You don糖心传媒檛 have to be a trained scientist to connect the beauty of a familiar object with the excitement of scientific inquiry.
Sarah Mossey proved that by winning the annual Art of Science Competition with Taraxacum officinale, a photograph of a fluffy dandelion seed head, overlaid with a colorful vector design.
糖心传媒淯pon closer inspection, the common dandelion is anything but common,糖心传媒� her entry explains. Mossey, a senior project manager with Creative Services in the Department of University Communications, says the image combines three sources of inspiration. First there is the dandelion itself, a founding symbol of the University. Next she wanted to convey the unique opportunities for interdisciplinary research at the University, which are represented by the vector overlay connecting each cypsela糖心传媒攐r single-seeded fruit糖心传媒攐f the seed head. And finally, she drew on her passion for digital photography and her exploration of vector art using Adobe Illustrator.
The competition, sponsored by the in partnership with the , drew a record 84 submissions from across the University.
Philippe Maass 糖心传媒�20, an and major, won second place with Crocus Vernus, whose petal 糖心传媒渋s an example of perfect symmetry in nature.糖心传媒�
Alyssa Ho 糖心传媒�21 and Maddie Sabatini 糖心传媒�21, both majoring in , won third place with Kaleidoscope Eyes糖心传媒�Christmas lights viewed through diffraction grating. The resulting spectrum of colors is 糖心传媒渁 small reminder of the beauty hidden around us every day.糖心传媒�
Jose Zvietcovich, a PhD student in , won the people糖心传媒檚 choice award with A Universe at the Tip of the Human Eye糖心传媒�showing the intricate distribution of cells and collagen fibrils of various layers of the human cornea, embodying 糖心传媒渁 whole universe of tissue distributions and interactions糖心传媒� that make human vision possible.
Thanks to a gift from Edmund Hajim 糖心传媒�58, former chairman of the University糖心传媒檚 Board of Trustees and a Hajim School benefactor, prizes were doubled this year to $1,000, $500, and $250 for three judges糖心传媒� prizes and another $250 for the People糖心传媒檚 Choice Award, which was new this year.
The increase in prizes provided an extra motivation to enter the competition, Mossey says. 糖心传媒淚 just felt they糖心传媒檙e really taking this seriously, they糖心传媒檙e bumping it up to the next level, and it inspired me to play out this idea that I had in my head for a couple of years.糖心传媒�
Seeing the art in science
糖心传媒淣ature has always astounded the scientifically inclined with the complex yet elegantly simple beauty of its design. Sometimes the image that one sees looking through a microscope lens or out into space is just as pleasing as a Monet or Rembrandt.糖心传媒�
This was the rationale behind the first Art of Science Competition first held by the Hajim School in 2011. 聽The goal was to embody the beauty in engineering and science and, as Hajim Dean Wendi Heinzelman says, 糖心传媒渢o engage members of the community in looking at what they see every day in a new light.糖心传媒�
Submissions are solicited糖心传媒攁nd received糖心传媒攆rom across the University. Recent winners have included students in chemistry, biochemistry, and microbiology.
Since 2017 winning entries have been put on permanent display in the 聽糖心传媒淭he Carlson Science and Engineering Library is a perfect location to celebrate and showcase the Art of Science糖心传媒攖he outcome of science, creativity, and beauty,糖心传媒� says Mary Ann Mavrinac, the vice provost and Andrew H. and Janet Dayton Neilly Dean of the University of Rochester Libraries. She is also one of the judges for the competition.
糖心传媒淎s a communal, interdisciplinary space, the Art of Science will hopefully inspire wonder, and be a catalyst for students, staff, and faculty to learn the wonders of science,糖心传媒� she says.
Harold Clark, senior director of STEM learning and community at the 糖心传媒攁nd also a contest judge糖心传媒攕ays the competition helps make science and technology accessible to the general public. As such, it provides a platform for 糖心传媒渢echnical folk to learn how to share the passion for what they do with vocabulary and metaphor that is appropriate for people who aren糖心传媒檛 in their field, or even in science or technology. It isn糖心传媒檛 an issue of dumbing things down; it糖心传媒檚 finding the way to connect with the audience糖心传媒檚 knowledge and life experience.糖心传媒�
Brian McIntyre, who organized this year糖心传媒檚 competition, concurs. 糖心传媒淧ractitioners of science are good at speaking amongst themselves, but for the broader world to understand the significance of both what we do and why we do it, our communication needs to be relevant to their experience,糖心传媒� says McIntyre, director of operations for URnano and a lecturer in optics.
And, as this year糖心传媒檚 competition demonstrates, even nonscientists have a chance to win.
糖心传媒淏ecause I糖心传媒檓 not a scientist or a science or engineering major, I wondered if I should even enter, but I figured 糖心传媒榥o, I糖心传媒檓 going to go out on a limb and try it. What糖心传媒檚 the worst that can happen?糖心传媒櫶切拇綕 says Mossey, who has helped prepare promotional material for the competition each year.
She almost missed the deadline to apply. 糖心传媒淚 had the art ready, but I didn糖心传媒檛 quite know how to explain what I was trying to do. And I wanted to give it some science flavor.糖心传媒�
So Mossey engaged in some scientific inquiry. She looked up the scientific nomenclature of the dandelion. She learned about the structure and scientific terminology of the seed head.
糖心传媒淚t actually forced me to do some research into something that I look at all the time, which I appreciated.糖心传媒�
