Eric Sembrat's Test Bonanza

By Brent Verrill, Communications Manager, Brent Byer Institute for Sustainable Systems

Twenty-three Georgia Tech undergraduate students have been selected for the second class of Sustainable Undergraduate Research Fellows (SURF). Among them are Kathryn McCarthy, School of Biological Sciences; Shivan Mittal, School of Physics; and Gigi Pavur, School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences.  

McCarthy and Mittal are among the 20 new fellows. Pavur is among the three who are returning from the previous year of the program.

The fellows represent all six colleges at Georgia Tech and were selected from a highly qualified and competitive field of students.

• William Abdallah, Industrial Engineering
• Joseph Buehler, Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
• Leo Chen (returning), Computer Science
• Anielle Duritza, Environmental Engineering
• Kian Halim (returning), Computational Media
• Kyte Harvey, Mechanical Engineering
• Connor Hawley, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
• Chloe Kiernicki, Architecture
• Elizabeth Krakovski, Public Policy
• Micah Landwermeyer, Materials Science and Engineering
• Matthew Lim, Computer Engineering
• Farouk Marhaba, Computer Science
• Kat Matthews, Business
• Kathryn McCarthy, Biological Sciences
• Shivan Mittal, Physics
• Christi Nakajima, Public Policy
• Gigi Pavur (returning), Earth and Atmospheric Sciences
• Leah Claire Nofsinger, Materials Science and Engineering
• Ashlyn Sasser, Industrial Design
• Alexandra Schultz, Chemical Engineering
• Ranal Apeksha Tudawe, Mechanical Engineering
• Jeniveve Vaia, Material Science and Engineering
• Eliya Olivia Wagner, Environmental Engineering

The research fellows, who are paid, are developing prototypes of interactive building-monitoring systems that convey the unique elements, qualities, and performance of the Kendeda Building for Innovative Sustainable Design, which is under construction. The systems will also monitor the behaviors that the buiding engenders among its occupants and visitors.

Through SURF, the students will learn about sustainability, systems thinking, and how to apply these principles to the Georgia Tech Living Building. Their work is facilitated by Michael Chang, deputy director of the Brook Byers Institute for Sustainable Systems.

What is earthquake “music”? Can coral reefs devastated by climate change be saved? Does science support the supposed benefits of meditation?

ScienceMatters, the podcast of the College of Sciences, brings more tales of curiosity and discovery. Season 2 is now live at sciencematters.gatech.edu.

All episodes are available for instant listening. However, the ScienceMatters quizzes will follow the episode order. Follow the College of Sciences on Facebook and Twitter (@GT_Sciences, #sciencematters) to find quiz questions and meet winners.

Stars of Season 2

Season 2 features five of the College of Sciences’ award-winning faculty and one of its enterprising postdoctoral researchers.

• When the Earth’s tectonic plates collide and slide, School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences Professor Zhigang Peng takes data from seismic sensors and creates “earthquake music.” The results can help scientists learn more about what goes on beneath our planet’s crust.
• There’s more to meditation than just chanting mantras in your favorite yoga studio. Practitioners claim the benefits include better mental and physical health. Do the data back those claims? School of Psychology Professor Paul Verhaeghen examines the science behind meditation.
• Glaucoma usually affects older people, but a form of the eye disease can strike younger patients, including children. That keeps School of Chemistry and Biochemistry Professor Raquel Lieberman hard at work studying wayward proteins that may hold the key to new treatments for the second-leading cause of blindness.
• One of the top algae scientists in the world, award-winning School of Biological Sciences Professor Mark Hay, examines the mortal peril facing the world’s coral reefs in a two-part episode. The first part gives a grim prognosis. But the second part offers hope that the coral reefs could heal themselves – if given the chance.
• With incessant curiosity, David Hu discovers physics among water-walking geckos, bridge-building ant, and urinating zoo animals. Hu, an associate professor in the School of Biological Sciences and the School of Physics, has a joint appointment with the George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering. This conversation is an edited excerpt from the Uncommon Engineer podcast. Our thanks to Steven McLaughlin, podcast host and dean of the College of Engineering.
• Kennda Lynch studies ancient lakes on Earth that serve as stand-ins for Mars’ formerly flooded craters. The School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences postdoctoral researcher helps NASA look for potential landing sites on the Red Planet.

Join the ScienceMatters Quiz for Fun Prizes

Although all episodes are now available, we will feature episodes in sequence for the ScienceMatters quiz.

Each week on a Wednesday, we will post a question about the week’s episode. We invite you to submit answers at sciencematters.gatech.edu, until Tuesday noon of the following week.

We will choose a winner randomly from all correct entries. We will announce and notify the lucky winner on the following Wednesday.

Winners will receive exclusive ScienceMatters gifts.

Questions will be posted on the College of Sciences’ Facebook page (@GTSciences) and Twitter feed (@GT_Sciences) and at sciencematters.gatech.edu.

The weekly quizzes will start on Wednesday, Feb 27. We will pause during spring break and resume on March 27. The last quiz will be posted on April 17. The last winner will be named on April 24.

The monthly series "My Favorite Element" part of Georgia Tech's celebration of 2019 as the International Year of the Periodic Table of Chemical Elements, #IYPT2019GT. Each month a member of the Georgia Tech community will share his/her favorite element via video.

Amit Reddi is an assistant professor in the School of Chemistry and Biochemistry. He is an inorganic chemist interested in the roles metals play in biology. Up to 50% of all proteins require a metal for their proper functioning. Yet, only about a dozen metals are encounterered in biology.  

That so few metals allow proteins to function in hundreds of different ways is what drew Reddi to research: to better understand how proteins and metals interact to achieve diversity in protein function.

On the other hand, the metals crucial to protein function are also toxic to cells when they are not handled properly in the cell.  At Georgia Tech, Reddi studies how entire cells and organisms are able to use metals productively fashion, without suffering their toxicity.

His favorite element is .... Watch the video!

Renay San Miguel, communications officer in the College of Sciences, produced and edited the videos in this series. 

Other videos in this series are available at https://periodictable.gatech.edu/.

January 2019: Jeanine Williams, biochemistry major and track star

By Mallory Rosten, Communications Assistant

It takes a lot to be an athlete at Georgia Tech: perseverance, discipline, and a craving for challenge. An athlete spends every day practicing and gives up many weekends to compete. Coupled with the demanding coursework at Tech, the choice to be a student-athlete is daunting.

It takes an extraordinary kind of student to be an athlete. These four students stand out not just in their respective sports, but also in their academics and commitment to their communities.

They love their sports for different reasons. Some enjoy the bond with their teammates while others thrive solo. Some have always loved their sport, while others fell into it accidentally or even reluctantly.

But they’re all athletes because they’re driven to excel. They relish the obstacles in their path. And they never stop pushing themselves to be better.

Meet four science majors who are succeeding as both students and athletes:

• Piero Chiappina
• Cori Clifton
• Ben Jean
• Jeanine Williams

We’re very proud of our student athletes, and we can’t wait to see what they achieve next.

As part of Georgia Tech’s year-long celebration of 2019 as the International Year of the Periodic Table of Chemical Elements (#IYPT2019GT), the College of Sciences and the College of Design’s School of Music have partnered to present a performance of original music inspired by the periodic table.

Avneesh Sarwate, a student in the Masters of Science in Music Technology program, has composed music for #IYPT2019GT to be played by the School of Music’s laptop orchestra. The orchestra comprises first-year music technology majors enrolled in MUSI 2015 Laptop Orchestra, a required music technology course. They will play the composition using electronic devices, mostly laptop computers and mobile phones.

Technology allows musicians to access a wide palette of sounds, way beyond what traditional orchestral instruments deliver. Electronic sounds can be eerie, out-of-this world. With computer-aided manipulations of harmonics and other sound properties, the possibilities for unique musical experiences are endless.

When Sarwate explored using the periodic table as inspiration for new music, what resonated most with him was structure: how structure is so defining for both music and matter. From various analogies, including carbon allotropes, he selected the physical states of water – because of how familiar a phenomenon it is for water’s macroscopic structure to change before our very eyes.

“Water, in Three Movements” is inspired by the physical assemblies and dynamics of water molecules. The three movements correspond to water’s three phases: gas, liquid, and solid.

In the first movement, corresponding to the gaseous state, performers each control a program that plays the melody in a loop at incredibly high velocity, rendering the notes almost indistinguishable but creating a hazy sonic texture reminiscent of steam clouds or fog. The conductor’s gestures will control the movements of the aural cloud.

In the second movement, the liquid phase, the performers slow down the melody to where the notes are distinguishable, but still at different speeds. Like liquid water molecules, the melodies will slip and flow in and out of coordination as they move at different tempos. Again, the conductor will control the waves of sound.

The final movement, ice, will see the performers slowly coalesce to the same tempo and align their rhythms in lock-step, reminiscent of the freezing of a pond, with a single unified melody concluding the performance.

Sarwate is a multimedia artist, software engineer, and musician specializing in interactive art. He graduated with a B.S. in Engineering, major in Computer Science, from Princeton University in 2014. After stints as a software engineer with Applied Predictive Technologies and Yext, he came to Georgia Tech in 2017 for graduate studies, focusing on audiovisual improvisation.

The College of Sciences thanks School of Music Professor and Chair Jason Freeman for making possible this special collaboration to celebrate #IYPT2019GT.  

“Water, in Three Movements” will premiere in February 21, 2019 at the atrium of the Klaus Advanced Computing Building, 266 Ferst Dr NW, Atlanta, GA 30332. The performance will begin at 11 AM. Stay for a chance to win Georgia Tech's popular periodic table T-shirt.