2015 Jaffe Student Production Competition

The 2015 Jaffe Student Production Competition is open to any undergraduate or graduate student at Rensselaer. It aims to create projects, which are developed to take advantage of EMPAC’s infrastructure and of the expertise of EMPAC’s team. The winner(s) of the competition receive a summer production residency at EMPAC. The prize comprises the following components:

• Up to 20 days of use of one of the four main venues (Concert Hall, Theater, Studio 1 or Studio 2) or audio/video editing environments of EMPAC, including technical and production support by the EMPAC teams.
• A stipend for two months plus travel expenses to and/or from campus (in case student needs travel at beginning and/or end of residency).
• Material support for up to $5000.
• Support in form of meetings with EMPAC teams for the development of the project after the reward announcement and before the actual residency starts.

The number of residencies awarded is determined by the final projects and their requirements of resources (depending upon the availability of specific spaces and staff support at EMPAC, as well as material budget of each project). In order to be qualified to submit a project, a student has to attend two meetings in the fall semester 2014/2015:

• Friday, September 19, 6:30–9:30PM (dinner served)
• Saturday, November 22, 10AM–12:30PM

Project proposals will be due by the end of January 2015. The announcement of the awarded residencies will be at the end of February 2015. Each student is asked to partner with a faculty member for their project. This should happen before the second meeting in November. Each project should be rooted in the student’s degree program. It may be part of ongoing research, a thesis or other academic activities but it may also be a project that goes beyond or lies outside of any regular academic requirements (but still connected to a specific degree program). It is also possible for two or more students to submit a proposal as a group. In general, EMPAC can be seen as a platform from which projects benefit, which create a bridge between digital technology and our physical human interaction; how such technology can address and connect with our senses and with our being in our physical environment. This includes images and video, sounds or music, lights, large floor spaces and big volumes of spaces. Projects can come from science and engineering (for instance visualization with large-scale projections, immersive environments, responsive environments, robotics, human-computer interaction in human-scale settings, multi-modal environments, etc.), from the humanities, architecture or the arts. (To be clear: The projects are not required to be based in the arts).

First Meeting–September 19th

In the first meeting on September 19, EMPAC’s teams will introduce the participants to the technical infrastructure and potential of EMPAC spaces and studios. After this first meeting, students develop a project idea, also in conversation with faculty and EMPAC staff advisors, who will be available for such meetings.

Second Meeting–November 22th

In the second meeting on November 22, each student has to present a sketch of their project to all students and to a group of experts made up of faculty and EMPAC staff members. Each idea will be discussed. Based on the feedback given during the second weekend, participants continue to flesh out their proposal with further support by faculty and communication with EMPAC production teams. The proposal submitted by the end of January does not have to have all of its details worked-out, but it should be developed to such a level that the goal and the scope of the project is defined, that a project development plan is outlined, and that there is a budget for materials and equipment required for the project in addition to what might be available at EMPAC. After the project residencies have been awarded by the end of February, the selected projects will be developed by the student in meetings with EMPAC staff and with support from the partnering faculty during the remainder of the semester. At the end of the semester the student will have a comprehensive plan for the two month residency during the summer. The production residency at EMPAC will extend up to 20 days and will be scheduled as part of the two months. Any questions? No idea (yet)? Have an idea? Come to the first meeting on September 19 at 6:30 pm and get as many answers as possible to understand how your idea might find its way to EMPAC. The EMPAC point contact for this competition is Eric Ameres, Senior Research Engineer at EMPAC. ameree at rpi dot edu Please RSVP if you plan to attend the meeting on September 19 – so we can plan for food and drink.