The OLINformer

As promised, a chronicle of my inagural FIRST experience. No, it doesn’t have much directly to do with the admission process at Olin… but it was a recruitment trip and it was a lot of fun and I figure there’s a fair number of you out there with at least a passing interest in robotics…

So the National FIRST Robotics Championship took place in Atlanta at the Georgia World Conference Center. Holy cow, is that complex big!

Atlanta welcomes FIRST (on every other lamppost downtown!)

Gorgeous weather and pretty grounds means lots of teams hanging around outside

This is where I lived for 2 days - Scholarship Row, right outside the “pit” in Building C

I was honestly speechless when I first saw the Pit from above. I mean, that is an insane number of people and robots!

(more…)

I can’t believe it… Spring has finally sprung in Boston! So what if it’ll be in the 50’s again later this week?!? The past 3 days have been gorgeous and everyone has been trying to spend as much time as possible outside.

Example #1: ICB Lecture

So Profs John Geddes and Mark Somerville decided – rightfully so! - that ICB (Integrated Course Block) lecture should be held outside on Friday. Who needs a lecture hall when you’ve got “portable” white boards, a window and a dry-erase marker? (photos courtesy of Angela ‘09)

Yep, that’s pretty much the Class of 2010. (more…)

(Due to my recent travel, I was unable to post this immediately. However I still wanted to share it with you, in part, because I simply cannot find the words to express my own thoughts.)

April 17, 2007

We are all shocked and saddened by the events at Virginia Tech. President Rick Miller sent the following to the Olin Community this evening:

To All Members of the Olin Community-

All of us have been deeply touched by the senseless killings at Virginia Tech. Our thoughts and prayers go out, in particular, to everyone who has been directly affected by this tragedy.

Yesterday’s events remind us that a college campus is a special place where all kinds of people come together to live, learn, and work. Understandably, we expect to do so in a safe environment, which makes the tragedy at Virginia Tech even more shocking. We are fortunate that the Olin campus has been unusually safe. We have a strong record of vigilance in protecting our students and other members of our close community, and are committed to the highest levels of safety and security. Our small size and high-tech campus infrastructure allows for rapid communication in an emergency and, on an ongoing basis, we continue to review our campus security procedures.

The Council of Olin Representatives (CORe) plans to send a letter of sympathy and support to the student government at Virginia Tech. Olin students were invited to neighboring Babson College this afternoon for a vigil at the Glavin Chapel. And Olin students are planning a moment of silence tomorrow at 10 a.m., with candle lighting at the main staircase in the Campus Center.

The College has many resources available to those who might need support in the aftermath of the Virginia Tech tragedy. Resident Resources (R2s), the Student Life staff, off-campus mental health providers, and faculty advisers are available to students. The Employee Assistance Program provides similar services to faculty and staff.

Tragic events such as this can evoke strong feelings regarding seemingly unrelated issues in people’s lives, so please be especially aware of and sensitive to reactions in the days ahead.

Please feel free to contact me with any questions or thoughts you may have.

Richard K. Miller

So my eyes are STILL broken, but I shall forge on…

Now, where was I? Oh yes…

Last Thursday brought the Ignite Clean Energy (ICE) Competition. While I was in no way involved in the activities, it seemed pretty cool that we were able to host the semifinals at Olin AND we even had a participating team! The idea behind the ICE is to build the clean energy business cluster in Massachusetts (and regionally) by working with entrepreneurs to crystallize their business concepts and helping them produce a compelling ten-minute investor pitch. By getting entrepreneurs in front of investors and others in the sector, the ten finalists got some great exposure.

The highlight of the day for me, however, was Trivia Night - sponsored by the Class of 2007. It was emceed by Chris Morse (our Chemistry prof and resident QuizMaster) and scored by Adam “Joe” College ’07 (who was banned from playing because he could beat every team there by himself!)

Professor Rebecca Christianson, David ’07 and Jeff ‘07 chat prior to the evening’s trivia smackdown.

There were about 10 teams, several of which included faculty and staff members.

Apparently Carol Kelley, Assistant to the Dean of Student Life, didn’t want me to take her picture.

Chris Morse distributes the answer sheets, while Alison Black, Assistant Dean of Student Life, discusses strategies(?!) with teammates Alison ’07 and Tiana ’08. And yes, they are wearing boas!

So my team, Four Eyez – Katherine ’10, Ellen ’10, Jon ’08, Teresa Kelleher from the Admission Office and me - held our own through 5 rounds… despite being down one person for the first and last rounds! In between the question rounds, Lindsay ’07 lead some fun games for extra prizes (most donated by Class of 2007 parents… yes, our parents rock too!). (more…)

There’s been a lot happening at Olin this week! Upon my return from a tiny trip home to Texas, I jumped right back into the thick of things… beginning with our largest information session EVER at Olin!

This is a pic of our welcome board - it doesn’t begin to illustrate how big the group was! But, alas, we forgot to get a picture of the auditorium… oops.

I don’t have an exact headcount but my best guesstimation was about 60 people listened to my “song and dance” in the auditorium that day. Wow… we’ve come a long way since the days of 1-2 families chatting in our lobby!

Next was an Ecumenical Passover Sedar on Tuesday evening. The Sedar was open to the entire Olin community, so it was a really cool mix of people and faiths. For some of us, it was a great (comforting?) way to celebrate Passover when we’re far away from family; for others, it was an opportunity to learn/try something new with a group of friends.

Our Ecumenical Sedar in the East Hall Lounge. Lots of people spent many hours (Bonnie ‘09, Ben ‘10, Karen ‘06 and Professor Lynn Stein to name a few) organizing and COOKING this delicious homemade meal for the Sedar. Photo courtesty of Yifan ‘10

Sadly, some folks had to jet off early to prepare for the next item on the agenda: ExpressO Black. As Ellen and Jessi mentioned in their blogs, it’s an “uncensored” version of our variety show known more commonly known as simply ExpressO (some of you saw a sampling at Candidates’ Weekend). Because of its racier/edgier content, this one’s mainly for the current students but I was dying to check it out! So I hung out with some first-years in the mezzanine to get a birds-eye view. There were a variety of acts – some exactly what I would have expected (bawdy, raunchy, funny) but others were truly clever and amazing displays of talent, including a powerful monologue by Keoni ’07.

Wednesday brought Big Conversations, a day when classes are cancelled and our community takes time to ponder the world beyond the “Olin bubble.” Amy Smith, an inventor and instructor at MIT, was a terrific addition to Olin’s Speaker Series on “What’s Important?” Professor Smith is dedicated to developing technologies that optimize limited resources and solve seemingly intractable problems in developing countries; she and her students are making a difference in the lives of thousands of people all over the world with their inventions.

Amy Smith sharing one of her favorite quotes (and guiding principles of her life) with the Olin community during Big Conversations.

I must admit that it was a pretty amazing and inspirational presentation! Afterward we had several options including a series of short films, continued discussions over lunch (free and sponsored by our Office of Innovation and Research!) and a variety of activities related to appropriate technologies, social entrepreneurship and community service.

So, my eyes are broken and I must stop staring at this computer screen. Thursday and Friday (aka Part 2) will arrive soon…

allison.bahme@olin.edu
781-292-2203
IM: OlinAdmission
http://www.olin.edu/

ACTUAL BLOG POSTS!!!

Yes, dear readers, I will return with brand spankin’ new entries soon. Life is still ridiculously busy in our office (it never ends!) but after a mini-vacation and a week full of cool stuff on campus, I’m back………………………

allison.bahme@olin.edu
781-292-2203
IM: OlinAdmission
http://www.olin.edu/