The OLINformer

I realized that I never managed to post about Expo last semester! Yes, proof yet again that I am a slacker. *Sigh* Nevertheless, I am here to remedy that with a combined post - a brief description of Expo and photos from both last semester and this one.

Olin Exposition (Expo) provides an opportunity for students to highlight some of their favorite projects and activities from the preceding semester. It’s a great wrap-up for our students as well as a way to continually practice for those all important internship, graduate school and job interviews.

So here’s how it works: At the end of each semester, every Olin student gets an opportunity to refine their public speaking and presentation skills in a small classroom settings or through more casual conversations about project posters. Regardless of which type of Expo presentation an Oliner chooses, there is a “Q&A” aspect to each so students must be able to answer pointed questions about their projects at the drop of a hat. Expo presentations are evaluated by members of the Olin community as well as members of the Boston area business/technology community.

On Monday, underclasspeople presented topics ranging from “Financial Prediction Using Neural Networks” to “Pointdexter: A Wireless Wand” and from “Going Back to Basics: The Necessity of Introductory Drawing” to “A Spectral Control Method for Robotic Spines.”

Tiana ‘08 presents work from a project given to Olin students by Jeff Satwicz, Class of 2006, who helped design the BigBelly solar-powered trash compactors.

Andy ‘10 presents his research on the history of the Olin website, one part of the MetaOlin class this semester.

Tuesday was set aside specifically for SCOPE projects. I managed to peek in on the presentations for the Olin College team (Technology for Early Stage Alzheimer’s Care) where they presented their design for a handheld device called “MindScout” for Alzheimer’s patients and caregivers, and the DEKA team (Wireless Motion Controller using CANbus) which presented their work on creating a low-cost solution for a CANopen centric high power motion control system that can be easily manufactured while maintaining a simple and intuitive interface. I dropped in on the Schlumberger, Lexmark and MIT/DARPA Grand Challenge teams as well. Sadly, I didn’t have my camera with me!

Expo finished up yesterday, with musical performances in the Academic Center and informal presentations around Campus Center, as well as a chance for Advising Families to catch up with each other over ice cream sundaes!

Below are some pics from Expo last December, to give you an idea of all the poster presentations and the non-academic performances. (Photos courtesy of Mike Maloney)

Ellen ‘10 shows Joe Hunter, Director of Communications, her walker from the Design Nature class.

Simon ‘07 chats with Brian Storey, Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering.

Evan ‘10 discusses his project with an outside evaluator.

Even some alums, like Polina, came back to help/support/evaluate!

Looks like Alisha Sieminski, Assistant Professor of Bioengineering, and Char ‘07 are having a pretty good time!

Eugene ‘08 shows off some “props” as part of his presentation on Poi (fire spinning).

Some more poster shots…

A martial arts demonstration out on the “O”

Maria ‘08 and Andrew ‘07 show off some of their dance moves during lunch.

Keoni ‘07 demonstrates some traditional Hawaiian culture.

I just thought these were cool photos of some of the members of the Olin Conductorless Orchestra (OCO).

I guess that’s pretty much Expo in a nutshell. If you have more questions about it, remember that you can ask some of our current students on The Olinsider!

Take care,
Allison