Crouched on the sidewalk outside Reamer Campus Center with a big smile on her face, Mary Roberts ’09 wrote in neat, neon pink letters, “Free Stuff Improv.” The student-run improvisation group performed as part of the 19th Steinmetz Symposium Friday.
“Steinmetz is great because it allows everyone to show off what they’re working on,” Roberts said. “It can be serious academics or something that’s just fun – like improv.”
Between Reamer and the F.W. Olin Center, Matt Beenen ’09 and Ned Lincoln ’09 attracted a small audience with a presentation that was entertaining and academically rigorous. They discussed their senior project, “The Design and Optimization of a High Efficiency & Performance Vehicle.”
“This machine is visceral thrills with a conscience,” Lincoln said with a laugh, referencing the three-wheel vehicle’s fuel efficiency and high-performance capabilities.
A few feet away, seniors Kaitlyn Evans, Shauna Keeler and Jennifer Lachance critiqued the Steinmetz sessions they had attended so far. Lachance had just finished explaining the psychological dynamics of personal security – specifically, something called the “tripartite security system theory” – before a group in Bailey Hall.
“It’s so much fun to be there to present and to support your friends in their presentations,” Lachance said.
“And it’s exciting to see how much students you’ve known since freshman year have grown,” Keeler said. “The people who were too shy to speak up in class are now publicly explaining their work.”
Peter MacDonald engaged a group in the Taylor Music Center with his program on “Changing Days,” which showed the impact of technology on the music industry. MacDonald, who plays harmonica and guitar, composed a concept album that uses electric instrumentation with an acoustic foundation.
“I grew up hearing Bob Dylan and Jimi Hendrix, and now they’re right up they’re with Obama,” he joked.
In all, about 400 students participated in Steinmetz Symposium.
At the end of the day, 65 students energized the crowd at the Nott Memorial as part of the annual Steinmetz dance performance. Bhangra Union, the Ballroom Club and the Union College Dance Team also presented to an enthusiastic, standing-room-only crowd.
The 2009 Edward Villella Fellowship, announced after the performance, went to Lisa Crescenzo ’10. She will be an exhibit and research assistant and take Paul Taylor dance workshops at the National Museum of Dance in Saratoga Springs this summer.
For more pictures from the symposium, check out our photo gallery.
Steinmetz Symposium coincides with Prize Day, which took place Saturday in Memorial Chapel, with a reception following on the Reamer Campus Center patio. Students are honored for achievement in academics, research, service, governance and athletics. For a complete list of winners, click here.
Also on Saturday, the Union College Jazz Ensemble performs from 1 to 2 p.m. in the Fred L. Emerson Foundation Auditorium in the Taylor Music Center.
The Steinmetz Symposium is named for Charles Proteus Steinmetz (1865-1923), who taught electrical engineering and applied physics at Union. Also chief consulting engineer for the General Electric Company, he was widely regarded as America’s leading electrical engineer.
For more information and the full symposium program, click here.