Melody Alsaker, Ph.D

Associate Professor of Mathematics

As an applied mathematician with a passion for collaborative interdisciplinary research, I seek to get students in all disciplines excited about mathematics. My areas of interest include the mathematics of medical imaging, applied inverse problems, mathematical...

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Dr. Melody Alsaker, Assistant Professor of Mathematics

Contact Information

  • Office Hours Spring 2024

    Monday:10-10:50a.m. (MLC Bollier 218) 11-11:50 a.m. Herak 308C
    W/F: 1:10-2 p.m. Herak 308C

    Or by appointment.




  • (509) 313-5511

Education & Curriculum Vitae

Ph.D., Mathematics, Colorado State University

M.S., Mathematics, Colorado State University

B.S., Applied and Computational Mathematics, South Dakota School of Mines and Technology

Curriculum Vitae


Courses Taught

MATH 157 Calculus & Analytic Geometry I

MATH 258 Calculus & Analytic Geometry II

MATH 259 Calculus & Analytic Geometry III

MATH 260 Ordinary Differential Equations

MATH 350 Numerical Methods

MATH 454 Partial Differential Equations

As an applied mathematician with a passion for collaborative interdisciplinary research, I seek to get students in all disciplines excited about mathematics. My areas of interest include the mathematics of medical imaging, applied inverse problems, mathematical modeling, algorithm design, and biomedical image processing. One of my main goals in teaching mathematics, apart from the usual explanations of formulas, proofs, and theorems, is to convey a sense of profound enthusiasm and wonder for the subject. I teach with the expectation that all students, regardless of their major, interests, or abilities, can learn to find both beauty and utility in mathematics.

M. Alsaker, J.L. Mueller, A. Stahel, “A Multithreaded Real-time Solution for 2D EIT Reconstruction with the D-bar Algorithm, Journal of Computational Science Vol. 67, 101967, 2023.

M. Alsaker, B. Bladow*, S.E. Campbell*, and E.M. Kar*, “Automated Filtering in the Nonlinear Fourier Domain of Systematic Artifacts in 2D Electrical Impedance Tomography,” Inverse Problems & Imaging, Vol. 16, Issue 3, 647–671, 2022. *Gonzaga Undergraduate Student

M. Alsaker, D. Cárdenas, S. Furuie, and J.L. Mueller, “Complementary use of Priors for Pulmonary Imaging with Electrical Impedance and Ultrasound Computed Tomography,” Journal of Computational and Applied Mathematics, Vol. 395, 113591, 2021.

M.M. Mellenthin, J.L. Mueller, E.D.L.B. de Camargo, F.S. de Moura, T.B.R. Santos, R.G. Lima, S.J. Hamilton, P.A. Muller, and M. Alsaker, “The ACE1 Electrical Impedance Tomography System for Thoracic Imaging,” IEEE Transactions on Instrumentation & Measurement, Vol. 68, Issue 9, 3137–3150, 2019.

M. Alsaker, J.L. Mueller, and R. Murthy, “Dynamic Optimized Priors for D-bar Reconstructions of Human Ventilation using Electrical Impedance Tomography,” Journal of Computational and Applied Mathematics, Vol. 362, 276–294, 2019.

M. Alsaker and J.L. Mueller, “EIT Images of Human Inspiration and Expiration using a D-bar Method with Spatial Priors,” Applied Computational Electromagnetics Society (ACES) Journal, Vol. 34, Issue 2, 325–330, 2019.

M. Alsaker and J.L. Mueller, “Use of an Optimized Spatial Prior in D-bar Reconstructions of EIT Tank Data,” Inverse Problems and Imaging, Vol. 12, Issue 4, 883–901, 2018.

J.L. Mueller, P. Muller, M. Mellenthin, R. Murthy, M. Capps, M. Alsaker, R. Deterding, S. Sagel, E. DeBoer, “Estimating Regions of Air Trapping from Electrical Impedance Tomography Data,” Phys- iological Measurement, Vol. 39, Issue 5, 05NT01, 2018.

P. Muller, J.L. Mueller, M. Mellenthin, R. Murthy, M. Capps, B.D. Wagner, M. Alsaker, R. Deterd- ing, S.D. Sagel, J. Hoppe, “Evaluation of a Surrogate Measure of Pulmonary Function Derived from Electrical Impedance Tomography Data in Children with Cystic Fibrosis,” Physiological Measurement, Vol. 39, Issue 4, 045008, 2018.

M. Alsaker and J.L. Mueller, “Spatial Priors in the D-bar Method for Human Thoracic Electrical Impedance Tomography Data,” 2018 International Applied Computational Electromagnetics Society Symposium - Denver (ACES 2018), March 2018.

P. Muller, J.L. Mueller, M.M. Mellenthin, R. Murthy, M. Capps, B.D. Wagner, M. Alsaker, R. Deterding, S. Sagel, J. Hoppe, "Pulmonary Function Measures Derived from Functional Electrical Impedance Tomography in Children with Cystic Fibrosis." In review.

M. Alsaker and J.L. Mueller, "Use of an Optimized Spatial Prior in D-bar Reconstructions of EIT Tank Data." In review.

M.M. Mellenthin, J.L. Mueller, E.D.L.B. de Camargo, F.S. de Moura, T.B.R. Santos, R.G. Lima, S.J. Hamilton, P.A. Muller, and M. Alsaker, "The ACE1 Electrical Impedance Tomography System for Thoracic Imaging." In review.

 M. Alsaker, S.J. Hamilton, and A. Hauptmann, "A Direct D-bar Method for Partial Boundary Data Electrical Impedance Tomography with A Priori Information," Inverse Problems and Imaging, Vol. 11, Issue 3, 427-454, 2017.

S.J. Hamilton, J.L. Mueller, and M. Alsaker, "Incorporating a Spatial Prior into Nonlinear D-Bar EIT Imaging for Complex Admittivities," IEEE Transactions on Medical Imaging, Vol. 36, Issue 2, 457-466, 2017.

M. Alsaker and J.L. Mueller, "A D-bar Algorithm with A Priori Information for 2-D Electrical Impedance Tomography," SIAM Journal on Imaging Sciences, Vol. 9, Issue 4, 2016.

M. Dodd (Alsaker) and J.L. Mueller, "A Real-time D-bar Algorithm for 2-D Electrical Impedance Tomography Data," Inverse Problems and Imaging, Vol. 8, Issue 4, 1013-1031, 2014.

M. Dodd (Alsaker), "A D-bar Algorithm with A Priori Information for 2-D Electrical Impedance Imaging," in AIP 2015: Applied Inverse Problems Conference Book of Abstracts, Helsinki: Finnish Inverse Problems Society, May 2015, p. 145.

M. Dodd (Alsaker) and J.L. Mueller, "Fast D-bar Reconstructions of Ventilation and Per- fusion on a Pairwise Current Injection System," in Proceedings of the 15th International Conference on Biomedical Applications of Electrical Impedance Tomography, Ed. A. Adler and B. Grychtol, Ottawa: Carleton University, April 2014, p. 81.