November 11, 2019
Dear members of the Hajim School community,
The new recording studio in Gavett Hall is an important milestone for our audio and music engineering (AME) program, which has exceeded all expectations in giving its students the skills they need to enterâand keep up withâthe rapidly changing field of audio and sound engineering. Why has this program been so successful?
- It allows students to pursue their passion for music and become engineers at the same time. Sanaa Finley â23 was so excited at the prospect, she âcouldnât wait to call my mom and tell herâ that she was changing her major to AME.
- Courses blend the âfun stuffâârecording and sound designâwith âhighly technical and rigorousâ training in acoustics, electronics, digital signal processing, and software design: a combination that companies are looking for, says Mark Bocko, chair of electrical and computer engineering. Many of the programâs 44 alumni are working at companies like Apple, Bose, Dolby Laboratories, Harman, and Microsoft, but also at startups like Magic Leap.
- The curriculum also puts an emphasis on hands-on projects that students can show to employers.
In addition, the faculty members teaching these students bring a wonderful mix of “real-world” experience, theoretical knowledge, and cutting-edge research skills. Read more here about the success of the program. And also click here to read about a visit by Leslie Ann Jones, four-time Grammy Award winner and director of music recording and scoring at Skywalker Sound, to lecture and teach a master class in the new studio’s control room. Leslie has pioneered a place for women in the audio and sound engineering industry.
Also coming to campus for an open guest lecture is composer/keyboardist , whose credits include Sopranos, Sex in the City, Entrapment, Hulk, and Hanna Montana. The lecture will be at noon Thursday, November 21 in CSB 616.
Congratulations to the womenâs field hockey team, which won the Liberty League Conference title for the second time in team history on Saturday with a 1-0 win over Vassar. Emma Schlechter â20 of chemical engineering scored the lone goal and was named the Most Outstanding Player of the two-game tournament, which included a 2-0 win over Ithaca College on Wednesday. During the title game, goalie Kate Kujawa â20 of mechanical engineering made a great save, diving to her right to block a penalty corner shot and keep Vassar off the board.
The team, which also includes Kathryn Colone â 21, Karina Bridger â23, Nikki Mercer â22, and Catherine Hauser â20 of biomedical engineering; Amanda Strenk â22 of chemical engineering; Maya Haigis â20 and Leona Fisher â22 of data science; Lesley Leatherman â23 of electrical and computer engineering; and Brianna Madison â23 of engineering science will now compete in the NCAA Division III playoffs, which begin on Wednesday. Read more .
In a recent for WIRED, Nobel laureate Donna Strickland ’89 (PhD optics) explains the inner-workings and importance of lasers, not once, but five times — to a child, a teenager, a college student, a graduate student, and, finally, to an expert (Mike Campbell, director of the Laboratory for Laser Energetics). Each time she moves through progressively more complicated concepts. What a great example of how it really is possible to explain science and engineering to a wide range of audiences — if we just give it some thought. Read more here.
Here’s an interesting topic: According to the developers of biosemiotics, computers do not participate in the circulation and interpretation of meanings through sign exchanges. However, N. Katherine Hayles, the Distinguished Research Professor at the University of California, Los Angeles, will make the case that computers do indeed generate, interpret, and circulate meanings — and will explore the ethical implications — in a talk sponsored by Advancement and the Humanities Center at 5 p.m. this Thursday, November 14, in the Humanities Center Conference Room D.
A reminder: Students interested in the can attend upcoming application workshops and information sessions at the iZone on:
- Wednesday, November 13, 8-9 p.m.
- Thursday, November 21, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
- Friday, November 22, 2-4 p.m.
Also, sophomores interested in participating in the Tech Industry Road Trip to Silicon Valley on January 7-9, offered through the Greene Center for Career Education and Connections, have until this Thursday, November 14, to apply at . Read more .
Have a great week!
Your dean,
Wendi Heinzelman
