Toward the top floor of the Roser ATLAS Center on main campus, those who take the north stairs are now greeted by a new artwork as they approach the third floor. Seven rows of rectangles, ranging from a rusty brown one at the base to a bright, golden yellow one at the very top, may at first seem simplistic. But designed and installed by Sophie Adams (BS-TAM'21)*, a recent graduate from the ATLAS Institute, "The Golden Rectangle" aims to capture the movement of old filmstrips, and pays homage to the golden ratios in cinema studies—both in color and proportion of the shapes themselves. 

Sophie Adams

Each row of the large 1.66:1 rectangle contains a different cinematic aspect ratio, depicted as if it was on a film strip, and listed from top to bottom 2.75:1 (ultra Panavision 70); 1.85:1 (widescreen theatrical); 19:9 (mobile phone); 2.39:1 (anamorphic); 16:9 (digital HD); 1.66:1 (European widescreen); and 1.33:1 or 4:3 (standard).

“I've always wanted my art to inspire people to learn more about whatever I'm making art about,” said Adams. “Art is such a cool way to get people interested and involved in topics that they wouldn't have necessarily come across themselves. It’s giving anyone and everyone the opportunity to get to learn new things.”

The mural is one of seven science-inspired, larger-than-life artworks that welcomed students, staff and faculty back to campus this fall.  Completed primarily in the past year-and-a-half during the COVID-19 pandemic, this new series of public murals in and around campus was facilitated by the Nature, Environment, Science & Technology (NEST) Studio for the Arts.

Adams is currently the building coordinator for Artisan's Asylum Maker Space in Boston, Massachusetts, runs a commissioned-based embroidery shop and works with the Fiske Planetarium as an artist and graphic designer.

*The TAM bachelor's program was renamed CTD, (Creative Technology and Design).

Read more about a new series of public murals in and around campus, facilitated by the Nature, Environment, Science & Technology (NEST) Studio for the Arts

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Justin Gitlin, a renowned multimedia artist and a lecturer for the Creative Technology and Design program, designed and built Moiré Room, a mesmerizing, algorithmically-generated audiovisual experience made up of ever-changing black-and-white projections accompanied by constantly varying computer music. The sound and visuals are both infinitely variable and interactive, subtly responding to visitors around the exhibit.

Ria Khan, a 2020 graduate of the Creative Technology and Design master’s program, designed and built Galactic Autoquarium, involving a team of nine ATLAS students and alumni in the creation of a visually eye-popping space that features robotic fish, riddles and digitally generated interactions.

Corrina Espinosa, ŷ���ڱ���Ƶ Boulder alumna (MFA’17 Integrated Art), who was an artist-in-residence in the ATLAS BTU Lab in 2016 and teaches Digital Art 1 and 2 for the Department of Art and Art History, built a three-panel installation made up of life-sized, dancing puppets. She says the ATLAS Institute and the BTU Lab are “paramount in her growth as a tech-based artist." Her first introduction to ATLAS was a course in wearable electronics when she was an MFA student. This connection led to her yearlong BTU artist residency, which was primarily focused on her MFA thesis work. She subsequently returned to teach the wearable electronics course that gave her the entré to the community in the first place.

Officially named Meow Wolf Denver Convergence Station, it is the latest permanent art exhibition for the organization, which began in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and opened its second location in Las Vegas in February 2021. More than 200 artists working in a wide variety of mediums have contributed to creating bold and immersive experiences found throughout the exhibition space.
 

He explains that the concepts behind Moiré Room are rooted in his fascination with the mesmerizing effects black-and-white patterns can have on perception. He wanted to generate these kinds of patterns dynamically using algorithms that would incorporate variability based on data streams from the immediate vicinity of the installation.

Since these data streams would never be the same, the patterns generated would always be unique. In addition, he wanted to intensify the visual experience with an audio accompaniment that was integrated into the graphics; with the audio environment taking cues from an ever-changing visual field, and the graphics influenced by a constantly changing auditory and spatial environment, the feedback loops create practically infinite variability. As a result, each visitor experiences—and helps create—something entirely unique in Moiré Room. Gitlin likes the idea that each visitor plays a role in making their visit to Moiré Room unlike anyone else's—how it creates a more intimate connection between visitors and the artwork, he says.

Developing the concept was one thing, implementation another. Small prototypes for the project's components were built over several years: refining the visual pattern generation and audio analysis came first, body-tracking with computer vision and projection mapping followed. “Whenever I get a chance to integrate my music into my code that's always really exciting for me,” says Gitlin.

The experience can be calming one moment and anxious the next, as sounds and shapes evolve together over time, Gitlin says.

Gitlin has seen scores of Instagram selfies posted by fans who have visited his installation.

“It’s been fun to watch the public interacting with the piece,” says Gitlin. “Each person has their own moment in time, where the backdrop is whatever they’re taking a photo of.”
 

As an undergraduate fine arts major, Khan spent a lot of time in the institute’s BTU (Blow Things Up) Lab, where they began experimenting with and creating robotic fish. As interest grew, Khan presented workshops to students eager to replicate the fish.

"People enjoyed the weird whimsey of dinky fish swimming in mineral oil and wanted to learn how to do it,”  Khan said. “When the (Meow Wolf) call for entries came out, I thought it would be really cool to have a whole installation about them.” Khan pitched to Meow Wolf the Autoquarium idea as a first-year ATLAS graduate student enrolled in the College of Engineering’s Creative Technology and Design (CTD) program.

As visitors enter the whimsical creation, their reflections multiply in a mirrored room of celestial and oceanic themes. Wall-mounted, brightly-colored domes scattered along the walls hold swimming robotic fish. Above, “celestial” aquatic coral, a “galactic infinity mirror” fish pond, and starry lights float; below, light patterns reminiscent of water reflections twinkle. And to the sides, two painted murals of fish project a rainbow onto an adjacent wall covered with animated projection visuals.

Throughout the exhibit, old-fashioned talk boxes (typically utilized in the real world to notify apartment residents they have visitors) contain the room’s secrets. Some fish “deities” speak in riddles, interacting through talk boxes to share “hidden wisdoms,” ultimately guiding visitors to the other artists’ exhibits.

“Seeing people enjoying it was magical,” says Khan, noting that visitors became very engaged with the riddles during the installation’s preview days.  

Khan says they are proud of their team’s work, which included complicated object-oriented computing, and Raspberry Pis and Teensy (USB-based microcontroller development system) hardware.

Khan also adds that they’re proud of the diversity of the arts and technology team who built it. “We have women, trans and non-binary folk, and people of color, showing the diversity in our skill sets and in ourselves. Speaking as a femme non-binary person of color, I especially appreciate that.”

• Title: Moiré Room

Collaborator: Justin Gitlin, aka Cacheflowe, lecturer for the MS-CTD program

• Title: Galactic Autoquarium

Collaborator: F. Ria Khan (MS, TMS—Creative Technologies + Design '20), BTU, THING and Living Matter labs alum
Assisted by: Armon Naieini* (BS, TAM’19)—projection visuals; Sofia Rubio-Topete (TAM minor '20);  Harrison Bolin (BS, CTD’21);  Calvin Logan* (CTD/Art undergraduate student)–narrative designer and primary ceiling decor fabricator; Luke Collier (BS, mechanical engineering '20, BTU Lab alumnus) and Charles Candon* (mechanical engineering undergraduate; BTU Lab member)—physical fabrication; Sky Johnson* (BS TAM ‘20)—lead programmer; Blake Gambel* (BS, TAM’19)—lead programmer/general fabrication; Maria Deslis (MS-CTD’20) senior programmer.
(*key contributors)

• Title: Time Machine Malfunction Dance Party

Collaborator: Corrina Espinosa, MFA integrated art '17; BTU Lab artist-in-residence '16

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The article by Simone Hyater-Adams PhD '19, "," published in this month's  was recognized as "editors' suggestion."

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One month after receiving a graduate degree in Information and Communication Technology for Development (ICTD) from ŷ���ڱ���Ƶ Boulder’s ATLAS Institute, Joanne Reid was named to the 2018 US Winter Olympic team for biathlon, a sport that combines target shooting with Nordic skiing.  The mentally and physically challenging sport is popular in Europe, but less known in the United States, Reid said.

“I would take any of my teammates medaling as an excellent day,” Reid said in a Skype conversation from her training camp in Tyrol, Italy. “I’m not going to say it needs to be me. For the United States to win a medal in biathlon would be an unbelievably beautiful day.”

Reid isn’t the first Winter Olympian in her family—far from it. Her mother, Beth (Heiden) Reid, and her uncle, Eric Heiden, both competed in speed skating in Lake Placid in 1980. While Beth came away with a bronze, Eric won five gold medals, which remains the most gold medals won by any Winter Olympian at a single edition of the games.

Coming from such an athletic family, it’s fitting that she focused the culminating project of her graduate work on sport—specifically, on the challenges faced by today's female athletes who compete and train in an ever-present media and social media spotlight.

“As athletes, we are so dependent on the media to survive. And we’re also affected by it, because we are females in a very male-dominated sport,” said Reid.  “This project is very personal to me.”

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Leibson was recently interviewed for a radio show, “,” broadcast by the BBC World Service. She was also interviewed for a BBC series “100 Women,” that examines the role of women in contemporary society from multiple angles. Other recognition includes The Institute of Code’s “Women in Tech” award, and she was a semifinalist for the "We Rise” award from The Hivery, a women's coworking space in the Bay Area. She recently extended her reach, becoming a .

Lady In Tech

Leibson is clear about her mission: "I want to inspire, motivate and move millennial women to enter the tech industry,” she says.  

Quoting Marian Wright Edelman, “You can’t be what you can’t see,” Leibson says she writes about women who have developed careers in the technology sector to inspire others to do the same. Her profiles tend to focus on entry and mid-level professionals because, she says, “[they] are more relatable than the Sheryl Sandbergs of the world.” (Sandberg is the chief operating officer of Facebook.)

She also partners with technology conferences, which she attends and writes about, giving early career professionals who can’t afford large conference price tags access to some of the key takeaways.

She says she built her following primarily using Twitter and Facebook.

“I was able to grow an audience for this kind of content because nothing like it existed,” says Leibson. “I knew I was on the right path when I attended tech events and people would say, ‘I heard about what you’re doing,’ or ‘I read about you.’ Or when I got messages from women saying, ‘Hey, I didn’t think I could be an IOS developer until I read the article you wrote, and then I took the classes you recommended and got my dream job.’”

The road to inclusion advocacy

She also traces her sense of purpose to her experience in the program. “Through TAM, I discovered the best way to make a positive impact on the world is through technology, and I have carried this belief forward ever since,” says Leibson. “We must work toward creating a future where the people who imagine and build technology mirror the people and societies for whom they build it.”

After graduating early with honors in 2015, Leibson spent time in London pursuing a culinary arts program and learning about London’s startup ecosystem, but she was disappointed when she couldn't find a community supporting aspiring female founders.  

Upon returning to the U.S., Leibson moved to San Francisco, launching Lady in Tech in April, 2017. Surrounded by a community of women eager to enter tech fields, the site took off.

In addition to writing, Leibson consults. She's worked with the makers of the social media app Hey! VINA, which connects platonic female friends, as well as Omidyar Network, Uber, Prezi and TechCrunch. She's also actively supports communities for TEDxSanFrancisco, the Anita Borg Institute for Women and Technology, and Women in Product, a nonprofit dedicated to increasing diversity and inclusion in product management.

“We need all perspectives and viewpoints represented as we build the future,” Leibson says. “Utilizing the talent that exists means we’re assembling smarter, more innovative teams.

“My best advice for aspiring female technologists: aim to make the most impact you can on the world.”

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In September, Naseem and a team from the Information Technology University (ITU) in Lahore, Pakistan, were jointly awarded $374,000 from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and Pakistan’s Higher Education Commission (HEC) to design a low-cost, modular water quality testing and metering system to be installed and tested at 20 Punjab filtration plants over a three-year period.

“I’m really excited to have the opportunity to contribute to a water-related issue in Pakistan,” said Naseem. “Many people there have limited access to clean drinking water. It’s an issue close to my heart.”

The project, which also provides support for a graduate student to oversee implementation, was selected from more than 200 eligible applications submitted to the Pakistan-United States Science & Technology Cooperation program in 2017. Under the program, which was established in 2005, the governments of Pakistan and the United States cooperate in science, technology, engineering and education for mutual benefit. The program is implemented by the U.S. National Academy of Sciences in the U.S. and the HEC in Pakistan.

Safety

To improve water quality monitoring, Naseem’s team will design a low-cost, automated, modular water testing unit equipped with sensors that monitor free-chlorine, turbidity, Ph and total dissolved solids. The system will be connected to the Internet via cellular data networks, allowing results to be uploaded regularly to the municipal water authority’s servers, where automated alerts can warn technicians when levels exceed parameters.

Naseem, who investigated water technologies in Lahore over a three-year period, says improvements in the frequency and method of water quality testing can have a big impact on public health. They are also necessary to meet guidelines established by the World Health Organization.

Presently, water monitoring is performed just once a month, and errors can occur during sampling and testing. In addition, systems rely on filters that should be changed at intervals based on how much water has passed through the filter; however, there’s often no mechanism for measuring water volume.

“Between the monthly tests, no one knows the quality of the water,” he said.  “Even if samples are collected and stored properly, the laboratory performs well and the plant workers act on laboratory recommendations, there’s a lot of uncertainty.”

Distribution

In addition to tackling water safety, their project aims to solve another major challenge: distributing water more equitably. Naseem explains that water dispensing stations in Lahore and other cities have limited supplies and sometimes run dry. However, no limits are placed on how much each family can take. As a result, wealthier households that fetch large amounts of water by truck place a greater burden on the system than poorer households that collect their water by hand.

The team at ITU, led by Tauseef Tauqeer, head of the Electrical Engineering Department and an associate professor, will focus on this problem by continuing work on an automated dispensing unit originally developed by students in a design lab that Naseem mentored in 2014. Named the Water ATM, the system would use government-issued RFID cards to identify users and limit how much water is dispensed based on household size.

During the third year, the team will look towards commercialization so that a local industry partner can scale-up the technology they’ve developed.

A fringe benefit of this technology is that it could enable water dispensing stations to remain open 24-hours a day, cutting down on the long lines that currently form during daylight hours.

Beyond technology

Naseem explains that the work of creating remote water sensing units is complex, but it’s not their biggest challenge. Success depends on designing a system that communities want to embrace, he says. “Sensitivity to social and cultural concerns is critical,” says Naseem. “And giving the community a voice is also key.” If the rationing system upsets enough powerful people accustomed to unlimited water supplies, they could have the whole program shut down. Similarly, if the technology is going to be adopted, it must be reliable and easy to use.

One option is to install digital signs that display the current safety level of water coming out of the faucet. When it’s unsafe, residents could continue to draw water, but the signs would let them know they need to boil or further treat it before drinking.

“Information and Communication Technology for Development is not just about technology; it’s about these ethical considerations. You have to make difficult decisions,” says Naseem. “When I enter these communities, there’s so much desperation and there’s so much love. We are sending students to vulnerable places, and there is a danger of their having a savior complex. I want to make sure students realize that there is beauty and knowledge we can rely on in these communities.”

If successful, the team could have an immediate impact on the region. Their key partner, the government-run Punjab Saaf Pani Company, plans to install 1,500 water filtration plants across Punjab in the next five years. If their plans to subsequently commercialize the technology are successful, their reach could be much greater—an inexpensive, early-warning water safety system could improve the public health of countless communities around the world.

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