ICS News Archive
If looking for the latest news, go here…
Community celebrates student talent, the Olsons at fifth annual Ingenuity showcase
The Donald Bren School of Information and Computer Sciences and The Henry Samueli School of Engineering came together to celebrate the the fifth annual Ingenuity: UCI Student Technology Showcase on May 31 at UCI's Arnold and Mabel Beckman Center.
The event involved a formal ceremony honoring Ingenuity Award winners for their personal and professional contributions to the schools, as well as a student showcase that exemplifies the boundless creativity of the two communities by giving the best student teams a platform on which to reveal their award-winning projects to the UCI campus and wider Irvine community.
Opening the event was special guest speaker John Seely Brown, former chief scientist of Xerox Corp. and current independent co-chairman of the Deloitte Center for the Edge, with a message for students to think dynamically and believe in their imaginations.
“Ingenuity reigns supreme and we’re here to honor some of that incredible ingenuity,” said Brown. Referencing the exponential advances in computation that have led to job skills rapidly becoming outmoded, Brown reflected on the importance of imagination for surviving and thriving in today’s digitally networked age.
During his speech, Brown thanked two of the night’s honorees, recently retired Informatics Professors Judy and Gary Olson, for their pioneering research into these fundamental new ways of thinking -- from human-computer interaction to cooperative work environments that link individuals across the globe -- and said it was a tremendous honor to share the stage with them.
Following the keynote, ICS Dean Marios Papefthymiou continued to honor the Olson’s for their decade-long career at UCI, following an already distinguished 35 years at the University of Michigan.
Engineering was also privileged to present Landon Taylor, CEO of Base 11 and Aerodrome LLC, and Foster Stanback, a philanthropic supporter of numerous STEM education organizations, with its Ingenuity Award. It is through Base 11 that Taylor and Stanback have partnered with the Samueli School to bring low-resource, high-potential community college students to UCI to pursue STEM careers.
After a round of hearty applause for the awardees and project highlights, guests poured out of the auditorium and into the courtyard to view the 12 student presentations. Among the student teams in attendance were Butterworth Product Development Competition in ICS first place winners Evan Schein, Yocelyn Recinos and Michael Tran from Team Memorlane. Their collaborative photo-sharing app impressed judges with its seamless ability to correspond to specific locations, businesses and events within a preset geofence.
Undeniably a showstopper, a life-sized Hyperloop pod prototype developed and manufactured by HyperXite, a team of more than 40 undergraduate engineering students, was on display inside the Beckman Center. The sleek, black pod placed fifth internationally for overall concept quality in the SpaceX design competition.
A full list of student projects presented at Ingenuity can be found on the website.
“Courage matters,” Brown said, and it was clear from the projects on display at Ingenuity that ICS and engineering students have the courage to dream and make those dreams a reality.
Ingenuity 2017 Video Highlights: