September 25, 2007
Popular Science to bring high-tech dorm room, latest in electronics on campus tour visit
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Popular Science magazine will visit Purdue University on Tuesday and Wednesday (Sept. 25 and 26) with the latest in electronics, a high-tech dorm room and a contest in which the grand prize winner from one of 10 campuses will receive $5,000 worth of JVC products.The Discovery Learning Center is host for the visit, the magazine's sixth of 10 trips to college campuses around the nation.
"Popular Science is trying to get more people interested in science by showing the applications that can enhance the college experience," said Beverly Davenport Sypher, associate provost and former interim director of Discovery Learning Center in Discovery Park who facilitated the visit. "This is a great opportunity for students to see how technology is increasingly enhancing the learning capabilities in the classroom and even in the dorm room. Technology connects people and knowledge in ways that make place and time less and less important."
The Popular Science Tour began Sept. 4 at Georgia Tech University, then moved on to North Carolina State, Duke and George Washington universities. A visit to the University of Massachusetts preceded the Purdue visit. Stops at Kansas State and San Diego State universities and the universities of Utah and New Mexico will conclude the tour.
The tour representatives are on each campus for two days, and exhibits will be open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. both days at Purdue.
Visitors to the exhibits on the Memorial Mall will be able to test the latest "must-have" electronics for students, the high-tech mobile dorm room that is "tricked out" with sophisticated surround-sound systems, wireless gaming, computers, flat-panel televisions and more, according to a Popular Science flier. A race car will show the latest in Indy Racing League technology, from firesuits to racing simulations.
Students also can participate in the "Pimp My Dorm" contest, with a chance at the grand prize of the $5,000 worth of JVC products and other prizes. Participants are asked to do a video clip of no longer than 30 seconds explaining why the entrant should receive the ultimate dorm makeover from JVC. Each entry must be on an individual basis, not as a team, and judging will be based on 50 percent creativity and originality, 25 percent adherence to required topic, 25 percent popularity via consumer five-star ratings and overall appeal.
A first- and second-place entry will be chosen from each university. The grand-prize winner will later be chosen from among the 10 winners from each of the campuses.
The contest is open only to students, but the two-day display is open to the public.
"We want the students to know that learning will happen this way," said Sypher, the Susan Bulkeley Butler Chair of the Susan Bulkeley Butler Center for Leadership Excellence in the Discovery Learning Center. "With new technology, the student could be sitting in the dorm room and experiencing swimming on a coral reef. It would be like having the Envision Center in everyone's room. We want the public to come out and see some of the latest in technology and how it could affect them, as well."
The Envision Center for Data Perceptualization explores novel computer graphics, advanced visualization and human computer interface technologies, such as auditory, haptic and multimodal interaction.
Writer: Jim Bush, (765) 494-2077, jsbush@purdue.edu
Source: Beverly Davenport Sypher, (765) 494- 9709, bdsypher@purdue.edu
Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; purduenews@purdue.edu
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