The Grand Challenge Application Groups competition provides one mechanism for the support of multidiscipinary teams of scientists and engineers to meet the goals of the High Performance Computing and Communications (HPCC) Initiative in Fiscal Year 1992. The ideal proposal provided not only excellence in science: focussed problem with potential for substantial impact in a critical area of science and engineering) but also significant interactions between scientific and computational activities, usually involving mathematical, computer or computational scientists, that would have impact in high-performance computational activity beyond the specific scientific or engineering problem area(s) or discipline being studied. This is a project to research and develop an Automated Interactive Microscope (AIM). The AIM will combine the latest technologies in light microscopy and reagent chemistry with advanced techniques for computerized image processing, image analysis, and display, implemented on high-performance parallel computers. This combination will produce an automated, high-speed, interactive tool that will make possible new kinds of basic biological research on living cells and tissues. While one milestone of the research will be to show the proof-of-concept of AIM, the on-going thrust will be continued development as new technologies arise and the involvement of the biological community.
