Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Ross K. SniderLozano, Kora Michelle2018-09-202018-09-202018https://scholarworks.montana.edu/handle/1/14566This thesis is part of a larger project to develop a hyper-spectral microscope, to be used to find the optimal growing conditions for human inducible pluripotent stem cells. The hyper-spectral microscope is being developed by the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at Montana State University (MSU). Specifically, the hyper-spectral microscope is being developed to aide in live cell imaging, reduce cell stress from laser excitation, increase the number of markers possible at once, and keep costs down compared to non-hyper-spectral set-ups of similar capability. To the knowledge of those involved in this project it is the first of its kind. The scope of this thesis centers on implementing an auto-focusing algorithm for the hyper-spectral imager.enMicroscopyTechnological innovationsStem cellsOptical spectroscopyPhotographyThesisCopyright 2018 by Kora Michelle Lozano