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UB Expert

Sargur N. Srihari

Expertise:

• Developing methodologies, algorithms, software and hardware for machines that can read handwriting and poor-quality machine printing
• Handwriting recognition and analysis

Srihari is director of UB's Center of Excellence for Document Analysis and Recognition (CEDAR), the only center funded by the U.S. Postal Service and dedicated to handwriting recognition. Principal investigator on postal-service projects to get computers to "read" handwritten addresses. Other projects include World Wide Web national address server providing Zip code for any known U.S. address, project to process business reply cards at the post office and project to "read" parts of tax forms. In 1999 received a $428,000 grant from the National Institute of Justice to develop computer-assisted handwriting-analysis tools for forensic applications, such as analyzing ransom notes, like the one left behind in the Jon Benet Ramsey murder case, and other handwritten documents that provide clues to criminal cases.