F., “Gabor Feature Extraction on Complex Images: Application to Defect Detection on Semiconductors,” Accepted for publication in The Imaging Science Journal, February 2006.

Tobin, K.W., Bhaduri, B.L., Bright, E.A., Cheriyadat, A., Karnowski, T.P., Palathingal, P.J., Potok, T.E., Price, J.R., “Automated Feature Generation in Large-Scale Geospatial Libraries for Content-Based Indexing,” Journal of Photogrammetric Engineering and Remote Sensing, Vol. 72, No. 5, May 2006. (PDF document)

Tobin, K.W., Chaum, E., Govindasamy, V.P., Karnowski, T.P., Sezer, O., “Characterization of the Optic Disk in Retinal Imagery using a Probabilistic Approach”, SPIE International Symposium on Medical Imaging, San Diego, California, Proceedings of SPIE, Vol. 6144, February 2006. (PDF document)

Paquit, V., Price, J.R., Seulin, R., Meriaudeau, F., Farahi, R.R., Tobin, K.W., Ferrell, T.L., “Near-infrared imaging and structured light ranging for automatic catheter insertion,” SPIE International Symposium on Medical Imaging, San Diego, California, Proceedings of SPIE, Vol. 6141, February 2006. (PDF document)

Tobin, K.W., Bhaduri, B.L., Bright, E.A., Cheriyadat, A., Karnowski, T.P., Palathingal, P.J., Potok, T.E., Price, J.R., “Large-Scale Geospatial Indexing for Image-Based Retrieval and Analysis,” ISVC 2005, LNCS 3804, Springer-Verlag, Berlin, 2005, pp. 543-552. (PDF document)

Tobin, K.W., Bingham, P.R., “Optical Spatial Heterodyned Interferometry for Applications in Semiconductor Inspection and Metrology,” (invited) International Conference on Lasers, Applications, and Technologies, St. Petersburg, Russia, Proceedings of SPIE, Vol. 6162, May 2005. (PDF document)

Tobin, K.W., Bingham, P.R., “Optical Spatial Heterodyned Interferometry for Applications in Semiconductor Inspection and Metrology,” International Conference on Lasers, Applications, and Technologies, St. Petersburg, Russia, Proceedings of SPIE, May 11-15, 2005.

Bourgeat, P., Meriaudeau, F., Tobin, K.W., Gorria, P., “Patterned Wafer Segmentation,” SPIE Journal of Electronic Imaging, Vol. 13, No. 3, July 2004.

Bingham, P.R., Tobin, K.W., Bennett, M.H., Marmillion, P., “Phase Defect Detection with Spatial Heterodyne Interferometry,” Microlithography, Proceedings of the SPIE Vol. 5378, May 2004.

Bingham, P.R., Price, J.R., Tobin, K.W., Karnowski, T.P., “Semiconductor Sidewall Shape Estimation,” SPIE Journal of Electronic Imaging, Vol. 13, No. 3, July 2004.

Bourgeat, P., Meriaudeau, F., Tobin, K.W., Gorria, P., “Patterned Wafer Segmentation,” SPIE Journal of Electronic Imaging, Vol. 13, No. 3, July 2004.

Bingham, P.R., Tobin, K.W., Bennett, M.H., Marmillion, P., “Phase Defect Detection with Spatial Heterodyne Interferometry,” Microlithography, Proceedings of the SPIE Vol. 5378, May 2004.

Bourgeat, P., Meriaudeau, F., Tobin, K.W., Gorria, P., “Comparison of Texture Features for Segmentation of Pattern Wafers,” Proceedings of the SPIE Vol. 5266., Oct. 2003.

Bingham, P.R., Tobin, K.W, Bennett, M.H., Marmillion, P., “Preliminary Results for Mask Metrology Using Spatial Heterodyne Interferometry,” 23rd BACUS Symposium on Photomask Technology, 8-12 September, Monterey Convention Center, Monterey, CA, 2003.

Thomas, C.E., Jr., Hunt, M.A., Bahm, T.M., Baylor, L.R., Bingham, P.R. , Chidley, M.D., Dai, X., Delahanty, R.J., El-Khashab, A., Gilbert, J.M., Goddard, J.S., Hanson, G.R., Hickson, J.D., Hylton, K.W., John, G.C., Jones, M.L., Mayo, M.W., Marek, C., Price, J.H., Rasmussen, D.A., Schaefer, L.J., Schulze, M.A., Shen, B., Smith, R.G., Su, A.N., Tobin, K.W., Usry, W.R., Voelkl, E., Weber, K.S., Owen, R.W., "Direct To Digital Holography For High Aspect Ratio Inspection of Semiconductor Wafers", International Conference on Characterization and Metrology for ULSI Technology, NIST, Austin, TX, March 24-28, 2003.

Ferrell, R.K, Gleason, S.S., and Tobin, K.W., “Application of Fractal Encoding Techniques for Image Segmentation”, IEEE/SME/SPIE 6th International Conference on Quality Control by Artificial Vision, Proceedings of the SPIE Vol. 5132, May 2003.

Price, J.R., Bingham, P.R., Tobin, K.W., and Karnowski, T.P., “Semiconductor Sidewall Shape Estimation using Top-down CD-SEM Image Retrieval”, IEEE/SME/SPIE 6th International Conference on Quality Control by Artificial Vision, Proceedings of the SPIE Vol. 5132, May 2003.

Price, J.R., Hylton, K.W., Tobin, K.W., Bingham, P.R., Hunn, J.D., and Haines, J.R., “Detection of Cavitation Pits on Steel Surfaces using SEM Imagery”, IEEE/SME/SPIE 6th International Conference on Quality Control by Artificial Vision, Proceedings of the SPIE Vol. 5132, May 2003.

Bourgeat, P., Meriaudeau, F., Tobin, K.W., Gorria, P., “Patterned Wafer Segmentation”, IEEE/SME/SPIE 6th International Conference on Quality Control by Artificial Vision, Proceedings of the SPIE Vol. 5132, May 2003.

Bingham, P.R., Price, J.R., Tobin, K.W., Bennett, M., Bogardus, H., “Sidewall Structure Estimation from CD-SEM for Lithographic Process Control”, Process and Materials Characterization and Diagnostics in IC Manufacturing II, Proceedings of the SPIE Vol. 5041, May 2003.

Price, J.R., Bingham, P.R., Tobin, K.W., Karnowski, T.P., “Estimating Cross-section Semiconductor Structure by Comparing Top-down SEM Images”, Machine Vision Applications in Industrial Inspection XI, Proc. SPIE, Vol. 5011, March 2003.

Bourgeat, P., Meriaudeau, F. Gorria, P., Tobin, K.W., “Content-based Segmentation of Patterned Wafers for Automatic Threshold Determination”, Machine Vision Applications of Industrial Inspection XI, Proceedings of the SPIE Vol. 5011, March 2003.

Tobin, K.W., Editorial Advisory Board for Engineering/Machine Vision (Joseph P. Hornak, Editor), The Encyclopedia of Imaging Science and Technology, Vol. 1-2, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York, 2002.

Weber, C., Sankaran, V., Tobin, K.W., “Quantifying the Value of Ownership of Yield Analysis Technologies”, IEEE Transactions on Semiconductor Manufacturing, Vol. 15, No. 4, November 2002.

Tobin, K. W., Karnowski, T.P., Arrowood, L.F., Ferrell, R.K., Goddard, J.S., Lakhani, F., “Content-based Image Retrieval for Semiconductor Process Characterization”, EURASIP Journal on Applied Signal Processing, Special Issue on Applied Visual Inspection, Vol. 2002, No. 7, 2002.

Tobin, K.W., Lakhani, F., Karnowski, T.P., "An Industry Survey of Automatic Defect Classification Technologies, Methods, and Performance", Design, Process Integration, and Diagnostics in IC Manufacturing, Proceedings of the SPIE Vol. 4692, March 2002.

Karnowski, T.P., Tobin, K.W., Ferrell, R.K., Lakhani, F., "Using an Image Retrieval System for Image Data Management", Design, Process Integration, and Diagnostics in IC Manufacturing, Proceedings of the SPIE Vol. 4692, March 2002.

Gleason, S.S., Ferrell, R.K., Karnowski, T.P., Tobin, K.W., "Detection of Semiconductor Defects Using A Novel Fractal Encoding Algorithm", Design, Process Integration, and Diagnostics in IC Manufacturing, Proceedings of the SPIE Vol. 4692, March 2002.

Thomas, C.E., Bahm, T., Baylor, L. R., Bingham, P., Burns, S., Chidley, M., Dai, L., Delahanty, B., Doti,, C., El-Khashab, A., Fisher, R., Gilbert, J., Goddard, J.S., Hanson, G., Hickson, J., Hunt, M.A., Hylton, K.W., John, G., Jones, M., Macdonald, K., Mayo, M., McMackin, I., Patek, D., Price, J., Rasmussen, D., Schaefer, L., Scheidt, T., Schulze, M., Schumaker, P., Shen, B., Smith, R., Su, A., Tobin, K.W., Voelkl, E., Weber, K., “Direct to Digital Holography for Semiconductor Wafer Defect Detection and Review”, Design, Process Integration, and Diagnostics in IC Manufacturing, Proceedings of the SPIE Vol. 4692, March 2002.

Tobin, K.W., Karnowski, T.P., “Revolutionizing Defect Image Management”, SPIE’s OE Magazine, Vol 1, No. 7, July 2001.

Tobin, K.W., Neiberg, L., “Metrology Data Management and Information Systems”, (Alain C. Diebold, Editor) Handbook of Silicon Semiconductor Metrology, Alain Diebold, Editor, Marcel Dekker, Inc., New York, New York, 2001.

Tobin, K.W., Bingham, P.R., Price, J.R., and Bennett, M.H., "An Application of Image Retrieval Technology to Sidewall Structure Estimation from Top-down SEM Imagery", SCANNING, The Journal of Scanning Microscopies, Vol. 23, No. 2, March / April 2001.

Price, J.R., Gee, T.F., Tobin, K.W., “Blur Estimation in Limited-control Environments”, IEEE International Conference on Acoustics, Speech, and Signal Processing, Salt Lake City Utah, May 7-11, 2001.

Tobin, K.W., Karnowski, T.P., Arrowood, L.F., and Lakhani, F., “Field Test Results of an Automated Image Retrieval System”, 12th Annual IEEE/SEMI Advanced Semiconductor Manufacturing Conference and Workshop, Munich, Germany, April 23-24, 2001.

Tobin, K.W., Karnowski, T.P., Lakhani, F., “Integrated Applications of Inspection Data in the Semiconductor Manufacturing Environment”, Metrology-based Control for Micro-manufacturing, Proceedings of the SPIE Vol. 4275, 2001, pp. 31-40.

Karnowski, T.P., Tobin, K.W., Arrowood, L.F., Goddard, J.S., Ferrell, R.K., and Lakhani, F. “Field Test Results of an Image Retrieval System for Semiconductor Yield Learning”, Metrology-based Control for Micro-manufacturing, Proceedings of the SPIE Vol. 4275, 2001, pp. 41-52.

Karnowski, T.P., Gleason, S.S., and Tobin, K.W., "Fuzzy Logic Connectivity in Semiconductor Defect Clustering," SME Technical Paper MS00-240, Society of Manufacturing Engineers, Dearborn, MI, 2000.

Tobin, K.W., Karnowski, T.P., Lakhani, F., “Technology Considerations for Future Semiconductor Data Management Systems”, Semiconductor Fabtech, Vol. 12, ICG Publishing, Ltd., London, England, Spring 2000.

Jensen, D., Long, C., Worley, R, Lakhani, F., Tobin, K., “Comparing the Defect Reduction Sections of the Most Recent Versions of the Roadmap”, Micro, Canon Communications, LLC, Los Angelis, CA, January 2000.

Tobin, K.W., Karnowski, T.P., and Lakhani, F. "Managing Defect Image Databases for Semiconductor Yield Monitoring and Control", Global Semiconductor, Sterling Publications, London, England, February 2000.

Tobin, K.W., Karnowski, T.P., Lakhani, F., “The Use of Historical Defect Imagery for Yield Learning”, The 11th Annual IEEE/SEMI Advanced Semiconductor Manufacturing Conference and Workshop, Fairmont Copley Plaza Hotel, Boston, MA, September 12-14, 2000.

Tobin, K.W., Karnowski, T.P., Lakhani, F., “A Survey of Semiconductor Data Management Systems Technology”, Metrology, Inspection, and Process Control for Microlithogrpahy, Proc. SPIE, Vol. 3998, pp. 248-257, June 2000.

Karnowski, T.P., Tobin, K.W., Ferrell, R.K., and Lakhani, F., “Content Based Image Retrieval for Semiconductor Manufacturing”, Machine Vision Applications in Industrial Inspection, Proc. SPIE, Vol. 3966, 2000, pp. 162-172, March 2000.

Tobin, K.W., Hunt, M.A., Goddard, J.S., Hylton, K.W., Treece, D.A., Richards, R.K., and Simpson, M.L., “Accommodating Multiple Illumination Sources in an Imaging Colorimetry Environment”, Machine Vision Applications in Industrial Inspection, Proc. SPIE, Vo. 3966, 2000, pp. 194-205.

Gee, T.F., Karnowski, T.P., Tobin, K.W., “Multiframe Combination and Blur Deconvolution of Video Data”, IS&T/SPIE’s 12th International Symposium on Electronic Imaging: Science and Technology, San Jose Convention Center, January 2000.

Sankaran, V., Weber, C.M., Tobin, K.W. Jr. and Lakhani, F., "Inspection in Semiconductor Manufacturing", Webster's Encyclopedia of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Vol. 10, pp. 242-262, Wiley & Sons, NY, NY, 1999.