00100					Stanford Artificial Intelligence Laboratory
00200					Computer Science Dept
00300					Stanford University
00400					Stanford, California,94305
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01000	
01100	
01200	
01300	Prof W. Pratt
01400	Image Processing Institute
01500	University of Southern California
01600	Powell Hall, Room 306
01650	Los Angeles, Ca, 90007
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01800	
01900	
02000	Dear Prof Pratt:
02100	
02200	
02300	
02400	This note is in response to your request for a  reference  concerning
02500	Mr.   Ram Nevatia.  I have worked closely with him over several years
02600	and have a high regard for him as a researcher and a person.  I  rate
02700	him the equal of any of the students who have received degrees in our
02800	group.  His thesis research is one of the best in the field of visual
02900	perception  by computer; the system is able to describe and recognize
03000	objects of the complexity  of  dolls  and  toy  horses,  using  depth
03100	information.  I think he is a good bet for carrying out good research
03200	in the future.         I base that on his judgment and  concern  with
03300	conceptualization,  together  with  critical ability. He has interest
03400	and energy, and understands problems in detail.   This  shows  up  in
03500	particular  in thinking through research plans in advance and raising
03600	counterexamples and finding weaknesses to be overcome. On  the  basis
03700	of past performance, he has shown talent at analytic understanding of
03800	mathematical  tools  in  connection  with  transforms,  splines,  and
03900	properties  of  the  representation used in the thesis.  He has shown
04000	maturity and originality  in  the  conceptualization  of  the  thesis
04100	matter,  and  a concern for the real scientific matters.   He is also
04200	proficient technically.   He  is  a  good  programmer  with  a  broad
04300	background in computer science.   He has a considerable background in
04400	hardware, although he has not been required to do any  hardware  work
04500	for his doctoral research.
04600	
04700	I have not seen him teach.  I have seen  him  present  several  talks
04800	which were coherent, organized, and clear.
04900	
05000	Personally,  he  is  considerate  and easy to get along with.      We
05100	have a large group and he has interacted  well  with  co-workers  and
05200	with  students  whom  he helped with course projects.  He contributes
05300	well in discussions and openly shares in  informal  discussions  with
05400	co-workers.
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05600	
05700	
05800					Sincerely,
05900	
06000	
06100	
06200					Thomas O. Binford