A chase has begun. Dust begins to fly.
Veering off to the right and picking up speed, the dark blue work truck rips across a lush, green cornfield, plowing down any stalk in its path. Its side windows are almost entirely obstructed by the corn stalks whipping against them, with just glimmers of sunlight flickering through.
“You could feel the corn coming around the side of you as the truck is hitting them,” Nathan Gollay, liberal arts and engineering studies (LAES) senior said.
The surveillance drone that just soared overhead is almost within reach. The truck goes faster. The music grows louder. Sound comes from every direction.
‘You could feel the music in your chest,” Gollay said.
The truck emerges from the field and crashes through a chained gate, almost catching up to the drone.
It’s so close; it just needs to go a little bit further.
Then, the truck slams abruptly on its brakes, sending a cloud of dust through the air.
The projector turned off, the screen went white and the lights turned back on.
Gollay sat by himself in the center of the Expressive Technology (ET) Studio on a Thursday night in awe of what he had just experienced. He was only supposed to briefly test the sound and visuals for a movie showing the following night in the studio, but he simply couldn’t turn the system off. He just experienced the immersive 3D sound of the movie “Interstellar” for the very first time.
Immersive 3D sound is just one example of the diverse curriculum that LAES students explore. According to the program’s website, LAES graduates can thrive in a variety of career paths, including animatronics, audio engineering, game design, UI/UX design, and film/television production.
LAES offers a Bachelor of Science degree that allows students to combine a concentration in liberal arts with a concentration in engineering. LAES is a good home for anyone who wants to design their own curriculum and study a specialized field, according to Gollay.
“I think it’s suited well for people who kind of want to do something out of the box,” LAES senior Sophia Kutch said.
The catch is that no one really knows the major exists, according to Gollay.
Nor, he continued, are people aware of one of the “coolest spots on campus” – the Jack and Felicia Cashin Expressive Technology Studio. Located on the first floor of the Frost Center (Bldg 181), the ET Studio is the hub for many LAES projects.
Soundproofing covers the ET studio from top to bottom, with 32 speakers lining its perimeter. When the doors to the studio are shut, “the room is quiet enough that you can almost hear your own heartbeat,” according to the College of Liberal Arts website.
This setup offers an immersive audio and storytelling experience where the sound can move linearly from one part of the room to another, according to Gollay.
At the heart of the studio is a state-of-the-art 4k Barco 3D projector, which, according to Gollay, was previously owned by the CEO of Disney, Bob Iger. Paired with a 20-foot projector screen and the Dolby Atmos sound system, the room competes with a real movie theater experience.
“Sound is basically the intuition behind this room,” he said.
According to Gollay, if a movie is shown in the proper format, it “should sound exactly how it was produced.”
“It won’t sound like a home theater,” he said. “It should sound like you were in Disney Studios.”
The studio also features a Hollywood-approved mixing station, multiple VR bays, motion capture suits and a plethora of other technology and camera gear – much of it thanks to the principal donors, Jack and Felicia Cashin. Robots can also be found in the studio, with F.R.I.D.A. – the Friendly Reprogrammed Imperial Droid Assistant – being one of the most notable.
“We have a ton of cool technology here for all of our weird little projects,” Gollay said.
From an international escape room to a solar-powered electric bicycle, LAES students are always busy with eclectic projects that blend engineering and the arts together.
One of the latest projects to come out of the program is “Ocean Sight One,” an immersive walkthrough experience using virtual reality technology. The project brings attention to the abandoned oil rigs off California’s coast that are threatening marine life through a VR underwater diving experience.
LAES Co-Director Dr. Michael Haungs said that the major is important because it addresses a “gray area” between the fields of art and science.
“It just really became crystal clear to me that we tend to think of occupations as these black-and-white things,” Haungs said. “But there’s so much gray in between. And that’s where [LAES] lives.”
In an article from the Technological University Dublin, LAES Co-Director David Gillette described LAES as a way for “students to see engineering, the sciences, and humanistic study as interconnected and as equally necessary for solving our planet’s most important problems.”
Gillette and former Co-Director Jane Lehr first created the LAES degree to address the approximately 30% of engineering first-year students who transfer to non-engineering-related majors due to a lack of flexibility and interdisciplinary study, according to the article.
For students like Gollay, LAES offers a solution for those passionate about a specific career path that may exist outside of other predefined areas of study, which in his case is Artificial Intelligence.
LAES students can choose from several pre-set concentrations for both the liberal arts and engineering aspects of their degree. However, if a pre-set concentration doesn’t align with their intended career path, the students can alternatively create an “individualized course of study” in which they can specifically tailor classes to develop a concentration that would be better suited for them, according to the LAES website.
Gollay said that LAES is best suited for those seeking higher education but can’t find the right major that fits their needs.
“I just call it the make-your-own-major program,” he said.
Gollay created two individualized courses of study for his major – “machine learning” on the engineering side and “ethics and technology” on the liberal arts side. He is also pursuing three minors in computer science, math and philosophy.
According to Gollay, he is likely headed into the field of computer vision, which he describes as “object tracking with cameras.” Ultimately, though, Gollay said he hopes to start his own business in the future.
LAES is attuned to helping students become valuable assets in the workplace and alumni have already received high praise for their flexibility and preparedness for work, according to Haungs’ research.
“Usually, when one [LAES] student makes it into a company, they look around and say, ‘Can we have more of those?’” Haungs said.
Despite the program’s benefits, though, LAES continues to fly under the radar.
“The main way students hear about the program is by word of mouth,” Haungs said.
According to Haungs, there are only around 55 students in the LAES program. When asked if he’d like to expand the program, Haungs said “[he] would grow it as large as it could be,” but noted the program’s limited staff as part of the cause for the major’s small size.
The program only has three dedicated staff members: Gillette, Haungs and program coordinator Luna Larsen. Two additional CLA advisors assist with LAES’ advising needs, but that’s the extent of the program’s staffing. Both co-directors also teach courses outside of LAES, so “there’s only so much that [they] can do,” according to Larsen.
Haungs said another challenge is ensuring the program can properly serve the students’ varied interests. Although Haungs and Gillette can offer their expertise in a broad array of subjects, the students may also be advised to outsource to other professors for specialized guidance.
“We’re always stretching ourselves to the projects we take on to make sure we provide enough variety for the [LAES] students who have different interests,” Haungs said.
Another reason why LAES may remain under the radar is its required transfer process, according to Kutch. Students must transfer into the major after at least a year of attending the school, as per the LAES website, meaning students don’t often hear about the program before arriving on campus.
The transfer is a necessary step, according to Haungs, as the program’s “extra level of flexibility” requires a clear vision of the student’s chosen career path, something a first-time student may not be prepared for.
As for now, Gollay hopes to bring more interest to the major through LAES club events. As the president of the LAES club, he previewed some upcoming events, which includes a meet-up to work on F.R.I.D.A.’s animatronics.
Gollay shared that the next ET studio movie pick will be a Star Wars film to show off the studio’s linear sound mapping capabilities.
As for the “Interstellar” showing, Gollay said it was a success. He noted how the sound experience made the movie-watching experience great and said there was “nothing you can really do to make it better.”
“People laughed, people cried,” Gollay said. “And a few people joined the LAES club.”
Gollay emphasized that everyone is encouraged to participate in all LAES club events regardless of their major and hopes people will stop by to learn more about the program.
“LAES is a good home for those with either an engineering mind or a creative mind,” Gollay said. “But it’s best fit for those who have both.”