Scientific visualization and computation research opportunities are
always available!  The process I suggest following involves first
producing a proposal for a project that you'd like to do.  Get buy-in
from me and the group.  Then do the work.

Producing the proposal is the tricky part, of course.  Here's what
goes into a proposal and some thoughts on how to create one:

1) Your personal goals for a project.  This section is, arguably, the
most important.  Without a good idea of your goals, it will be nearly
impossible to find a satisfying project.  Initially, your goals will
probably be unrelated to a specific research project.  They might
include things like "find out what David is like to work with," "put
my classroom math skills to work on a research project," "figure out
if ____ research is something I want to do," or "combine math and
painting somehow."  As you develop the proposal, these goals will
refine and likely become more specific.  You'll also add some more
research-related ones.

2) A research topic or area to work on.  In general, this needs to
mesh with my own interests, or I won't be able to be an effective
advisor on it.  My <a
href="http://www.cs.brown.edu/~dhl/cvh/cvh.html"> c.v. </a> is
probably the best way to judge my interests.  Take a look at the
publications to see what I've done in the past.  More importantly,
take a look at the research grants and contracts.  The proposals
themselves tell you what I plan to be doing.  Make a list of some
things that you find interesting.  My <a
href="http://www.cs.brown.edu/courses/cs237"> class web pages, </a>
particularly the Fall 2000 instantiation, lists readings and project
ideas that may stimulate your creativity.  Also, the <a
href="http://www.cs.brown.edu/research/graphics/research/sciviz/">
scientific visualization web pages </a> should give you more project
ideas from among the active projects.  My group meets weekly for a
research meeting where one of the group presents some aspect of their
work.  Come to the meetings and attach yourself to an ongoing project.
E-mail me to get onto the mailing list for weekly reminders.

With some thoughts on your goals and some concrete specific ideas for
projects, come talk to me.  This is an ideal time to interactively
converge on something we're both excited about.  E-mail me with some
times you are available and we'll set up a time to meet.

3) A work plan that describes the things that you will do to address
your goals and the research problem/area.

4) A schedule, with concrete, quantifiable milestones every 1-2 weeks.
Such a milestone might be "finish first draft of the related work
section of final report."  A schedule item like "read some papers" is
not a milestone, is not concrete, and is not quantifiable.

5) Evaluation criteria.  How will you define success?  This should
include not only evaluation of the research itself, but also of how
well your goals were met.  This evaluation will be the basis for a
grade, if appropriate, so think of it as the "your grade will be based
on ..." part of a syllabus.  At the end of the project we will look
back together at the project and determine what worked and what
didn't in the context of these criteria and your goals.

The proposal is usually 2-4 pages.  I prefer short and pithy, thanks!
Expect to iterate on it 2-4 times before everyone is happy with it.
Proposals that have not had their first iteration complete several
weeks before they need to be finished are almost never successful.  So 
start at least 3-4 weeks before it's due.  If you want to do an
independent study or reading and research project, the proposal must
be completed BEFORE CLASSES START.  No proposal, no class.

There are several <a href="http://www.cs.brown.edu/~dhl/advising">
examples of proposals </a> off my home page.