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From Helix to Healthcare
Thursday, March 4, 2010
Blog entry by Ambrea Kuhn, The Leonardo's Intern
The Leonardo After Hours: Energy Revolution event in Logan last week was a huge success with a ton of audience participation. Thanks to our presenters and our host, The Italian Place, which supplied nourishment (energy!) for the crowd. Take a look at our recap video, with interviews with all three presenters:
If you missed us in Logan, catch us next week in Salt Lake City. Leonardo After Hours: From Helix to Healthcare will look at genetic research and personal healthcare on Tuesday, March 9.
Our presenters are Jeff Botkin, the University of Utah's Associate VP for Research; Julie R. Korenberg, a USTAR professor of pediatric genetics at the University of Utah; and Jennifer Logan, the program director for personalized health care at the University of Utah's Eccles Institute of Human Genetics. The presenters will talk about how your genetic profile can help a doctor shape your health care in a hyper-personalized way, and what that means for patients, physicians and the health-care industry.
The event runs 5:30 to 7 p.m., Tuesday, March 9 at the Olive Bistro at 57 W. 200 South. RSVP to Chris Davies at 801-531-9800 or rsvp@theleonardo.org -- but hurry because only a few spots are left!
The building renovations, which began in early October, are progressing quickly. The construction crew has gutted the building, removed outdated light fixtures, pulled the carpeting, and nixed all asbestos. The second (and longest) phase of the renovations, seismic upgrades, started in October and is really cruising now. Phase two consists of installing reinforcement bracing throughout the building and enclosing one of the old staircases to place a strengthening beam.
Staircase removal, as seen from the main floor
Staircase removal as seen from the first basement
Remnants of the last stairway excavation.
Builders started out marking the floors of each level where the buckling restrained brace, BRBs or cross beams, will be installed. These beams are part of the seismic upgrades that strengthen the building in the event of an earthquake. The beams are installed from the floor of the sub-basement to the top of the roof, with one set of beams on each of the four building sides. Most of the beams will be visible inside the building after construction is finished.
Spray paint marks the area for the cross beams. The round hole goes from the ceiling to the basement.
After the cross beams are installed, we will move onto general renovations with light fixtures, putting the ceiling back in place and -- of course -- installing exhibits for our opening!
Leonardo After Hours has been such a great success that we decided to take it on the road to Logan, home of some of the leading experts in the energy revolution. Join us Feb. 24 as we talk about new ways to make and store energy.
Jeff Muhs, executive director at Utah State University Energy Lab, will discuss new initiatives from his lab, such as creating biofuels from algae and automated electric transportation, which will make energy mobile. Other presenters include Kevin Shurtleff, who is a member of the USTAR Technology Outreach team, and Lynsey Talbot, who is a student energy researcher at Utah State University.
Algae solutions from Muhs' lab
The event will be held at The Italian Place, Wednesday, Feb. 24, from 5:30 until 7 p.m. Space is limited and we're already filling up so RSVP by contacting Chris Davies at 801-531-9800, or email rsvp@theleonardo.org. And, as ever, thanks to USTAR for co-sponsoring this event.
Where, oh where, are the artists out there? The world needs great art. Our friends over at Zer01 in San Jose, Calif., are looking for a variety of 5-minute shorts that were shot using a cell phone or other mobile devices. The theme for their biennial this fall, "Build Your Own World," focuses on innovation that can change the world. The selected shorts will receive a cash prize and will be screened at the 2010 01SJ Biennial. Enter your video here by May 15.
The Utah Transit Authority also has a call for artists to work on the airport TRAX extension in Salt Lake City. The works will be displayed at each stop along the route, which will run along North Temple. The art will be one of the first impressions visitors get of Utah, so the stakes are high! Applications for this project are due March 8, 2010.
Finally, The Leo just closed its submission period for the art installation in the main lobby of the building — three finalists will be announced by the end of March, with a winner selected by mid-June. This piece will illustrate The Leonardo's blend of science, art and technology. I can't wait to see the chosen piece inside the building when we open April 15, 2011, and I'm sure we will give all of you blog readers a sneak peak before then!
The Leonardo is launching its STEM Works program with a public appearance at the swanky award ceremony for the Governor's Medal for Science and Technology on Jan. 5. This collection of interactive, hands-on exhibits gives young people and adults a glimpse into the world of biotechnology. As part of the STEM Works initiatives, The Leonardo is producing several short bios of biotech industry folks. Kasey Schuster is the first of these, so here's your sneak preview at one part of STEM Works!
As Utah’s biotechnology resource coordinator, Kasey works with students and teachers at high schools with biotech programs to provide them with the equipment and information they need. Kasey traces his interest in the field to middle school when he decided to take honors science so he could learn dissection. As a member of Utah Valley University's first graduating class of biotechnology students, Kasey balanced school work with lab jobs at Salt Lake Community College and the Jordan Applied Technology Center. Since then, he has helped open two labs at Itineris Early College High School and five others at SLCC.
We hope you enjoyed meeting Kasey, and stay tuned for more information about our STEM Works programs. You can also email Mary Anter for information about free, public events near you soon. (Hint: we already have some of them posted on our online calendar!)
Blog entry by Ambrea Kuhn, The Leonardo's Fall 2009 Intern
On Dec. 8 the first Leonardo After Hours audience discussed "Cashing in on Green (Energy)!" Three green experts highlighted new technologies and the economic gains that Utah could see if the state were to invest in and develop these technologies.
Bob Barson, executive director at the Center for Active Sensing and Imaging at Utah State University, showed us how CASI uses new technologies to improve wind energies, including pinpointing the best spots for new wind turbines. Nathan Furr, from the business management department at Brigham Young University, discussed the importance of an entrepreneurial spirit in energy innovation. Kent Udell from the University of Utah talked about using heat banking to store our currently bitter cold weather to air condition buildings on hot summer days (and storing heat from those 105-degree days to comfort us in this 9-degree weather!).
A 10-minute presentation from each speaker sprinkled with questions from the audience and some friendly moderation from the Salt Lake Tribune's Kirsten Stewart made for a successful and lively evening where audience members got to participate in the discussion about what will make Utah a better innovation center in green energy. Stay tuned for details about our next Leonardo After Hours, which will be March 9.
Blog entry by Ian McClintick from The Leo on Wheels staff
On November 16-20, 2009 the Leo on Wheels visited American Fork Junior High School, home of the Cavemen. During the visit to American Fork we were surrounded by students with cavemen shirts, which got us thinking: what's behind American Fork Junior High's unique mascot? As it turns out, American Fork is home to Hansen Cave, Middle Cave, and Timpanogos Cave- and thus the mascot's name.
Martin Hansen discovered Hansen Cave in 1887 as he was tracking a cougar up Timpanogos Mountain. In the fall of 1921, George Heber Hansen and Wayne E. Hansen were hunting deer when they spotted a hole in the ground. The two returned a few days later with their grandfather, Martin Hansen. Martin Hansen, who's credited with actually discovering Timpanogos Cave, was also the first person to enter Middle Cave.
When Middle Cave and Timpanogos Cave were discovered government protection was in place, which has helped keep them in fairly good condition. Hansen Cave, however, is not a protected site and has been a target of vandalism over the years. Like the vast majority of caves, the caves in American Fork formed in Carbonate (i.e. Limestone, Dolomite). Over millions of years, carbonic acid, a weak acid, formed by water and carbon dioxide reacting with each other, slowly dissolves the carbonate, creating the caves.
A. ǝuoʇsʍolɟ B. sǝʇıʇɔılǝɥ C. uoɔɐq-ǝʌɐɔ
The carbonate dissolves in water. As the water flows through the cave the carbonate precipitates, or condenses back into a solid. The carbonate deposits form the unique structures we see in caves. Among the structures in the American Fork Caves are cave bacon, helictites, and flowstone. The pictures seen above are not from the American Fork cave but they are still very similar. See if you can name the structures correctly just by their pictures.
Blog entry by Ambrea Kuhn, The Leonardo's Fall 2009 Intern
The Leonardo building renovations are well underway! Last week I was able to check out the progress that has already been made. The renovations started in October with asbestos removal.
Worker exiting sectioned off area.
Loading the huge truck with bags of asbestos.
All of the lighting will be replaced to help us get a Silver LEED certification.
Our favorite part of the renovations is the bright orange carpet is gone!
Here's a short video detailing what will be upgraded .
After the asbestos removal is finished seismic upgrades will begin. Next, they'll upgrade some of the building's systems and other general improvements. After that, The Leonardo will move in to install our exhibits. All of that will wrap up just in time for opening day-- April, 15 2011, which also happens to be Leonardo da Vinci's 557th birthday.
Blog entry by Ambrea Kuhn, The Leonardo's Fall 2009 Intern
On Oct. 20th we held "The Countdown to The Leonardo," where we announced that The Leonardo will open its doors on April 15, 2011, and honored all the donors who have helped us get to this point. We are also very excited to announce that Nobel Prize winner Mario Capecchi will be The Leonardo's senior advisor.
Countdown to The Leonardo event recap.
One of the highlight of the event was the soap-film wall prototype. Our exhibits team worked hard this past month to make the wall. Viewers learned the science behind the bubble -- light refraction, wave patterns and surface tension -- and stuck their hands in it and blew bubbles. All in all, it was a delightful evening for the 150-or-so attendees!
Exhibits designers Ben and Christopher building the soap-film wall prototype.
You can check out more about the event and view pictures here. Be sure to check out all of the great media coverage we have been getting lately!
The Leonardo is celebrating National Chemistry Week on Oct. 10. Our free event, "Chemistry—It’s Elemental!”, will be held in the Urban Room and on the Plaza of the Salt Lake City Public Library. (The elements are highlighted at this year’s event because 2009 is the 140th anniversary of Mendeleev's Periodic Table of Elements.)
Families will have an opportunity to learn about different elements on the periodic table by participating in hands-on art and science projects: investigate the size of the different elements with bubbles, learn about the elemental composition of minerals through a treasure hunt, find out about properties of elements by using magnets, and discover reaction properties of oxygen. There will be 33 different activities to engage children and family members of all ages. The Leonardo also will be introducing our "Radiation and You" exhibit with facilitated activities and discussions on radioisotopes, elements, and radiation.
Fun Films and Serious Games: Digital Media in Utah: Recap
Friday, September 25, 2009
Blog entry by Ambrea Kuhn, The Leonardo's Fall 2009 Intern
"Fun Films and Serious games: Digital Media in Utah" was the best Lunch with Leo yet! The Salt Lake City Public Library was packed full of people wanting to learn more about digital animation.
Our five presenters did a fantastic job talking about animation in films, gaming, and online platforms. They covered everything from story boards to the final product.
Check out some of the Lunch with Leo fun!
Our next Lunch with Leo event will be held early December. Keep checking back for more details!
At the event, you'll see the cool tech tools and creativity that go into all-things animated -- from feature films and shorts, to hand-held video games and serious simulations. Our five presenters come from companies and labs right here in Utah. We think you'll be wowed to see what's happening in your own backyard.
Blog entry by Jeanne Huelskamp from The Leo on Wheels staff
It's the beginning of another school year and The Leo on Wheels, The Leonardo's outreach program, just launched its sixth year of traveling to middle schools and junior high schools throughout the state. We traverse the state in our 25-foot trailer bringing hands-on science, technology and art exhibits to students and teachers. We explore concepts in physics with an architecturally designed rollercoaster, and test out the nature of electricity with a Van de Graaff machine. It can be a very hair rising event literally!
This year we welcomed two new crew members, Ian and Analiesa. Ian McClintick recently received his B.S. in Geology from Lafayette College College in Pennsylvania. He moved here after visiting on a school trip. Analiesa Leonhardt comes to us from Baraboo, Wisconsin. She has a bachelors degree in Botany from BYU and has spent 2 years living and farming in Ecuador.
Majestic rainbow spanning Helper, Utah. Photo Credit: LaraLee Smith
The Leo on Wheels started the year off on a road visit to Helper Junior High in Helper, UT. We rolled into town on Monday evening and were greeted with ominous dark cumulus clouds, a setting sun and the most spectacular rainbow we had ever seen. It started out as half a rainbow, but developed into a full 'bow with intense colors. The 'bow stretched from the edge of Helper's Book Cliff Mountains on the north side of the city, over the interstate beyond the Price city limits to the west.
A rainbow is a perfect artistic expression of a scientific wonder. Did you know that the lower the sun is in the sky the bigger the rainbow? And, if you were in an airplane, at the right angle and altitude, you could see a full-circle rainbow! The Leo on Wheels features two exhibits that allow students to manipulate light by reflection and refraction, and students learn these concepts in 6th grade. And even though I'm older, every time I see a rainbow, I still marvel at the beauty and think about all the scientific conditions that need to be in place for me to see this event.
The rainbow was definitely an omen of the wonderful time we spent at Helper. The students and teachers are dedicated to learning, and proud to be Helper Rams.
We're always on the lookout for great locals who combine art and science. Those two disciplines inspire the art of local art matriarch Anna Campbell Bliss. Anna's first solo show in five years, showing at the Art Barn until Sept. 11, combines digital printing with traditional painting, all building on themes of science and mathematics.
Octogenarian Bliss recently overcame a year-long period of blindness, following with cataract surgery, an experience that she compared to "coming out of solitary confinement." Her career in the state stretches back decades, though, and includes several public art pieces at major buildings around town, such as the University of Utah's Cowles Building on Presidents Circle and the State Capitol Building.
A detail from "Extended Vision" in the Cowles Building
Good news for local art fans, too: Black Opal Productions is putting together a documentary about this woman's fascinating life and storied career: "ARC of LIGHT: A Portrait of Anna Campbell Bliss." (We can't embed this particular link, but do watch -- Anna is brilliant.)
A couple of us at The Leonardo had the pleasure of chatting with Anna recently and she reassured us that she has at least a good 10 years left in her -- she has a lot she wants to accomplish and intends to continue her role as a self-proclaimed "misfit locally" in the art scene. We're also looking forward to forging a partnership with her for The Leo building down the road.
The Leonardo is thrilled to be up for two Artys from the City Weekly this year -- the first is to vote for BODY WORLDS 3 as the best traveling exhibit of 2008, and the second is to vote for The Leonardo-sponsored play, "di Esperienza," as best original play.
"di Esperienza" was commissioned by The Leonardo and produced by Plan B Theatre Company this spring. In the play, three of Leonardo da Vinci's famous artworks confront him at the end of his life. Matthew Ivan Bennett wrote the piece, and here's a little more information about his work from Salt Lake Magazine:
We had a great time at the Utah Arts Festival this past weekend. It was great to see old friends of The Leo and meet new ones. If you happened to catch a performance from one of our partners, if you made a star box, or if you just perused the origami wall -- thanks for stopping by!
Visitor after visitor came into our space toting messenger bags with just the right hint of DIY flavor. On forays into the festival at large for food, fresh air and entertainment, I made it a point to track down the source of the bags -- the AIGA "Re:Design" booth on Washington Square.
Check out those bags! That shiny material is vinyl from local, reclaimed billboards. Refashioning the vinyl into messenger bags keeps the vinyl out of a landfill, uses up local "trash," provides a great chance to make something useable and hip, and gives visitors a wearable piece of art.
The color options included everything in the rainbow, but this one was my favorite:
(I love that green!)
Kudos to AIGA SLC for making the project happen. I hope to see these things around town for a long while.
Over the last several days, staff and volunteers at The Leonardo have been assembling the origami wall that will sit inside the building during the 2009 Utah Arts Festival (which opens today!).
The very first row of the entry wall, early Monday (the first day of installation).
It's been a long, arduous process filled with caffeine, close calls and some very late nights. And now the finished product is up inside the building.
The entry wall "mapped" out on the floor, waiting for the graphics on the dots, Tuesday night (second day of installation).
We'll be open from 3 to 9 p.m. starting today through Sunday (festival admission required). Be sure to stop by to see one of our performing groups, too! Another Language will be performing Thursday, Saturday and Sunday at 7 p.m., and Movement Forum will be performing Friday at 7 p.m. and Saturday at 4 p.m.
Putting up the diagonal origami wall late Wednesday night.
I want to thank the dozens of volunteers, family and friends who folding thousands of origami star boxes. We've been folding in earnest for about three weeks, and just finished the last star boxes last night in time to lay out the final portion of our wall. I enjoyed stapling together the wall -- reliving the hours spent folding the pieces, as well as seeing the donated paper from Infinite Scale Design Group, Axiom Design Collective, Willow Canyon Elementary School, Pentad Properties and The Leo office itself! This has truly been a community project!
Another giant "thank you" goes to the volunteer installation crew and the late nights fueled by sugar, caffeine and cheap pizza -- you all were champs! And the final "thank you" goes to Chris Henderson, our volunteer graphic designer who offered hours of high quality work -- he's the brains behind the wall engineering, dot graphics and general cool factor of the entire installation. Thanks, Chris!
Assembling the entry origami wall, late Tuesday night.
Staff member Jeanne Huelskamp shows off the wind tunnel she helped build
The week, the program celebrated its five-year anniversary! To celebrate, the outreach crew set up at the Salt Lake City Public Library in conjunction with Air Force Week.
A young visitor heads in to "land" at the Salt Lake International Airport via a flight simulator
They guided people through making the best paper airplane possible (including distance and hang-time contests!), explained the science behind bubbles suspended above dry ice, and allowed budding pilots to test out a flight simulator from Rockwell Collins, among other activities.
Staff member Mary Anter helps a visitor fold a paper airplane to celebrate the Air Force's Flight Week
Happy anniversary! And thanks to all the great partners, sponsors, staff and volunteers who have helped make the program possible over the last several years!
Next week's Lunch with Leo presentation coincides with Air Force Week, and the topic couldn't be more relevant: biofuels and the future of energy. (Sorry -- Thunderbirds not included!) The speaker for the June 3 lunch is Jeff Muhs, executive director of the Utah State UniversityEnergy Lab. Muhs investigates strains of oil-rich algae in order to optimize biofuel production.
(All images courtesy of Jeff Muhs' research lab)
Muhs, who was at one point an energy and science policy advisor to the U.S. Senate, recently testified before Congress about the plausbility of using algae to capture and recycle carbon-dioxide emissions and create oil in the process. Muhs is also a USTAR researcher.
In theory, algae farms can be anywhere there is enough sunlight for the plants, and part of Muhs' research is optimizing sunlight absorption and thus increasing the amount of fuel produced. Other biofuel researchers are exploring creative placements for algae ponds -- next to wastewater treatment plants (the, ahem, natural organics in the wastewater can be part of the algae "food"), in shallow desert pools in the sunny southwestern United States, or next to coal plants where algae could convert waste carbon dioxide to biofuel.
You may remember the Continental Airlines test flight this January with half a tank of conventional jet fuel and half a tank of algae- and jatropha-produced biofuel. Continental joined Air New Zealand and Japan Airlines, among others, in testing biofuels as an alternative to conventional jet fuel. Even though large-scale algae fuel production is likely still several years away, the promise of this biofuel has caught the attention of the airlines, Congress and R/D communities throughout the country.
So, please, join us Wednesday, June 3, at the Salt Lake City Public Library for a discussion about how the hated pond scum of yesteryear could become the future of fuel. (To register for Lunch with Leo, visit its web page. The event is open to the public, and the $25 fee pays for your meal.)
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