Laboratoire Hubert Curien UMR CNRS 5516

about us

Florent Pigeon — 2013-04-02T10:24:35Z

The Hubert Curien laboratory is a joint research unit within the Jean Monnet University, Saint-Etienne and the National Research Centre "CNRS". It's therefore the mixed research unit UMR 5516 with 75 researchers and teacher-researchers who are permanent staff, 20 engineers and administrative personnel, 55 PhD and post-PhD students. This makes the Hubert Curien laboratory with a total of 150 staff the most important of all Saint-etienne's university poles. A large range of activities are divided into two departments: " Optics and Photonics" and "Computer science and image". The research activities are structured into different scientific projects with 5 main themes: " Micro/Nano structuration », "Radiation-matter interaction", "Signal processing", "Machine learning","Cryptography". Particular emphasis over the last four years has been put on developing cross disciplinary scientific projects to create a common culture within and between these two scientific departments. Consequently, this interaction has lead to the Hubert Curien laboratory being able to present a fertile interdisciplinary collaboration.

The Hubert Curien Laboratory is a member of the LABEX (laboratory of excellence) MANUTECH-SISE and of the LABEX PRIMES.

The “Physics, Radiobiology, Medical Imaging, and Simulation” (PRIMES) Laboratory of Excellence (LabEx) project is funded on a strong community with outstanding expertise in medical physics, radiobiology, medical imaging and computer science in Lyon and the surrounding Rhône-Alpes-Auvergne region. PRIMES's primary objective is to develop new concepts and methods for the exploration, the diagnosis and therapy of cancer and aging-related pathologies.

In 2008, a common research group was set up with the Optics Institute, Graduate School working on the theme of ERIS: (Lighting, Visual looking, Optical imagery, Opto-numeric security). This regular evolution accompanies the structuration of the Pôle Optique Rhône-Alpes , Confirming the Saint-etienne region as a major Rhone-Alpes leader in Optics, Photonics, Image, Information and science technologies associated to theses disciplines. Today, the Hubert Curien Lab is directly involved in five technological platforms of the "Pôle Optique Rhône-Alpes".

Prof. Florent Pigeon

About us

Florent Pigeon — 2013-04-02T09:30:00Z

The Hubert Curien laboratory is a joint research unit within the Jean Monnet University, Saint-Etienne and the National Research Centre "CNRS". It's therefore the mixed research unit UMR 5516 with 75 researchers and teacher-researchers who are permanent staff, 20 engineers and administrative personnel, 55 PhD and post-PhD students. This makes the Hubert Curien laboratory with a total of 150 staff the most important of all Saint-etienne's university poles. A large range of activities are divided into two departments: " Optics and Photonics" and "Computer science and image". The research activities are structured into different scientific projects with 4 main themes: " Micro/Nano structuration », "Radiation-matter interaction", "Signal processing" and "Machine learning". This thematic organisation was decided during the last four year plan when the laboratory (formally known as LTSI) merged with the EURISE team whose thematic focus was machine learning. Particular emphasis over the last four years has been put on developing cross disciplinary scientific projects to create a common culture within and between these two scientific departments. Consequently, this interaction has lead to the Hubert Curien laboratory being able to present a fertile interdisciplinary collaboration in its scientific report. The management team's main objective is to position the Hubert Curien Laboratory as a laboratory of excellence on the European scale by encouraging both fundamental and applied research and developing interdisciplinary projects.

The Hubert Curien Laboratory is a member of the LABEX (laboratory of excellence) MANUTECH-SISE and of the LABEX PRIMES.

The LABEX MANUTECH-SISE is a "Laboratoire d'Excellence" whose ambition is to promote the Lyon – St-Etienne place at the highest international level in the field of surface and interface science and engineering. The objectives of the LABEX MANUTECH-SISE are to develop the understanding and control of surface phenomena, such as wear, friction, fatigue resistance, chemical reactivity, wettability, visual and tactile aspects. The aims of the LABEX are also focused on the creation and control of surface functionalities, such as in tribology, optics and chemistry, as well as on the optimization of advanced processes of surface and interface manufacturing at different scales, including ultrashort laser micromachining and assembling. The workforce is about 300 researchers, engineers, technicians, post-docs and PhD. The LABEX MANUTECH-SISE has been created from a academic / company partnership, gathering, within the Lyon – St-Etienne area, five laboratories belonging to university, engineering high schools and CNRS, with three industrial companies deeply involved in research and developments. Between the LABEX partners, the joint objective is to develop knowledge and know-how through a joint approach of questions, tools and perspectives. This is a rather new and original way, compared to more traditional approaches consisting, for some partners, in solving problems of other parteners.

In 2008, a common research group was set up with the Optics Institute, Graduate School working on the theme of ERIS: (Lighting, Visual looking, Optical imagery, Opto-numeric security). This team will be an integral part of the lab for the next four year plan. The year 2009 saw a common research team project being set up with the two companies called HEF and IMPULSION working on industrial applications of laser processing in femto-second mode. At the same time and in agreement with the CNRS and the University, researchers from the LIGIV team, who do scientific research into colour in perceptual and physical dimensions, were incorporated into our lab. Naturally these researchers have fitted well working in the domain of image processing. This regular evolution accompanies the structuration of the Pôle Optique Rhône-Alpes , Confirming the Saint-etienne region as a major Rhone-Alpes leader in Optics, Photonics, Image, Information and science technologies associated to theses disciplines. Today, the Hubert Curien Lab is directly involved in five technological platforms of the "Pôle Optique Rhône-Alpes".

On a regional level, the public institute of scientific cooperation called the PRES-Université de Lyon was set up in 2007. This Institute has a recognised potential of 130 laboratories, approximately 7000 researchers and teacher-researchers and 5000 PhDs. This structure is a part of the Research and Higher Education territorial policy which contributes to the improved competiveness of the Lyon / Saint-Etienne agglomeration. This is a major development for the Hubert Curien Lab and many possible outcomes. More than ever in the history of our laboratory and in order to fully benefit from this evolution, we need an ambitious and determined scientific policy which clearly stipulates our field of skills and excellence. The CAMPUS project came into being on a local level in Saint –Etienne and in this context. The Hubert Curien lab is one of the pivotal points of the structuring projects for the Saint-Etienne agglomeration. This project plans to unite on the same site as the former manufacture factory (encompassing the City of Design to the major facilities of the Plaine Achille) teaching, research economic activities, culture, housing, sports and leisure. Several initiatives were launched in 2009 in order to reinforce innovation and creation regarding this major campus.

➢ Implanting the Saint-Etienne Science Faculty and extending the Optical Institut Graduate School (Palaiseau).
➢ Building Telecom Saint-Etienne premises near the laboratory.
➢ Arrival of HEF R&D Company (150 researchers and technicians) on the nearby premises.

The Lab will directly benefit from these new installations as one third of the laboratory staff (teacher-researchers) teaches at the science faculty and another third teaches at Telecom Saint-Etienne. In addition, the research partnership with the Optic Institute came into being in the laboratory via the ERIS team. Over the last four years, the Hubert Curien Lab has hoped to set up scientific policy based on the following points:

➢ Publications: The main objective in this field is to increase the international visibility of the lab. We have improved (with regards the last 4 year contract) both the quality of our publications (choice of reviews and more selective conferences) and the quantity. Today we have a real publication strategy.
➢ National and International Relations: the laboratory has voluntarily been part of projects supported by the National Research Agency (ANR), the University, the CNRS and the region while at the same time developing scientific projects with the PRES Labs. Today the Hubert Curien Lab has a total of 20 ANR projects in which he is either the pilot or the partner. This represents the majority of all the ANR projects with the University of Saint-Etienne. Furthermore, major emphasis is put on inviting foreign scientists for long or short visits to our Lab. The Lab is also present in several committee programs, in international conferences and in specific European projects in phase with our principal research domains.
➢ Industrial Relations: This is an important sector within the laboratory. The industrial collaborations contracts are a traditional part of our lab activity. The laboratory has in fact being involved in setting up several start-ups.

Journée scientifique LIMA2 2013

Florent Pigeon — 2012-12-21T14:58:12Z

La journée scientifique régionale du projet LIMA2 (Loisir et Images) aura lieu le 31 janvier 2013 à Lyon (Campus de la Doua, amphithéâtre de Polytech). Cette journée, co-organisée par le LIRIS et le Laboratoire Hubert-Curien, est financée par l'ARC6 de la région Rhône-Alpes et soutenue par le pôle Imageinove.

Elle est ouverte à tous les chercheurs et doctorants de la région intéressés par le domaine de l'image et de la vidéo numérique (analyse, traitement, informatique graphique,..). La participation est gratuite et les frais de déplacement au sein de la région seront pris en charge par le projet LIMA2.

Tous les doctorants sont invités à proposer un poster pour présenter leurs travaux lors de la session poster qui aura lieu pendant le buffet de midi. Il faut pour cela qu'ils cochent la case correspondante dans le sondage (ci-dessous) et nous envoient deux diapositives de présentation de leur poster avant le 20 janvier.

Pour faciliter l'organisation du déjeuner, nous vous demandons de vous inscrire avant le 20 janvier sur le sondage à l'adresse :

Inscription

Programme prévisionnel

9h00 : Accueil
9h30-10h30 : Julie Digne (LIRIS-Géomod) High resolution point clouds : how to process them?
10h30-11h30 : Thibaut Weise (EPFL, Faceshift) Realtime facial performance capture for animation and gameplay
11h30-11h45 Pause
11h45-12h00 : Informations sur les ARCs (Patrick Lambert)

12h00-12h15 : Présentation des posters
12h15-14h00 : Repas buffet + Posters des doctorants

14h00-15h00 : Adrien Gaidon (LJK- Lear/INRIA) Structured Models for Action Recognition in Real-world Videos
15h00-16h00 : François Faure (LJK- Imagine/INRIA) Easy Mechanical Simulation using Frame-based Meshless Deformation.
16h00-16h15 : Pause
16h15-16h45 : Informations Imaginove (David Gal Régnier)

16h45-17h15 : Conclusion de la journée, discussion sur les prochains événements

CRYPTOGRAPHIE VISUELLE POUR L'AUTHENTIFICATION DE DOCUMENTS

Florent Pigeon — 2012-09-21T08:07:10Z

CRYPTOGRAPHIE VISUELLE POUR L'AUTHENTIFICATION DE DOCUMENTS

le jeudi 27 septembre 2012 à 14h30, Salle D003 (bâtiment central) du site Carnot à Saint-Etienne

devant le jury composé, pour ce qui est de ses membres extérieurs, de Messieurs Patrick CALLET du laboratoire de Mathématiques Appliquées aux Systèmes de l'Ecole Centrale de Paris (rapporteur), Jean-Marc CHASSERY du laboratoire GIPSA-lab de l'ENSE3 de Grenoble (rapporteur), Stelvio CIMATO du Laboratoire de Cryptographie et de Sécurité Informatique de l'Université de Milan (rapporteur) et Jean-Paul DELAHAYE du Laboratoire d'Informatique Fondamentale de l'Université de Lille.

Directeur de thèse : Thierry FOURNEL, co-directeur : Pierre CHAVEL, co-encadrant : Mathieu HEBERT.

Résumé des travaux

Les présents travaux traitent de cryptographie visuelle au moyen d'images partageant le secret, dites Shadow Images (SIs), imprimées en demi-tons en vue de l'authentification de documents. La problématique centrale est comment authentifier l'origine de telles images. On verra que les phénomènes physiques responsables du rendu visuel de SIs superposés sont propices à une protection contre la copie illicite d'un SI associé au document. La complexité de ces phénomènes et leur dépendance au type d'impression imposent une modélisation physique pour obtenir un rendu précis. Cette approche nous a conduit à considérer la problématique de la reproduction des couleurs et à développer des modèles spectraux adaptés à la superposition de supports imprimés en réflexion et en transmission. Cela nous a permis d'introduire une approche originale de la cryptographie visuelle, par ajustement de couleur (color matching) : une même couleur, à une tolérance près basée sur la vision humaine, est générée par différents demi-tons imprimés sur les supports à superposer. La couleur du message peut ainsi constituer un secret partagé entre les SIs de la même façon que l'est le contenu du message. Chaque SI pris individuellement ne laisse fuir aucune information sur la couleur du message, qui ne sera révélée qu'à leur superposition. Cela peut permettre de prévenir une attaque par falsification du SI associé au document (cheating attack). De plus, le rendu des couleurs étant très dépendant du système d'impression utilisé, une reproduction fidèle à partir d'un système d'impression différent est difficile. La difficulté peut être encore accrue par l'utilisation de caractéristiques d'impression non standard.

Nouvel article

Viktor Fischer — 2012-06-27T12:58:55Z

- 3. Publications

International workshop on METALLIC NANO-OBJECTS

Florent Pigeon — 2012-06-11T17:31:48Z

The 1st international workshop on METALLIC NANO-OBJECTS: FROM FUNDAMENTALS TO APPLICATIONS - elaboration, characterization, properties and applications - will be held in Saint-Etienne from November 15 to November 16, 2012.

- In the headlines

JNOG 2012

Florent Pigeon — 2012-06-01T06:50:43Z

Pour en savoir plus...

European Cooperation in the field of Scientific and Technical Research

Florent Pigeon — 2012-05-22T06:47:18Z

The project COSCH - Colour and Space in Cultural Heritage coordinated by the Institut für Raumbezogene Informations- und Messtechnik, Fachhochschule Mainz, Germany, has been selected in May 2012 to become a COST Action.

True, precise and complete documentation of artifacts is essential for conservation and preservation of our cultural heritage (CH). By ensuring access to the best possible documentation of artifacts, COSCH partners will contribute to the enhanced understanding of material CH and help its long-term preservation.

COSCH consortium involves researchers, scientists and professionals from multiple disciplines and industries and also from 17 European countries. 63 partners are currently associated to this project. The Laboratoire Hubert Curien belongs to this consortium.

The objective of this project is a need to promote research, development and application of non-contact optical measurement techniques (spectral and spatial) – adapted to the needs of heritage documentation – on a concerted European level, in order to protect, preserve, analyze understand, model, virtually reproduce, document and publish important CH in Europe and beyond. Research in this field typically relies on nationally-funded projects with little interaction between stakeholders.

This project will provide a stimulating framework for articulating and clarifying problems, sharing solutions and skills, standardizing methodologies and protocols, encouraging a common understanding, widening applications and dissemination. The project will foster open standards for state-of-the-art documentation of CH. It will simplify the usage of high-resolution optical techniques in CH and define good practice and stimulate research.

Charles Deledalle receives a Best PhD thesis award

Florent Pigeon — 2012-05-15T12:20:43Z

Charles Deledalle will receive an award for the best French PhD thesis in signal and image processing in June at the 52nd meeting of the French association for electrical and information engineering (club EEA). This prestigious award is given each year to an outstanding PhD in the field of signal and image processing.

Charles Deledalle has been supervised during his PhD thesis by Florence Tupin at Telecom Paristech and Loic Denis at Telecom Saint-Etienne / Laboratoire Hubert Curien.

In his thesis entitled "Image denoising beyond additive Gaussian noise. Patch-based estimators and their application to SAR imagery", he proposed a novel methodology to reduce noise in images, with special focus on images corrupted by non-Gaussian noise. His work has applications in microscopy, astronomy and synthetic aperture radar imaging.

More information on Charles Deledalle's thesis can be found on his homepage: http://www.ceremade.dauphine.fr/ de...

Electronic excitation and relaxation processes in femtosecond laser interactions with insulators: the role of laser wavelength, intensity and different absorption mechanisms.

Florent Pigeon — 2012-04-03T13:50:20Z

Abstract: Electronic excitation-relaxation processes induced by ultra-short laser pulses are studied numerically for crystalline target, SiO2. A detailed kinetic approach is applied to the calculations accounting for electron-photon-phonon, electron-phonon, electron-electron, and electron-ion scatterings. In addition, both laser field photoionization ranging from multi-photon to tunneling one, and electron impact ionization (avalanche process) processes are included in the model. The importance of the electron-ion collisions in the calculation of laser energy absorption and ionization is demonstrated. Under a powerful femtosecond laser irradiation, the electron energy distribution is far from equilibrium state. The initial excitation stage and following electron relaxation stage depend on the laser parameters, such as wavelength, intensity, pulse duration and target properties. Based on the performed calculations we study the thermalization time as a function of laser parameters. Futhermore, we present new laser damage criteria derived from our calculations and based on electron energy. Comparison with the available experimental data confirms the validity of the calculations.

- To be noted