Drexel University and real estate developer Hospitality 3 LLC held the official groundbreaking for its newest addition to campus, the new hotel “The Study at University City” May 8. The building is currently under construction and is replacing the James E. Marks Intercultural Center on 33rd and Chestnut streets.

President John A. Fry and representatives from the University were in attendance along with Councilwoman Jannie L. Blackwell, and Principal of Hospitality 3 Paul McGowan. The development company’s subsidiary, Study Hotels, will take over management after the hotel’s completion.

This new hotel is modeled after The Study at Yale, which was built by Study Hotels in New Haven, Connecticut, on Yale University’s campus and designed by McGowan, founder of Hospitality 3. McGowan has voiced that he hopes the design of the hotel will create a sophisticated but welcoming environment. The Study Hotels brand seeks to provide a space for researchers and academics and others to accommodate those who wish to be a part of the fast-paced, work driven lifestyle of University City with full-service lodging.

Photo courtesy: DrexelNow

In addition to 212 rooms, the 1.5 million square foot structure will have 7,000 square feet of banquet and meeting space, as well as restaurant, a bar and a fitness center. The layout is designed to stimulate social interactions with all guests, the majority being prospective students. Fry believes the hotel to be exactly what Drexel’s campus needs.

Paul McGowan, creator and developer of Hospitality 3 spoke to the Triangle about the hotel’s amenities, saying “Study guestrooms feature our signature leather reading chair and reading lamp in addition to abundant work surfaces for those wishing to be productive or just kick-back and relax. Our acclaimed seersucker robes, luxurious amenities and collegiate-chic uniforms are inspired and enhanced by the personality of the university environment. Free wireless internet and exceptional task lighting will offer working guests the ability to optimize their stay. Our daily events initiative dives deeply into the community to capture all that is being offered to enrich our guests’ stay.”

McGowan voiced that Study Hotels typically partner with local non-profits, community organizations, theatres and cultural centers and help them celebrate events. Those who stay with Study Hotel are also offered complimentary tickets for local and on-campus events, in order to help the guests be connect to the community and engage with the University.

“What has been missing is an outstanding hotel for students and families, faculty, researchers, entrepreneurs and all visitors drawn to this unique place,” Fry said.

McGowan spoke on what differentiates The Study from other hotels around campus.

“We are hard at work developing the concepts and features of the hotel to create a strong sense of place within the vibrant setting that is University City. The Study concept incorporates themes of design, community, locally sourced food, sustainability and wellness together in a fresh, active and social environment,” McGowan commented.

“The Study at University City will be more than just a hotel. It will serve as a cultural platform where the richness of its surroundings will be integrated into the design and service philosophy in order to enhance the guest experience,” he continued.

Hospitality 3 is collaborating with DIGSAU, a Philadelphia-based architecture firm, in the hopes of designing the hotel so that it matches the atmosphere of University City: intellectual and modern. The building is slated to be completed by fall 2016.

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Under the supervision of Drexel University associate professor Toby Seay and independent New York City based music publisher Reservoir, a number of music industry students maintained and completed 16 unfinished tracks from the 1970s. Their completion is a part of the aptly-named class “Uncovering the Philly Groove,” which was offered as a course for the first time this spring 2015 quarter.

Photo courtesy: Groove Center Philly

The story began in the 1960s, when scores of Philadelphia-based artists and groups, including the Delfonics and First Choice, recorded their music under the Philly Groove label. In 1974, however, the label was canceled, resulting in 275 unfinished songs being locked away and forgotten for decades.

That is until 2012,when Philly Groove was acquired by Reservoir Media Management and the company began a search for these missing songs. It was soon discovered that around 40 Philly Groove tracks resided in Drexel’s music archives, after the University received a collection of music from the world-renowned recording studio, Sigma Sound, after it closed its doors in 2003.

Seay said the idea for students to finish and publish these tracks came about during a discussion between Reservoir Media Management and Drexel’s music industry program.

“We were looking for a way to collaborate on a project since we had some common interests,” Seay said. “Those interests are rooted in MIP’s Audio Archives, which hold recordings from the famed Sigma Sound Studios,” he continued.

Beyond the technical aspect of the student projects, there is also a more creative slant to the course. Those enrolled in the class are expected to compile raw vocal and instrumental takes and, using modern mixing technology, apply the finishing touches to songs recorded 40 years ago. According to junior Matthew Kleinman, the challenge is a rewarding one.

“It’s amazing to work with tracks that were recorded by professionals so long ago,” Kleinman confirmed.

Reservoir is also excited for the potential of these student-completed tracks. Faith Newman, the senior vice president of creative and business development of the New York

“[I’m] hoping to see students take on multiple interpretations of each track,” Newman said. “Sonically, it would be amazing to contrast sounds that might have been used on these recordings in the ‘60s or ‘70s with what a contemporary producer would do with them today. I’d like to see the class embrace the creative challenge of realizing both what was intended when these songs were recorded and what we, years later, can imagine,” she continued.

As far as the fate of the finished projects, Reservoir still controls the rights to the original songs. “Since the content is owned by Reservoir Media, these recordings are entirely in their hands. The goal of the project was to simply provide Reservoir Media with listenable mixes of these multi-track recordings. That was accomplished during this project,” Seay said. “Our other goal was to start a conversation about these legacy recordings, through public events and the press, to shine a light on both the Philly Groove materials and the MIP program.”

Regardless, the professor emphasized the value of the experience, and both for Drexel’s MIP and the music industry as a whole. “For students, this is a chance to jump time in recorded music history, using the skills they’re learning today to resuscitate a project that was started by professionals years ago. For the music industry faculty, ‘Uncovering The Philly Groove’ is a chance to demonstrate, in a very tangible way, the kinds of creative opportunities the music business continues to offer,” Seay concluded.

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The U.S. House of Representatives voted May 13 to cut rather than expand Amtrak’s budget not even 24 hours after a massive Amtrak derailment accident that killed eight passengers and injured over a hundred others .

The Republican majority-led House Appropriations committee voted against several amendments to the Transportation, Housing and Urban Development Appropriations Bill that would have increased Amtrak’s funding by a vote that was neatly divided down party lines of 30 to 21. The bill cuts Amtrak’s current grants by $252 million, leaving the service’s rail spending at $1.14 billion. The 15 percent budget cut applies to Amtrak’s capital spending not it’s funding for safety and operations.

Wikimedia: Ebgundy

Democrats on the panel lobbied to raise Amtrak’s funding by $1 billion, putting it at a $2.45 billion total, a movement that was backed by President Barack Obama. Republicans in retort argued that such an increase in spending would put the legislation above spending caps and could not be made without offsetting the increase with cuts in the budget elsewhere.

One panelist, Rep. Mike Simpson, R-Idaho, did not consider the recent Amtrak crash relevant to this funding decision. In discussion, he told Democratic panelists who brought up the recent crash in lobbying for an increased Amtrak budget, “Don’t use this tragedy in that way. It was beneath you.”

In contrast, Rep. David Price, D-N.C., who is a ranking member of the Appropriations Committee’s transportation subcommittee, released a statement stating, “Yesterday’s tragedy in Philadelphia should be a wake-up call to this committee — we must provide sufficient funding for Amtrak’s critical infrastructure projects to ensure a safer transportation system.”

“The majority’s shortsighted, draconian budget cuts stand in the way of the investments that a great country must make,” Price continued in his statement.

Safety for Amtrak passengers is a growing concern among citizens after the Train 188 derailment that happened despite the installment of positive train control on the tracks.

The system brings together GPS, wireless radio and computers that stop trains from colliding, derailing or speeding by slowing a train to a stop if it is not being operated according to the system’s rules. However, on the stretch of the tracks where Train 188 derailed, the system was not in place. Amtrak has, to date, only installed this system on select parts of its Northeast Corridor rail network.  Positive train control was mandated by Congress to be installed on all railroads in the U.S. by 2015, but no funds were ever allocated for its installation.

According to safety investigators, the technology might have prevented the derailment, as Train 188 was found to have been traveling at 106 mph entering a 50 mph limit curve.

“We feel that had such a system been installed in this section of track, this accident would not have occurred,” Robert Sumwalt, a member of the National Transportation Safety Board, said in a news conference May 13.

Republican House Speaker John A. Boehner of Ohio spoke on the controversial vote at a press conference May 14, defending the budget cut, “Obviously it’s not about funding,” Boehner said. “The train was going twice the speed limit. Adequate funds were there, no money’s been cut from rail safety.”

Drexel University students voiced that their travels and experiences in other countries have made them aware that American public transportation is lacking compared to other developed countries in terms of infrastructure, cleanliness and speed.

John Wojciechowski, an international area studies major has traveled on Amtrak to Providence, Rhode Island, Boston and Washington D.C. He has also traveled on trains in France, Spain and Italy. He stated that trains in Europe are better maintained by the government and more valued by the people.

“Commuter trains are cleaner and faster and high speed trains are available for longer distances and are extremely convenient,” Wojciechowski commented.

For comparison, a 222-mile train ride from Madrid to Valencia, Spain, on Renfe has a market time of 1 hour and 40 minutes. The 224-mile train ride from Washington D.C. to New York on which Train 188 derailed is marketed on Amtrak’s website as a 3 hour and 20 minute ride .

Vaughn Shirey, an environmental science major, has used Amtrak to get to New York City. He voiced that he thinks other countries place more priority on trains and public transportation than the United States and compares his public transportation experience in this country to that he had with trains in Japan where he stayed for two months on a cultural exchange program.

“I used [trains] all the time in Japan. They’re a lot cleaner and felt a lot safer — even the tracks are shiny,” Shirey said. “There’s also a lot more availability as to where you can go on a train.

“The [high priority of public transportation spending] is 100 percent evident in their infrastructure, and the trust that a majority of the Japanese put into the system. I also agree that additional funding could prevent such accidents,” Shirey continued referring to the derailment of Train 188. “Whether that funding be allocated to research and development or safety training.”

Two years ago, the World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Report for 2012-2013 ranked the United States 25 among other world nations in infrastructure quality, ranking below countries

Before this vote goes into effect in October it will need to pass through both the U.S. House and the Senate in fall 2015.

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The seven cars and locomotive comprising Amtrak Northeast Regional Train 188 derailed at a turn on the tracks and rolled onto its side at approximately 9 p.m., May 12. Five immediate deaths were accounted for with two more confirmed after two patients died Wednesday morning from injuries sustained from the accident, additionally an eighth body was found May 14 in the wreckage.  New information recovered from both security camera footage as well as the recovered black box from the wreck revealed that the train was traveling at more than twice the 50 mile per hour speed limit running at 106 miles per hour as it approached the curve. According to the National Transportation Safety Board’s investigation the train’s engineer slammed on the emergency brakes right before it careened off of the tracks.

Victims from the crash were taken to Philadelphia area hospitals including Temple University Hospital, Aria Health-Frankford, Hahnemann University Hospital and the Albert Einstein Medical Center.  Over 140 passengers suffered bodily harm and are being treated, ranging from minor to severe injuries.  In a briefing chief medical officer of Temple University hospital Dr. Herbert Cushing stated that eight patients from the wreck currently remain in critical condition and 25 have been released.

Train 188 was headed from Washington D.C. to New York carrying 238 passengers and five crew members when it derailed, rolling off of the tracks around the 2000 block of Wheatsheaf Lane at Frankford Junction.  There was no Positive Train Control system installed at Frankford Junction which would have automatically limited the train’s speed approaching the curve.

Officials have commented that they do not believe the incident was an act of terror but rather an accident. However, the National Transportation Safety Board deployed a team to look into the derailment and arrived on the scene early Wednesday morning.

Mayor Nutter spoke on the accident in a news conference saying, “I have never seen anything like [this accident] in my life. Many of these folks are not from Philadelphia.” He made no comment on the cause of the accident.

“We do not know what happened here,” Nutter said. “We’re not going to try to speculate about that.”

Nutter also referred to the incident as a “Level 3 mass casualty event,” speaking to the overwhelming amount of medical help the passengers from this accident required.

Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf appeared with Mayor Nutter in a subsequent press conference around 1 a.m. saying that his thoughts and prayers were with the victims of the crash and all of those who the crash affected.

Service has been suspended between New York and Philadelphia in Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor until further notice.  SEPTA service on the Trenton Regional Rail has also been suspended due to the accident and according to officials is likely to be suspended May 13 through the remainder of the work week.

Service on the Chestnut Hill West Regional Line was restored just after 5 a.m. on May 13 but passengers should expect delays.

Passengers looking for alternate routes are encouraged to use the West Trenton line as additional cars have been added to trains in order to accommodate those looking for alternate transportation.  The Market Frankford Line has also been recommended as a substitution.

This is the second occurrence of a deadly derailment in this area of track, the first of which occurred 71 years ago on September 6, 1943 where the Pennsylvania Railroad’s Congressional Limited toppled off of the tracks with 541 passengers, killing 79 and injuring 117.

The Triangle will continue to update the story as the issue develops and more information is released.

This article was updated at 1:32 p.m 5/14/15.

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Drexel University President John A. Fry held the last of his four town hall style meetings at the New College Building in Center City May 4. The event marked the last of his scheduled meetings where students and faculty would be able to gather to listen and ask questions for the future of Drexel’s programs and the school itself.

The meeting focused on a few main topics such as recruitment of students, a healthcare center in Center City and planning for an improved graduate college program. Fry stated that many of these topics were ongoing and progress was being made in each avenue. The meeting, being held in the Center City campus, focused mainly on addressing the College of Medicine and uniting it with University City campus’ goals.

Recruitment was a large part of the series of meetings, where Fry spoke about revising both the requirements and qualifications when recruiting students and improving the retention rate overall.

“[We have] a goal of recruiting a highly-qualified class that will be properly packaged with financial aid to support [them] to maximize the likelihood of their success,” Fry said. “Huge changes are being made and fingers are crossed. This is a big transition year for us, but it is absolutely necessary for us to do this to put us on a more competitive path.”

Photo Credit: David Klein

Future goals for the College of Medicine include building a better health center, which will create a better relationship with the Tenet Healthcare Corporation. The relationship would benefit both the Queen Lane and Center City campuses. Additionally, the dean of the College of Engineering, Daniel Schidlow, discussed the possibilities of interdisciplinary relationships between schools of study, citing both the College of Engineering and the School of Public Health as a promising venue.

Fry held three meetings before May 4 that also covered these target goals for the University as well as additional topics. These meetings took place on multiple university campuses — Queen Lane, Center City and University City. The audiences varied greatly each time, mixing faculty and students from the College of Medicine and the other schools located on the main campus depending on the location. The the second and the third meetings concentrated on the future development of Drexel, covering the master plan, which is planned to go through 2015 to 2019.

Drexel’s new university strategic plan covers the development of the school in the years to come. The plan is comprehensive, covering topics such as student lifecycle, global impact of the school, research projects and the master plan of the school’s development. One of the newest renovations planned is for the Korman Center and the quadrangle, which was recently given $8 million towards the redesign of the area.

“I think its an ambitious goal to redo the quad again, especially since it follows the completion of the construction of the new LeBow building and the courtyard by Main,” Malay Desai, a senior accounting and international business major, said. “The town hall meetings are good updates to keep everyone in the loop because we’ll see construction happen out of the blue one day and only wonder what’s going up,” he said.

Fry’s meetings garnered approximately 500 attendees over the span of his month long schedule. Fry stated that much of the feedback was positive and encouraging.

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The new redesign and renovations aim to transform not only the Korman Center but the entire surrounding area, soon to be called the Korman Quadrangle-Photo Courtesy: Drexel University

In a letter to the Drexel University community, President John A. Fry announced May 5 that the Hyman Korman Foundation has given $8 million to Drexel University towards the expansion and repurposing of the Korman Center. Matching the foundation’s gift with $8 million of the University’s own money, Drexel plans to redesign the Korman Center and “create a classic campus green” in what will be named the Korman Quadrangle.

President Fry wrote that Korman’s transformation will change the entire campus, “When the new Korman Quadrangle connects Perelman Plaza with Gerri C. LeBow Hall, the Papadakis Integrated Sciences Building and a new two-story, 8,000-square-foot solarium fronting the Korman Center, the heart of Drexel’s campus will have been completely remade into a modern, inviting space where our community can gather.

“New walkways, landscaping and seating will be enhanced by a substantial increase in greenery, complementing Perelman Plaza’s emphasis on surfaces that accommodate heavy foot traffic and large gatherings. The renovation of the Korman Center will also include new classroom and student lounge space,” Fry wrote.

This gift will all but completely reconstruct the Korman Center. The front of building will be drawn out towards the new Korman Quadrangle with an 8,000 square-foot solarium, a section of the building that has been designed with glass walls to allow sunlight. The solarium will house a new building entrance along with a modern, technologically savvy student lounge repurposed from the original Korman Center lobby.

An artists’ rendering of the future green Quad that will center around the Korman Center-Photo Courtesy: Drexel University

The second floor of the building will contain a new classroom in addition to a second student lounge overlooking the Quad. A planted screen wall will face out from the northwest side of the building, providing those in the Korman Center with a view of 33rd and Market streets where the statue of University mascot, “Mario the Dragon,” sits. This screen wall is also expected to mimic the infamous biowall in the Papadakis Integrated Sciences Building.

The installment and landscape of the Korman Quadrangle is designed to go hand-in-hand with Drexel’s concrete Perelman Plaza, finished in late 2014.

Renovating the Korman Quadrangle is expected to strengthen the connection of Chestnut and Market streets and Perelman Plaza. By adding new walkways and creating more seating and green space, the plans for the Korman Center’s renovation are intended to make the area more alluring and attractive to students and faculty, as well as visitors.

Korman was originally built in 1977, memorializing alumni Max Wm. Korman ‘29 and his brother Samuel J. Korman ‘34 who served as a trustee of Drexel. The Hyman Korman Foundation’s trustees are Berton, Leonard and Steven Korman who have provided the funds for these renovations set to start in June of 2016 and end in the fall of 2017.

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Drexel University hosted the Greater Philadelphia Area SeaPerch Challenge at the Daskalakis Athletic Center. Around 55 high school and middle school teams participated in the competition this year — making this one of the largest turnouts in the event’s 10-year history.

The competition itself revolves around the construction of an underwater robot, called the “SeaPerch,” and the navigation of two separate predetermined obstacle courses, which are located in the pools at the DAC. Points are awarded based on the speed of the remote-controlled robots’ performances maneuvering through the courses, including disarming a “mine” in the first course and locating two single emitting objects in the second.

Besides the main obstacle courses, there is also a “battle bots” contest for middle school teams, where students attempt to force each others robots out of an underwater ring. Additionally, high school students have the option to design and build a second robot without any budgetary or technical restrictions. There are judges present to oversee each team’s presentation of a poster, advertising a fictional robotics company and to score students’ team spirit and sportsmanship.

Facebook: Greater Philadelphia SeaPerch

The first Philadelphia SeaPerch Challenge was in 2006, following the American Society of Naval Engineers Delaware Valley Chapter and the Philadelphia Naval Surface Warfare Center’s efforts to bring the program, which originally started at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, to Drexel. The University began by organizing robotics training for teachers, in conjunction with the School District of Philadelphia’s Office of College and Career Awareness Secondary Robotics Initiative, and achieved their goal of hosting the pre-college robotics competition in June of 2006. Since then, the SeaPerch Challenge has continued to grow in popularity and attendance.

Drexel University’s science, technology, engineering and math program coordinator, Alistar Erickson-Ludwig, who is responsible for Drexel’s involvement in the event, said that seeing the enthusiasm and energy the students have proves a highlight of the event for judges and spectators.

“I basically oversee the planning and running of the competition. The Greater Philadelphia SeaPerch Challenge is a shared partnership between Drexel University and the Navy. In short, from the Drexel side … we plan the competition, recruit schools, recruit volunteers, train Drexel student mentors, etc. This process begins around October and runs until April.”

She continued, “The Drexel team oversees registration and recruitment of schools in October and November. We host a kickoff event in late November and early December and hold teacher training for new teams in December. In January and February we focus on recruiting volunteers and planning the logistics of the competition which takes place in April.”

According to Erickson-Ludwig, “The competition is about experiencing engineering though the building of an underwater robot. It is a dynamic and hands-on activity that helps young people explore the field of engineering and naval science. In addition, the competition requires students to submit a notebook about the design of their robot and to design a poster and give a poster presentation at the competition as well. These additional aspects support teamwork, creativity and soft skill development like writing and presenting.”

Much time and effort is dedicated to the SeaPerch Challenge annually in hopes of providing young students with practical and technical knowledge before college, as well as fostering teamwork and communication skills.

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Brian Blake
Photo Courtesy: miami.edu

It’s been almost a year since Drexel University’s former provost and vice president of academic affairs, Mark Greenberg, stepped down, leaving James Herbert filling his role in interim — but on April 17, President John A. Fry released a letter to the University community announcing that Brian Blake will officially fill the role, beginning Aug. 1.

For the University, the provost serves as the chief academic and budgetary officer. As such, Blake will collaborate with Fry in setting overall academic priorities for Drexel, and head the design and implementation of its academic programs.

While it is the first time Blake is coming to work at Drexel, it’s not the first time he’s thought about coming to campus. In 1996, Blake said he considered Drexel’s iSchool as one of his top two choices to earn his doctorate degree. Around 10 years later he was offered work as an associate dean and professor at Drexel’s same iSchool. Accepting the position as provost now, Blake described his relationship aptly with Drexel University as “soulmate-ish.”

“We largely felt that [Drexel] might have been ‘the one that we let get away,’” Blake wrote in an email to The Triangle.

“Well, earlier this year, when we were contacted by the search firm, the interest [in the University] was there and had only grown — we knew the timing was right. After having a conversation with the search chair, Dr. John Rich, and later with President Fry, our excitement grew even more. Then, I was quite humbled to be offered the position,” Blake continued.

John Rich commented on what made Blake different from the other candidates saying, “I think what stood out most to the committee about Dr. Blake is the range of leadership experience that he has had over his career at a number of excellent universities, as well as in the private sector.

“He is also deeply passionate about undergraduate and graduate education, supporting the faculty, building interdisciplinary research, as well as engagement with community,” Rich continued.

Until August, Blake will continue working at the University of Miami, where he is currently serving as vice provost of academic affairs and dean of the graduate school. Blake’s work at Miami has led to the institution of interdisciplinary graduate programs that span across the university’s three campuses, as well as the development of graduate initiatives in China, Italy, Jamaica and Spain.

In his letter to the community, Fry wrote about the challenges Blake will soon take on at Drexel.

“As provost, Dr. Blake will be Drexel’s highest ranking academic officer. No single role has more impact on Drexel’s core mission to prepare students for lives and careers of meaning, to foster research that addresses the challenges of our age and to build an academic enterprise that engages with and reflects the society we serve,” Fry said.

Fry also stated that Blake will lead Drexel University’s pursuit of academic goals such as heightening student retention and faculty growth, expanding global reach and, in the long-term, building a state-of-the-art research infrastructure.

Blake expressed that he was encouraged to come to Drexel by all the possibilities he feels the University offers.

“Drexel has already mastered the ‘next big thing’ in academia — experiential learning. Moreover, the Washington, DC-Philadelphia-New York City corridor offers a world of possibilities. I believe the possibilities at Drexel are limitless,” Blake wrote.

He also expressed that he thought that Miami and Drexel’s institutions shared a certain confidence in their determination to grow and develop.

“During my time at Miami under president Donna E. Shalala and provost Thomas J. LeBlanc, the university has continually made bold advances. The university has carried itself with a confidence, a ‘swagger’ as is coined at UM, to say, ‘We will be the next elite institution … whether you think so or not.’ In my opinion, Drexel has that same boldness. Given my background, I feel comfortable that I am going to thoroughly enjoy partnering with students, faculty and staff to really craft the story of America’s next great institution.”

As for Blake’s initial priorities coming to Drexel, he said that taking time to adjust and acclimate to Drexel as well as continue to build support for the University’s prominent existing programs.

“I plan to invest time initially getting to know the University and understanding the culture. However, I think it is important for any provost to highlight the signature programs and achievements of the University while also nurturing the infrastructure to support innovative, up-and-coming programs and initiatives. I think the provost has to promote the recruitment of both the best students and the most enlightened faculty. I personally would like to work with the president to articulate Drexel’s standing as a research-intensive, experience-oriented university and its prominent position in the city of Philadelphia and abroad,” Blake wrote.

“Blake brings an inspiring vision for an agile, experiential, global form of education, honed in a variety of leadership roles at three of the nation’s best private research universities,” Fry wrote in his letter to the University community on Blake’s experience. “He is also an outstanding researcher, teacher and engineer and a graduate of a cooperative undergraduate program at [Georgia Institute of Technology],” Fry continued.

As for his personal education, Blake received his bachelor’s degree from Georgia Tech, his master’s degree from Mercer University and his doctorate from George Mason University. Before going to the University of Miami, Blake served as the associate dean for research and graduate studies at the University of Notre Dame, working with programs in the college of engineering.

During his time there, enrollment in these programs increased over 30 percent and research awards given to this college doubled. Prior to Notre Dame, he held a position for Georgetown University as the department chair and graduate studies director for computer science. Also on his resume, before his academic career, is his work for Lockheed Martin, General Dynamics and The MITRE Corporation as a software engineer and architect.

Until Blake’s arrival, James Herbert will continue to serve as interim provost. In his letter Fry indicated his gratitude to Herbert for temporarily filling the role and said that the University was in his debt for the great work he’d done during the year’s span.

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Photo Credit: Ajon Brodie

The Daskalakis Athletic Center has long been a place where students can work out on exercise bikes in the gym, but starting April 23, an Indego bike share station will officially open outside the facility on the corner of 33rd and Market streets, allowing students to get their biking fix outside this spring.

In March, Philadelphia Mayor Michael A. Nutter said in a statement, “Great cities provide residents, commuters and visitors with great transportation and recreation options. Indego adds another option to get around, stay healthy and experience our wonderful city.”

The station located in front of the DAC is only one of 60 located throughout Philadelphia’s city limits. Several others are located around Drexel’s campus: one in Drexel Park at 32nd and Baring streets, one at 30th Street Station and one at 36th and Sansom streets. Bike share stations are also found around Temple University’s and University of Pennsylvania’s campuses, making this form of transportation an easy way to travel from one university to another.

Over 600 of these bulky new blue and white three-speed bicycles will be available for use throughout the city 24 hours a day, year round. Finding a station to drop the bike off at is designed to be easy with the help of Indego’s website. Bikes can be rented and returned to any of the 60 stations.

Indego will be Philadelphia’s first public bike share system, taking its name from Independence Blue Cross, the program’s biggest sponsor with an $8.5 million contribution.

“Independence Blue Cross’s sponsorship of Indego is a natural extension of our commitment to the health and well-being of the people and communities we serve,” Independence Blue Cross President and CEO Daniel J. Hilferty said. “We’re thrilled to be part of this exciting effort that helps residents and visitors alike experience our world class city through a world class transportation system.”

Until the year 2020, Independence Blue Cross plans to contribute an additional $1.7 million a year for maintenance and operation of the system. The city of Philadelphia spent $3 million purchasing the bikes and stations, and federal, state and third-party funding has contributed about $4.5 million.

Other cities such as Washington D.C., Boston and Chicago have adopted bike share programs in recent years. These bike share programs have served as a way for residents to help reduce emissions, increase their health and avoid traffic . And while Philly is not the first city to launch a bike share program, it is the first city to offer a cash payment option, making the bikes available to any resident of Philadelphia regardless of income. The city is partnering with Drexel University’s School of Public Health over the next three years in an effort to study the impacts of Indego on riders’ health.

Drexel students have expressed that they are generally excited for the bike share. Myles Adams is an Information Technology major who regularly rides his bike to work. Adams sees the shuttle as another great mode of transportation to get into the city “It seems like a great alternative on the weekends when the shuttles not running to be able to get West or East. You could just grab a bike and get there that way,” Adams said.

Another regular biker and Drexel student, Nina Lish commented that the bike share will allow people to get a wide variety of places in Philadelphia, “People can use them to get into the city for places that aren’t on the Market Frankford Line.”

Her only concern being that helmets are not included in the bike share deal. “The bike is provided but there’s never a helmet and I hate when I see people riding without a helmet in the city because it’s still incredibly dangerous. I’ve been hit once so it just seems dumb to me. Cars have seatbelt when you rent a car. But when you rent a bike there’s no rental helmet,” Lish said.

To celebrate the kickoff of the program, Indego and the mayor’s office have organized a celebration Thursday, April 23 in Eakins Oval. Participants can be some of the first residents to use the bike share program. The party will begin at noon and the ceremonial ride-off will take place at 12:30 p.m.

Those who wish to participate in the program can use rideindego.com to sign up for a 30-day membership giving them free unlimited one-hour rides for a fee of $15 or an annual Indego membership costing $10 and $4 per hour. A few days after signing up, they’ll receive a key fob in the mail giving them access to the system. Non-members by comparison can pay $4 per half hour with the bike. Sign up to become a member of the bike share program on the Indego website.

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Photo courtesy: Drexel Office of Communications

In the third century B.C., Archimedes was stepping into a bath when he suddenly conceptualized a way to distinguish between metals by the volume of water displacement they produced when placed in a full container. He supposedly ran naked out from the baths and into the streets of Syracuse exclaiming “Eureka!”

On April 14, John Kounios, a professor of psychology and director of the doctoral program in Applied and Cognitive Brain Sciences at Drexel University, and his co-author, Mark Beeman of Northwestern University, will be releasing their book that focuses on this type of sudden insight. It is named “The Eureka Factor: Aha Moments, Creative Insight, and the Brain,” shedding insight on how and why sudden creative moments like Archimedes’ hapen and how readers can hope to instigate more moments of insight for themselves.

“In that moment you take these bits and pieces — these elements of thought — and you recombine them in a way that is not obvious to come up with something that is potentially useful,” Kounios explained.

The pair has been collaborating on this field of research since they met working at the University of Pennsylvania in the late ‘90s. They decided to focus on the science of creativity because it was open game for them as an interesting topic on which little research had been done.

“I realized that creativity was a topic that there was widespread interest in but little to no research in the way of neuroimaging. Nothing was known about brain mechanisms underlying creativity and problem-solving,” Kounios said.

Kounios and Beeman’s research on the origin of “aha moments” in 2004 received much notoriety, finding that instants of sudden insight often show more activity in the brain’s right hemisphere compared to more analytical problem-solving processes.

This book illustrates the forefront of neurological research about creativity and insight. The work focuses around the idea that humans often come up with solutions or have sudden insights without their own conscious awareness and how one can become more aware of the factors that lead up to these insights.

“There are certain ways you could intervene to make an insight more likely. There are things you can change about the environment, about what you do, what you think that make it more likely that the end result will be an insight,” Kounios said.

The book explains factors associated with creativity. Kounios and Beeman’s research led them to believe that getting enough sleep, having a positive mood, being motivated and creating a good working environment can help to inspire more “aha” moments.

“When people are in a good mood they’re more likely to solve a problem with a flash of insight, compared to when they’re in a bad mood — specifically when they’re anxious. When you’re anxious you’re more likely to be analytical and methodical and deliberate in your thinking,” Kounios explained.

“When you’re in a positive mood that expands the range of ideas that you’re willing to consider. When you’re anxious you get ‘mental tunnel vision.’ You only focus on the dominant aspects of the situation,” he continued.

Focusing on these dominant aspects can limit one in terms of thinking innovatively and having flashes of insight. When one is in a positive mood they are more likely to harness inventive and original ideas.

“It’s like taking the blinders off. You’re willing to consider long-shot ideas that are often what you get when you have this sudden insight,” Kounios said.

The book contains more information on the process of creativity and historical anecdotes on the science behind moments of creative insight. To guarantee a copy, pre-order the book here.

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