2014 Graduate Research Colloquium
Memorial Union Building Ballroom
Associate Professor Christopher Plummer co-advised a project entitled “Auditory Emoticons: Iterative Design and Acoustic Characteristics of Emotional Auditory Icons and Earcons,” which was presented at the colloquium on Wednesday, February 19, 2014. The work was co-authored by Jason Sterkenburg, a graduate student in Cognitive and Learning Sciences, and Assistant Professor Myounghoon Jeon in Cognitive and Learning Sciences.
The Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival (KCACTF) Region III (Illinois, Indian, Michigan, Wisconsin) held their regional festival at Saginaw Valley State University, Saginaw, MI, from January 7-11, 2014.
There were several award recipients from Michigan Tech this year.
The Gold Medallion For Excellence in Theatre Education:
M.C. Friedrich
Regional Design Projects, Sound Design
Recipient
DANIEL GRAYVOLD
Royal Hunt of the Sun
The Games of the Technological Olympiad, Team Event
Second Place
ERIK DOERING and STEVE GREEN
The Games of the Technological Olympiad, Team Event
First Place
KELVIN ROBESSON and DEVIN MILLER
Allied Design and Technologies Award
Recipient
AUSTIN ROY
Southern Nights
KCACTF Award for Theatrical Design Excellence, Lighting Design
Recipient
MASON PEW
Southern Nights: Unsung Songs of the Southern Nightingale
Get more festival details at the KCACTF III website and Michigan Tech Visual and Performing Arts on Facebook. Learn more about theatre at Michigan Tech.
Associate Professor Christopher Plummer (VPA) has had two works accepted for publication. One of them is co-authored by Assistant Professor Myounghoon Jeon (CLS). Plummer’s book review of Phillip Giddings’ text titled “Audio Systems Design and Installation” will be published in the January issue of the journal Theatre Design & Technology. A collaborative paper with Jeon and Jason Sterkenburg titled “Auditory Emoticons: Iterative Design and Acoustic Characteristics of Emotional Auditory Icons and Earcons” has been accepted for presentation at HCI (Human-Computer Interaction) International 2014 and for publication in the conference proceedings.
From Tech Today.
Multi-talented Graduate of SAE Institute Wins Award for Outstanding Achievement in Live Sound
Josh Loar, a 2007 graduate of SAE Institute, was honored as the Live Sound Engineer of the Year at SAE’s 2013 alumni awards in New York City.
“It means a lot to me to be recognized for my work, particularly in a field like sound consulting and design, which isn’t typically the focus of many awards,” says Loar. “I always say that one of my goals in life is to make the world sound better, one room at a time, and I’m deeply appreciative of SAE’s recognition of my work towards that objective.”
“While I always found that I could make the projects or shows that I was working on sound great, I had no idea how I was doing it – I just operated on instinct, says Loar, who is currently a Professor of Practice in Sound Design, Visual and Performing Arts at Michigan Technological University in Houghton, Michigan
Read more at PRWeb.
Instructor Elizabeth Meyer, Associate Professor Christopher Plummer and Senior Lecturer Susanne Kilpela (VPA), “The Intersection of the Arts and the Natural World,” Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs.
Read more at Tech Today.
Josh Loar, BA
Josh Loar joins the Department of Visual and Performing Arts as a professor of practice. Loar earned his BA in Theater from the University of California, Los Angeles. He also studied audio technology at the SAE Institute of Technology.
Loar has experience in sound design, acoustics and venue design, consultation, composition, arrangement/orchestration, projections design and engineering.
He has served as president, CEO, designer, composer and producer for Electric Lights Music. He was a lecturer and sound supervisor at the Yale School of Drama/Yale Repertory Theater and an audio video engineer for Technical Multimedia Design, Inc. He is currently an audio systems design consultant for Walters-Storyk Design Group.
Read more at Tech Today.
Safehouse
Haunted houses are intimidating enough, but throw one into a college dorm and there is a recipe for something straight out of your nightmares. That is exactly what the Inter-Residential Housing Council (IRHC) has been doing every year since 1988 in their annual Safehouse event.
Sound and Lighting Services will also be showing off some of their newest technology in the Douglass Houghton Hall ballroom during the event. This is a new feature that has been added for this year.
Read more at the Michigan Tech Lode, by Evan Mayer.
Safehouse a success
Adding to the usual attractions at DHH was a special feature set up by the Sound and Lighting Services student group on campus, which used various effects to turn the ballroom into a creepy mine. Jon Faror, Programming Chair for IRHC, said, “Their goal was to make a professional-style haunted house that is very high-tech. Hopefully we’ll be able to turn this into a tradition that they do every year.”
This year’s winning scary hall was TreeHouse’s “haunted forest” theme. They outdid their competitors by only 2/3 of a point. Agency and Nightclub (of Visual and Performing Arts) took second but only by .2 points, with their “cult” theme.
Read more at the Michigan Tech Lode, by Rand Silvers.
Tech set to host Safehouse
Halloween is on the horizon and Michigan Technological University students living in residence halls are preparing to host Safehouse, an annual tradition that invites kids from the local community into the halls to enjoy themed decorations and tons of candy.
Read more at the Mining Gazette, by Stephen Anderson.
Professor of Practice Josh Loar (VPA) has been named 2013 Live Sound Engineer of the Year by the SAE Institute New York. The award recognized his work in engineering and designing large-scale live entertainment systems.
The SAE Institute was established as The School of Audio Engineering (SAE). It offers specialist vocational and higher education courses in creative media technologies worldwide.
From Tech Today.
Michigan Tech has launched a new virtual tour of campus and the local area. The Walker Arts and Humanities Center is included among the virtual walking tours. There are interactive panoramas of McArdle Theatre and the Rozsa Center for Performing Arts as well.
Over the years, the Rozsa Center has become known for the funny, dramatic or thoughtful performances, plays and musicals it puts on during its yearly season and the programming scheduled for its 2013-14 season will be no different.
“I’m always excited about all the seasons, but in particular I’m really excited about this coming season,” Rozsa Center Director Susanna Brent said. “We’re doing a lot of theater that’s close to my heart.”
Read more at the Mining Gazette, by Scott Viau.