The Art of Science Competition

2018 Winners

The goal of the Art of Science Competition is to explore and illuminate the aesthetic beauty that results when science, art, and technology intersect. A record 52 entries were received from students, staff, and faculty members in 25 departments and programs.

1st Place: Glass Yellowjacket

Jeremy Hassett, Institute of Optics
Ayumi Yuasa, Audio Engineering

A 3D rendering of an Eastern Yellowjacket appearing to be made of a clear glass material with the purpose of displaying selected internal organs and structure.

2nd Place: Rosalia

Caleb Whittier, Chemistry '18

Visually interesting defect in electron beam lithography of spirals in resist. Sample was chemically developed and plasma etched into silicon.

3rd Place: Frosty Windowpane

Carlos Stroud, The Institute of Optics, Professor

Dendritic frost structures on my window on one of the particularly cold days this winter. It illustrates the branching phenomena that occurs in nerve structures in the brain, in trees as well as in crystalline growth. There is a mathematical theory of such structures which is embodied in the simple Julie Set algorithm.

(Screen grab of image forming in Rocky Turbulence)

1st Place Video: Rocky Turbulence
(click here to see the video)

Jeff Tithof, Mechanical Engineering

In the Mixing Lab at University of Rochester, our group studies two-dimensional turbulence with the goal of developing novel strategies to forecast fluid mixing. We approach this problem using both experiments and realistic numerical simulations. In the simulation shown here, I have tracked the locations of over 160,000 particles as they undergo chaotic mixing at a Reynolds number of about 200. With the full trajectory of each particle in hand, I chose the particle colors such that the final particle positions would assemble the image shown at the end. See Tithof et al., J. Fluid Mech. 828, 837-866 (2017) for details of the simulation methods.

SUSTAINABILITY

These four entries received certificates for addressing the theme of sustainability.

addiction.

Sabin Kim, Chemical Engineering '20

This print contains a lot of the chemicals that resulted in addictions in my family and friends. They continue to be a part of my and my loved ones' lives.

Feeding the mold

Yineng Zhao, Material Science, graduate student

About 40 percent of food in America is wasted, much to the ravages of molding. This is a mold growing on an orange peel as seen in the SEM (scanning electron microscope).

Hope

Haley Cohen, Microbiology '21

As part of a course I sprouted alfalfa, broccoli, and radish seeds in a jar. This helped me understand the science involved and to appreciate how we can all be involved fostering a sustainable future.

Worlds Colliding

Isabelle Hoffman, Mechanical Engineering '20