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1. Tech Students Rock Audio Competition |
By Dennis Walikainen, senior editor
Keith Kinnear and Justin DuBay won first and second place at the Audio Engineering Society Central Region's Annual Student Summit, held recently at Webster University in St. Louis.
Noted audio producers Phil Ramone and Frank Filipetti were very impressed by the Tech students' work, according to Christopher Plummer, associate professor in the visual and performing arts department and advisor to both Kinnear and DuBay.
Ramone is famous for working with artists such as Ray Charles and Billy Joel, producing movie and television soundtracks, and many other events. Filipetti has worked with Barbra Streisand, Liza Minelli, and James Taylor, among many others.
"Phil Ramone and Frank Filipetti said some flattering things about our mixes, and had a couple of suggestions as well," said DuBay. "Keith and I got to talk briefly with Frank Filipetti, and he was very encouraging."
Kinnear, who is from Hermantown, Minnesota, and DuBay, who is from St. Clair, Michigan, were honored in the nonclassical recording competition. The University of Michigan took third place.
According to DuBay, "Nonclassical means we submitted multitrack recordings. Each instrument (drums, bass, guitar, etc.) was tracked individually and combined in the mix."
DuBay’s song was "hard rock, guitar driven," he said. "I think what made Keith and I stand out was that we both put interesting little things in our mixes. I inserted a few odd sounds and sound bytes of politicians. It added something extra that made the songs more appealing."
Kinnear’s mix was more alt-country: "I submitted a mix of the song 'Resale,' written by Graham Parsons and performed by the Squeaky Clean Cretins, a band for which I play bass."
According to Plummer, Kinnear and Dubay were competing with established recording programs, most of which have $300,000 mixers and more than 100 recording majors.
The Central Region includes colleges and universities from eighteen states, from Alabama and Texas north to Michigan, and two Canadian provinces (Ontario and Manitoba).
As for the future, DuBay would like to work in a recording studio, or do some sound for film. "I've learned a lot here and hope to continue that once I get out in the working world," he said.
He credited Plummer "for really helping us along with these projects and encouraging us to pursue projects that will help us in the future."
Kinnear will graduate after next fall with two degrees, audio production and technology, and electrical engineering technology.
"I would love to start a career as a recording engineer," he said. "But I could end up doing anything from live concerts (like the local Keweenawesomefest), to radio or TV broadcast, to designing and building audio equipment including speakers. Winning this competition certainly didn't hurt my chances of being able to find some work in the recording industry."
Of his teammate Dubay, who also is majoring in audio production and technology, Kinnear added: "Justin’s mix was also worthy of winning, and actually I think that he probably should have, since he not only recorded and mixed the song he submitted, but he wrote the thing, too!"
For more info, http://www.webster.edu/aes/info.htm . |
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2. Three Computer Science Students Win Competition |
Last weekend, three undergraduate computer science students won the second annual Artificial Intelligence Programming Competition.
They are David Cawley of Cedarburg, Wisconsin; Sam Schinke of Greenleaf, Wisconsin; and Peter Miele of Davisburg, Michigan.
In the event, called the BonzAI Brawl, teams of students developed an artificially intelligent computer player to compete in a game.
The students were given the details of the game on Saturday morning and then had eight hours to code an AI player with a winning strategy. At the end of the coding session, the student teams competed in a tournament. The winning students received $150.
The event was organized entirely by the following student organizations: Women in Computing Sciences, Husky Game Development, and Upsilon Pi Epsilon Computer Science Honor Society.
Students from these groups developed an original computer game, including the concept, rules, code, and graphics.
More than 80 students competed on 37 teams, including four from Northern Michigan University. All the coding was done in the computer labs in Rekhi Hall.
The BonzAI Brawl was also sponsored by Computer Mechanix, GE Aviation, LaSalle Technology Group, the Department of Computer Science, and Undergraduate Student Government.
For more information, visit the website: http://wics.students.mtu.edu/bonzai |
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3. A Reminder about Spring Fling Activities |
Spring Fling on Friday, April 17, will stretch from the Administration Building to Prince's Point.
Be prepared for noticeable traffic and noise, including a Johnny Cash Tribute Band, a comedian, and mechanical bulls.
Other activities include a 5-K run, a motorcycle stunt show and other enterprises.
The event runs from noon to 5 p.m. Join in for the free food and festivities. |
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4. Two Employee Campus Tours Scheduled for Early May |
The Admissions Office, Staff Council and Human Resources are organizing tours for employees to explore and learn more about the campus.
The next tours, which will take about an hour and a half, will be at 10 a.m., Tuesday, May 5, and again at 10 a.m., Wednesday, May 6. They begin in the Admissions Office.
Interested employees, including those new to campus, should contact Chris Mattson (Human Resources) at 487-2281 or at cmattson@mtu.edu .
Hourly staff will need their supervisor’s approval.
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5. MSE Seminar Features NSF Leader and Kansas Researcher |
Trung Van Nguyen, program director of the Chemical, Bioengineering, Environmental, and Transport Systems Division, of the Engineering Directorate at the National Science Foundation, will give a talk, "Energy for Sustainability," at 3 p.m., Friday, April 17, in M & M U113. In 2007, Nguyen was appointed the first director of NSF's Energy for Sustainability Program. He is a professor of chemical and petroleum engineering at the University of Kansas and has founded two start-up, fuel-cell companies. His research is on fuel cells and batteries and the mathematical modeling of electrochemical systems.
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6. CEE Students Present Seminar Today |
Two graduate students in civil and environmental engineering will present a seminar at 4 p.m., today, in Dow 642.
Shane Ferrell, a master’s student, will give a talk, “Cold Climate Embankment Stabilization.” He will address, in part, transportation infrastructures in cold climates.
Baron Colbert, a doctoral student, will give a talk, “The Application of Warm Mix Technology to High Percentage Recycled Asphalt Pavement (RAP) Mixtures.” He will address, in part, the effects that warm mix asphalt has on recycled asphalt pavements.
For more information, contact Zhanping You at 487-1059 or at zyou@mtu.edu . |
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7. Physics Seniors Give Research Presentations Thursday |
Five senior physics students will present their research at 4 p.m., today, in Fisher 139.
Presenters, presentation titles and faculty advisors are:
Daniel Kestner: "Searching for a Photon Bose-Einstein Condensate." Advisor: Miguel Levy.
Brandon Johnson: "A Molecular Junction Exhibiting Negative Differential Resistance." Advisor: Ranjit Pati.
Jamie Bougher: "Analysis of a CDF Data Anomaly." Advisors: Monica Tecchio and Myron Campbell, the University of Michigan.
Paul Rojas and Martin Boluyt, "Brownian Motion." Advisor: Raymond Shaw.
For more information, contact Ranjit Pati at 487-3193 or at patir@mtu.edu ; or Claudio Mazzoleni at 487-1226 or at cmazzoleni@mtu.edu .
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8. Railroad Engineering Webinar Set for Friday |
The Rail Transportation Program will participate in a webinar from 1:15 p.m. to 3 p.m., Friday, April 17, on the "Relocation of the Paducah and Louisville Railroad at Kentucky Dam." The session is in Dow 875.
This Railroad Engineering Seminar is sponsored by the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and features John Harms, senior vice president for Hanson Professional Services.
RSVP before 11 a.m, Friday, at smferrel@mtu.edu .
Individuals may also participate by calling into the conference line from their own phone. The dial-in telecom number is 217-244-7526.
Anybody interested in learning more about the challenges associated with constructing railroad structures or rail realignment is encouraged to participate. Light refreshments will be provided.
For more information, contact Pasi Lautala at 487-3547, at ptlautal@mtu.edu . or the UIUC website:
http://ict.illinois.edu/railroad/CEE/seminar.asp . |
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