Digital image correlation (DIC) technology has transformed the way engineers and researchers study how materials and structures move, bend and respond under stress. Used around the world by universities, government agencies, and industry leaders across six continents, DIC is considered the gold standard for high-precision motion and deformation measurement.
DIC is commonly used by Molinaroli College of Engineering and Computing (MCEC) faculty and students. But it started with a small group of University of South Carolina researchers experimenting with digital imaging tools more than 40 years ago. That experimentation eventually transformed into Columbia-based Correlated Solutions, Inc. (CSI), the global leader in 2D and StereoDIC software and hardware systems.
Mechanical Engineering Distinguished Professor Michael Sutton, alongside colleagues William Ranson, Walter Peters, Yuh Chao, Stephen McNeill and their graduate students, invented the original DIC technology in the early 1980s. After arriving at USC in 1982, Sutton focused on refining a two-dimensional system that could track movement across flat surfaces by comparing digital images taken during testing.
Sutton produced digital images using early analog cameras, tracking and comparing small regions within each structure to obtain the surface motions and deformations. While the original 2D system worked best on relatively flat materials and structures, more complex applications, such as aircraft testing or structures exposed to earthquakes, hurricanes or blast loading, required a way to measure motion in three dimensions.
CSI technology originated in the labs at USC by professors and students, and those relationships have continued for 25 years. An entire generation of students is being influenced directly by the technology because of its founders’ commitment to education.
- Brian Harmon
That next step came in 1993 when NASA Langley asked Sutton to develop a stereo version of the technology for the U.S. Aging Aircraft program, a comprehensive safety and regulatory initiative established by the Federal Aviation Administration in 1988. The goal was to measure three-dimensional movement and surface deformation on curved aircraft structures, such as aircraft fuselages, with enough accuracy to validate large computational models. Known as StereoDIC, the technology was initially completed in 1995 as primarily a research laboratory system. But interest from both NASA Langley and the U.S. Air Force led to a more user-friendly version.
In response to growing interest in StereoDIC technology, Sutton, McNeill, Ph.D. students Hubert W. Schreier and Jeffrey Helm, and undergraduate student Scott Echerer founded Correlated Solutions, Inc. (CSI) to commercialize all versions of DIC technology. In 1999, CSI sold its first full StereoDIC system to Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio for capturing non-contact, full-field 3D surface deformations on aircraft materials subjected to extreme environments.
CSI’s measurement system combines digital cameras to obtain high resolution images, with DIC software analyzing the images to obtain full-field motion measurements. But as the technology evolved, so did its precision. During his doctoral research, Schreier identified why DIC measurements appeared to hit an accuracy limit and developed a method to dramatically reduce that limitation.
“Schreier’s key contribution allows us to track motion with very high accuracy within the field,” Sutton says. “DIC measurement noise is incredibly small—three-thousandths of the camera’s pixel or less – allowing us to track motion in all three directions with remarkable accuracy.”
Today, CSI is the only U.S.-based company that develops, manufactures and distributes worldwide 2D and StereoDIC software and hardware systems, selling more than 2,000 DIC systems and its solutions to a variety of companies, government laboratories and academic institutions on six continents.
Even as the company expanded internationally, its connection to USC remained strong. Since its founding, CSI has provided its DIC software free of charge to MCEC faculty looking to make high resolution measurements in their research and classes.
“Our commitment to the Molinaroli College of Engineering and Computing includes the provision of over 100 VIC-3D and VIC-2D software licenses, at-cost hardware, and hundreds of hours of technical support—a total investment valued at over $1.5 million,” says Alistair Tofts, CSI director of sales and marketing. “As alumni and as a corporate sponsor, it gives us great pleasure to give back to students and faculty by providing advanced DIC measurement systems that elevate curriculum and research potential.”
CSI also sponsors student-focused events and hands-on demonstrations throughout the year. For example, the company sponsored the 2026 American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Regional Student Conference hosted at USC this past March and has led training sessions during Engineering Week and the 2024 Joint Rail Conference.
For Civil and Environmental Engineering Professor Dimitris Rizos and his research group, DIC technology has become an important part of his federally sponsored railway infrastructure research.
“For the last 12 years, we have been using CSI’s StereoDIC deformation measurement system,” Rizos says. “The accuracy and versatility of VIC-3D have given us a competitive advantage not only in securing external funding, but also in conceptualizing and proposing innovative approaches to conduct non-destructive structural health monitoring based on full field shape, deformation and strain measurements.”
The long relationship between CSI and USC has also created opportunities for students after graduation. Over the years, the company has hired several USC alumni, including Tofts and CSI Marketing Specialist Brian Harmon, who earned both his master’s degree and Ph.D. from the university.
“CSI technology originated in the labs at USC by professors and students, and those relationships have continued for 25 years,” Harmon says. “An entire generation of students is being influenced directly by the technology because of its founders’ commitment to education.”