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Read MoreStudents, Balloon-Popping Robots Head for Turkey
Off and popping — Brian
Roy '00 starts his robot on a test run before the IVDS teams'
departure for METU in Ankara, Turkey.
At a demonstration on Thursday, a robot built by Brian
Roy and John Daley was having problems. Too much light was causing a
sensor to miss the cues that were to activate a pair of spinning blades to
pop balloons.
So on Friday, they adjusted the position of the sensors,
and just hours before they were to leave for Turkey, their machine was
finally getting it right, finding and popping 13 of 14 balloons along a
track.
Roy, Daley and five other Union students left Saturday
for a week at the Middle East Technical University in Ankara, Turkey, to
reunite with the students who have been their design partners over the
past several months.
The highlight of the visit will be a series of contests
to judge the design and performance of the robots. Among the judging
criteria will be how close the American and Turkish versions appear and
how well the autonomous machines perform their assignment: travel along a
straight, curved and inclined track, finding and popping balloons along
the way.
The Turkish students came to Union last fall for initial
design meetings. Since then, all design work has been done over the
Internet through the College's International Virtual Design Studios.
Union has sent three teams of students, all seniors, who
have been working with their Turkish counterparts. Team 1 includes Roy, a
mechanical engineer, and Daley, an electrical engineer. Team 2 includes
Sean Spindler-Ranta (ME), Dave Copeland (CS), and George Powers (CSE).
Team 3 includes Greg Williams (ME) and Kah Mun Low (EE).
Accompanying the students are Cherrice Traver and John
Spinelli, associate professors of electrical engineering and computer
science.
The teams will enter their robots in an international
contest to be broadcast on Turkish television. They also will have a few
days to tour the country.
Now in its fourth year, the International Virtual Design
Studio is the brainchild of Ron Bucinell, associate professor of
mechanical engineering. By partnering engineering students from Union with
students in Turkey, Bucinell says, Union students can better appreciate
that engineering is a global enterprise. “It is important to educate
engineers who can make decisions with a global perspective, who have the
breadth of knowledge to understand the socio-economic implications of what
they are doing,” he says. “This is why it is so important to
have engineering in a liberal arts environment, and why I feel our
engineering program is unique.”
Calendar of Events
Friday, Jan. 28 through Monday, Jan. 31, 8 p.m.
Reamer Auditorium.
Film committee presents Bringing Out the Dead.
Sunday, Jan. 30, 3 p.m.
Memorial Chapel.
Schenectady Museum-Union College chamber series presents Pamela Frank,
violin, and Claude Frank, piano, in an all-Beethoven program.
Tuesday, Feb. 1, 7 p.m.
Reamer Auditorium.
International film series presents The Blue Eyes of Yonta, directed
by Flora Gomes.
Wednesday, Feb. 2, 7:30 p.m.
Nott Memorial.
Nutrition and fitness writer Jane Brody on “Women's Health: Fitting
Good Food and Fitness Into Your Busy Life.” Part of the College's
Perspectives at the Nott series.
Thursday, Feb. 3, 7 p.m.
Olin 115.
Sociology of Human Rights film series presents Garagem Olimpo about
torture in Argentina's military dictatorship.
Friday, Feb. 4, 8 p.m.
Nott Memorial.
“Bridges,” the Performing Arts winter concert series, presents
The Ill Wind Ensemble performing improvised music for unusual instruments.
Through Feb. 5.
Arts Building Atrium.
“Photasm: Photography by Sculptors,” features the works of 11
artists.
Through March 14.
Mandeville Gallery, Nott Memorial
“Walter Hatke: Paintings, Drawings & Prints.” Exhibit
includes about 40 works by the artist over the last 30 years.
Cruz Takes Early Entry to AMC
When
Mario Cruz '00 came to Union four years ago, he wasn't sure that he
wanted to be a doctor. But after internships in other fields, Cruz chose
medicine, and now he is the first Union student in a new program that
enables him to gain early admission to Albany Medical College.
Like many freshmen, Cruz took a variety of courses
during his first year at Union, and he quickly developed an interest in
politics. But an internship in New York City with a friend of a Union
professor convinced him that political life wasn't right for him.
He followed up that internship with one at a large
organization of public hospitals, but quickly concluded that he wouldn't
choose health administration either. “I realized that I am more of a
people person,” he says. “That experience confirmed my decision
to become a doctor.”
Returning to Union, Cruz applied for the new early
assurance program at Albany Medical College. The program enables
underrepresented minorities like Cruz, who is Puerto Rican, to apply to
the medical school during their sophomore years. Cruz was accepted, and
has had to maintain at least a 3.2 G.P.A. in all subjects to remain in the
program. When Cruz graduates from Union in June, he will begin four years
of study at Albany Medical College.
Swim Teams are Enjoying Recent Success
The
last three weeks have been outstanding for the men and women's swim teams. Here are their accomplishments during that
time period:
On
J
anuary 8 the Dutchwomen broke a three-year, 20-meet losing streak by defeating
Hartwick, 153-75.
Senior
diver Sarah Steuer (Wilton, CT) qualified for the NCAA
Championship Meet on the three-meter board.
On
January 22 the Dutchmen rallied past Middlebury by winning the 200 freestyle
relay—the last event of the meet-149-148.
Those
team accomplishments led to individual recognition as senior Elliott Sequin
(Lansing, MI), senior Chrissy Duff (Westwood, MA) and
freshman Christina White (Washington, DC) all picked up Liberty League
“Performer of the Week” awards.
“We
are peeking at just the right time,” said fourth-year head coach Scott
Felix. “We've got two more meets (at Hamilton on January 29 and at Ithaca on February 5) before
heading into the state meet and I'm hoping that the momentum of the last three
weeks will carry us to solid performances at states.”
Heading
into the last event against Middlebury, the Dutchmen found themselves trailing
the Panthers, 142-138. That was before
the 200 free relay team of Sequin, senior Andrew Sparkes
(W. Hartford, CT) junior Matt Acciani (Cherry Hill, NJ) and senior D.J. Hogenkamp (E. Aurora, NY) swam Union to victory.
There
were many other big performers. Seguin won three events, 100 and
200 freestyle and the 50 Fly, sophomore Charles Kinnett
(Chelmsford, MA) won the 1650 and the 500
free, Hogenkamp won the 50 and 100 backstroke
while Sparkes had a big win in the 50 free. Divers, freshman Steve Cohen (Media, PA), freshman Evan Kalman
(Delmar, NY) and freshman Kyle Tilley (Hamilton, MA) (scored 18 points in two
events, which the Dutchmen have not had in a couple of years.
“When a
swim meet comes down to one point it is the difference between getting 4th and
5th, 2nd and 3rd, and 3rd and 4th,” Felix explained. “The
first time that (sophomore) Andrew Lockwood (Amherst, NH) beat anyone was against
Middlebury in the 50 Back. He touched a guy out
for 4th place and we ended up winning by one point. If he doesn't do that
we lose by one.
“I
am excited for our team because there are a lot of things that had to fall into
place for us to beat a team like Middlebury,” continued Felix. “Realistically, Andrew's
4th place in the 50 backstroke was the difference. Swimming and diving is
more a team sport than people think. The
team is was very excited. We were not sure if we had the fire power to
beat Middlebury and when it works out in your favor you just feel
satisfied. It has been at least six years since we beat a NESCAC school
in a dual meet, so I can say that it is very gratifying.”
Elliott
earned his Liberty League “Performer of the Week” award by winning the 200 free, the 100 free and was part of the
winning 400 free relay team in the Dutchmen's 127-117 win over Rensselaer, and
for his performances against Middlebury.
On the women's side, Duff won
three events, the 1000 free, the 500 free and the 200 freestyle races against
RPI. Against Middlebury, Duff 500 free
while finishing second in the 1650 free.
White won the 50 free, the
100 free and the 500 free in the Dutchwomen's 167-79 victory over Rensselaer
and came back against Middlebury to win the 50 free while finishing second in
the 100 free and third in the 200 free.
The women's state
championship meet will be held on February 17 through 19 while the men's state
meet is set for February 24-26. Both
events will be held at Nottingham High School.