Our Take: 4 Stars

Time and time again, Marvel Studios has used its blockbuster formula to serve up home runs. Taking a page out of the “Fast and Furious” franchise, Marvel’s latest, “Black Widow,” presents a solid action flick with a fun family dynamic thrown in.

“Black Widow” attempts to echo similar themes to “Captain America: Civil War,” the film that precedes it in the MCU timeline. With additional inspiration drawn from spy movies — going so far as to clip 007 — the movie has a much more direct motive than others in the MCU.

As the transition to Phase 4 of the MCU kicks off, “Black Widow” provides a nice send-off to Natasha Romanoff (Scarlett Johansson, ‘Marriage Story) while successfully introducing her successor, her sister Yelena (Florence Pugh, ‘Little Women’). Pugh, who has been met with a warm reception, has ensured Yelena will not be a drop in Marvel’s deep pocket of characters. Pugh is coming back for Disney Plus’s “Hawkeye,” and fans are glad to see her stick around.

“Black Widow” begins with a flashback to the typical midwestern suburbs, where young Natasha seems to be leading a normal life with her parents and sister. The opening sequences are interspersed with flashes of the mysterious “Red Room” and the Widows who are trained there. The film then skips forward in time to find Natasha on the run after breaking the Sokovia Accords in “Civil War.”

After Natasha receives a package from her sister, she begins to understand what happened to the Widow program after she left, and the two of them reunite to learn the truth and shut down the program. As the film progresses, viewers finally gain some insight into the past that Natasha has been so hesitant to face since her character’s first appearance in “Iron Man 2”.

Seeing Natasha finally face her past only makes the sacrifice she made in “Avengers: Endgame” feel more powerful. The characteristic conflict between her lone wolf personality and her longing to be accepted into a family is fleshed out through her interactions with her makeshift family. The film’s insight into her softer side only makes her departure from the Avengers hurt more.

Much of the makeshift family dynamic in “Black Widow” is effective due to the wonderful cast of supporting actors. David Harbour’s (“Hellboy”) Red Guardian and Rachel Weisz’s (“The Lobster”) Melina create a lighthearted, aloof atmosphere around their ‘daughters’ and gave depth and humor to what could have been a no-nonsense action movie.

The film is a visual stunner, with an abundance of high-octane sequences and deep reds and whites to emphasize specific actions and environments. The score, produced by Lorne Balfe, isn’t in your face and obnoxious, unlike many MCU soundtracks.

In terms of action shots and choreography, Black Widow doesn’t miss, drawing from spy movie classics and an abundance of powerful superhero stunts. With enough chaos to keep a person engaged but not enough to make any frame cluttered, the choreography keeps viewers on the end of their seats.

While far from the MCU’s best or most memorable movie, “Black Widow,” provides an excellent story with a decent execution.

But more importantly, it has reminded Marvel fans that the MCU isn’t going anywhere and that Phase 4 is only just beginning.

Following the dark, grimy sound of Trench, Twenty One Pilots have returned after a year’s hiatus with Scaled and Icy, an album full of summertime anthems begging to be played with the windows down.

Scaled and Icy is a peppy, pop-like album that doesn’t compromise on lyrics.

The album provides something for all Twenty One Pilots fans, from those who are simply into alt to their most devoted aficionados.

Taken at a surface level, the album is a breath of fresh air. Except for the last two tracks, it is peaceful but bright.

It calls on inspiration from pop music all the way back to the 80s, with tracks like “Good Day”, which leans on the calming piano, or “Saturday”, which could be mistaken for a Maroon 5 hit.

In comparison to the colorful sound, however, the lyrics are desaturated and heavy.

Tyler Joseph, the frontman of the band duo, presents questions about isolation and loneliness and the struggles associated with them.

In an interview with Zane Lowe, Joseph opened up about his writing process and inspiration for the album.

He explained that he derived inspiration from imagining if his family had passed, leaving him alone. Joseph goes through the stages of grief and imagines how he would tackle loneliness in his hysteria.

Joseph also wanted to present a sound that is distinctly different from that found in Trench.

After pushing boundaries with his previous album, he wanted Scaled and Icy to return to the basics of songwriting, following familiar structures.

The album’s marketing helped to build how Scaled and Icy fits within DEMA, a fictitious world built by Twenty One Pilots.

Starting with Blurryface in 2015, the band released many cryptic clues, puzzles, and songs with hints in their lyrics to introduce DEMA. Listeners were introduced to Clancy, the leader and messenger of the rebellion.

In Trench, the listeners learned even more about DEMA and a rebellious group called the Banditos that hoped to liberate the citizens of DEMA.

Joseph personifies his creative writing process through DEMA and the Banditos.

He expresses how he relies on his “internal demons” as inspiration for his music but still needs his friends, family and craft to help him escape the pain.

“Scaled and Icy” was introduced in Twenty One Pilots’ Christmas Saves the Year cover art which stated that “SAI Is Propaganda”.

Fans noticed that Scaled and Icy is an anagram for “Clancy is dead,” and that the DMAORG site was taken over by DEMA, implying that DEMA is no longer silent.

Scaled and Icy is ultimately presented as DEMA propaganda to drown out the sounds of the Banditos.

Like many musicians this year, Twenty One Pilots opted for a livestream event to celebrate the release of the album.

Over 3.6 million people tuned into their hour-long, Broadway-style production and received the quality entertainment expected of a Twenty One Pilots concert.

For those invested in the world of DEMA, the livestream event pushed its narrative further, alongside the music and dancing.

Twenty One Pilots may have disappointed fans looking for another Trench, but those interested in the new wave of alt, the world the band has built and a classy livestream have had a real treat.

As the end of the semester approaches, one of the largest construction projects on campus, the renovation of the old student center, has reached a major milestone. Since the structure of the new building is almost completed and construction greatly progressed, Jackets came to sign and top the final beam.

In classic Atlanta style, the topping out of the final beam was delayed from March 31 to April 2 due to inclement weather. The outdoor signing was located near Tech Green, where students, staff, faculty, friends and alumni alike had all participated in leaving their mark on the student center.

Participants at the beam signing signed their name and major, or included a message related to Tech as a sign of school spirit.

To follow COVID-19 protocols, participants used sanitized Sharpies, wore face masks and socially distanced.

Eventually, on the bright and sunny April 2, the structure of the renovated student center was completed as the signed beam was placed.

It is nice to see progress, as the area has been shut down due to construction since June 2020.

The idea for a student center renovation, has been many more years in the making, beginning in 2005 after a Strategic Assessment was conducted with architects.

The assessment clearly showed issues with the outdated student center, including a lack of space.

A 2016 referendum with over 5,000 student votes was intended to approve the necessary funding for the Campus Center project.

The Campus Center project, which was split into two phases, Phase I and Phase II, appears to be well on its way to completion.

With the project slated for completion in Fall 2022, the renovated student center is bound to introduce new functionality.

By moving out allocations such as the Paper & Clay space to the pavilions, new functionality will be present.

Student organization support space will give students services and space to increase engagement and meet their goals as student leaders.

With two theaters, larger Tech Rec and ample seating, the new three story student center hopes to serve the Tech community.

As a Tech makerspace looks to develop into a global leader, the only thing halting progress currently is the lack of funding.

The Materials Innovation and Learning Laboratory (MILL) is one of five major makerspaces present at Tech open for all students to utilize. The MILL currently occupies room 176 along with other portions of the first floor of the J. Erskine Love Jr. Manufacturing (Love) Building.

Consisting of three distinct groups, characterization, measurement and processing, the following space has a wide array of tools. They have microscopes that can magnify up to 100,000x and measure features in the nanometers. The MILL also prides itself on a variety of 3D printers that can print in a variety of materials from conductive polymers to carbon fiber.
At the 2021 State of the MILL event that took place at the beginning of March, the current board highlighted the past, present and future of the MILL.

The idea for the MILL began in fall of 2015, but it was not until 2016 that the makerspace was remodeled and began to acquire equipment and staff. Now in 2021, with a full executive board and increased operations from its starting days, the MILL is looking to the future.

Currently, the MILL serves as a hub for experiential education, especially in the field of Materials Science and Engineering. By providing hands-on training and access to generally expensive equipment — such as the SEM they recently purchased for $152,500 — they foster interdisciplinary collaboration.

“The ultimate goal of expanding though is to become the global leader in experiential, materials education. And I think there’s no better place than Georgia Tech to accomplish that goal,” said the current CEO of the MILL, Jamie Petrie, MSE ‘21.

The largest revelation presented at the 2021 State of the MILL was the future renovations slated for the lab, adequately named MILL 2.0. Constrained by the lack of space the MILL currently has, the fact that it is currently a collection of smaller lab spaces is becoming more apparent by the day.

Utilizing the space they have been slowly accumulating across the first floor of the Love building, their full renovation will provide an open-concept maker space comparable to the Invention Studio.

The reconstruction of the space will increase the area for fabrication, measurement and characterization of materials while introducing nano-fabrication and wet chemistry capabilities.

Currently, the only thing preventing progress on MILL 2.0 is the makerspace’s funding — or lack thereof.

Open from 11 a.m. – 5 p.m. on weekdays, the MILL welcomes all Jackets and is willing to provide assistance with projects at Love 176.

For more information on the space or COVID-19 procedures, visit mill.mse.gatech.edu.

Hip-hop is arguably one of the most significant forms of media present, but is it more than a type of media?

Can it explain design decisions, politically significant events and a shift in societal values?

According to Ivan Allen assistant professor, Dr. Joycelyn Wilson, hip-hop provides a framework to do all of the above analysis and more.

Explaining hip-hop is pedagogy in practice at its core. On Mar. 2, Wilson, an Emmy-nominated docufilm producer, presented as part of the Cultivating Curiosity series held by Tech’s Library.

“To ask about the field’s relationship to the Institute is to also consider his relationship to Ivan Allen college and therefore to the school of Language, Media and Communication,” Wilson said, referring to the question of why hip-hop studies exists in a technology school.

The reason why it exists is similar to the reason why the Ivan Allen college exists.

With the goal of inspiring connections between social sciences and STEM, the college is focused on broadening perspectives and inspiring innovation.

“As the field [hip-hop] continues to intersect with digital media, which currently impacts multiple disciplines and industries outside of areas in educational research, it is key to focus on hip-hop’s two pillars: teaching and learning,” Wilson said.

“Schooling is baked into the practice. Innovation is baked into the performance.”

The lecture drew an interesting connection was drawn between the fundamentals of hip-hop and how it has produced its very own design strategy that is universally applicable.

“Hip-hop’s obsession with innovation and ability to map itself literally onto anything and change it, I believe those are the two things that make hip-hop what it actually is,” Wilson said.

As a student, knowledge in design processes develops an art for acquiring, constructing and remixing information. Much like the turntable, utilization of a variety of design ideologies provides for a myriad of angles used to approach a solution.

Since hip-hop entered metro-Atlanta in the late 1980s, it has been a large part of the music scene. Much of hip-hop was targeted at speaking out at injustice and the rise of awareness of challenges Black communities face.

“It [hip-hop] is impacting industries, from political leadership to I mean, it just impacted an entire election along with Black women and Black culture,” Wilson said. “The currency of Black culture impacted the outcome of a Senate race and a presidential election. So I don’t think that hip hop is going anywhere.”

The connections between hip-hop and politics can still be seen today.

Though they are critical of capitalism, hip-hop still benefits from capitalism.

As such, endorsements like Lil Wayne’s of Donald Trump came to be.

Hip-hop and the adjoined process are arguably timeless.

“I mean, hip hop is gonna continue to cycle and recycle itself, amongst new generations that are exposed to it,” Wilson said.

Developing with each generation, shifting to and causing shifts in social values, hip-hop provides a podium for those who choose to use their voice and provides a lens for others to examine the truths of society.

Furthermore, it can unite a community.

Hip-hop and R&B are responsible for 25% of the music consumed.

It has helped draw attention to issues in large cities or unite citizens against racial injustice.

Wilson presented the community hip-hop has provided for her.

“Take the USG,” Wilson said. “As an example, I have colleagues at UGA, Kennesaw State, Georgia State and Tech, because all of them at least have one faculty member on campus.”

Noticing hip-hop studies during registration might be a surprise to many attending Tech, but that is a good thing.

Through interesting classes and lectures like this, ones that span discipline and topic, Ivan Allen chooses to redefine what it means to receive a social education.

With the assistance of Dr. Wilson, a class on design, structure, society and politics has been offered through the form of the ever-popular hip-hop: LMC 3306: Science, Race and Technology.

If these topics are interesting, make sure to sign up for the class next time registration rolls around.

With a commitment to “creating the next,” Tech has been one of the nation’s most research-intensive universities. U.S. News and World Report ranks the Institute as the fourth most innovative school and eleventh for undergraduate research as a testament to the work done on our campuses.

The research conducted by Tech researchers is not limited to Atlanta and there are over eight international locations that host regular institutional research endeavors. Professors in many departments play a crucial role
in this.

“Broadly, how do you make technology better? From enhancing the quality of life. At the end of the day, why did you come to Georgia Tech? Because you want a better life. Right? That’s what we are,” said MSE Professor and Kolon Center for Lifestyle Innovation Founding Director Dr. Sundaresan Jayaraman.

Jayaraman has been active in the intersection of textiles and computing since the 1980s. His path within the field is winding and his experiences are endless.

Jayaraman holds his coworkers and colleagues in the highest regard.

“I’ve been very blessed to have a wonderful set of graduate students and undergraduates who work with me,” Jayaraman said.

“I mean, when you think about research, research is not one person. Right. It takes a team to really make it happen.”

Jayaraman continued by praising Sungmee Park, Principal Research Scientist, MS TE ‘95 and PhD MSE ‘19, who is a long time colleague and research collaborator.

“We were the first ones to integrate electronics into textiles, we made your clothing wearable, you know, today you talk about it, you know, I watch and all those things,” Jayaraman said. “The whole field of wearables was born in our laboratory.”

Working towards minimizing casualties on the battlefield, the group was funded by the government and has designed and produced a “wearable motherboard.” Through integrated sensors in the virtually untouched real estate of clothing, they maximized data collection to identify the severity of injuries to ensure everyone gets adequate help.

The Smithsonian Institute even requested for the shirt they produced to be featured in the National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C..

“It was for the first time electronics and textiles is integrated giving rise to the field of wearables,” Jayaraman said.

Virtually, the Fitbit’s and Apple Watches’ of today can be traced back to the work done on the Smart Shirt.

This project was further developed and diverged into the field of smart and electronic textiles.

They have developed shirts for babies to monitor for Sudden Infant Death Syndrome at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta.

Most recently, they have released the next generation of masks. Receiving funding from the CDC in 2008, during the H1N1 pandemic, the lab built most of the groundwork for mask research.

“The grand challenge was, how do you balance the degree of protection with the degree of comfort. Right. If you take a bandage fabric, when you put it on your face it’s very comfortable but all the bad guys are good to go in. If we take a plastic wrap, nothing will go in, but you will just suffocate. So what we need is a good balance between plastic wrap and this nice bandage fabric,” Jayaraman said.

They have successfully created a comfortable and safe mask, ensuring it could be easily accessible to the public.

“Rather than patenting, the technology is made available. If you go to Georgia Tech website, you can print out and make the mask, step by step, we lay out how to make it,” Jayaraman said.

Dr. King Jordan, a Bioinformatics Professor at Tech, has also worked towards improving society with his research.

He is focusing on the field of genomics, the act of studying genes and the functions they are associated with.

“My interest in genomics goes back to the pre-genomic era. So, when I was an undergraduate, I took a genetics course and I was just really intrigued by genetics” Jordan said.

During his PhD in the 1990s, the genomic era was blooming and hooked him to research.

“It was subconscious at that time that there was this intersection of information science, information technology and biology,” Jordan said. “That was really going to be transformative for research.”

This transformative research has led to a search for genomic determinants of pathogenicity and antibiotic resistance along with relationships between ancestry and genomic determinants of personal health.

With a shift in institutional goals in the late 2000s, Tech has rapidly increased external research and global impact, through programs that both Jayaraman and Jordan have been a part of.

Jordan had been invited by Columbia’s Science and Technology Ministry to act as an external advisor to their genomics efforts in 2007. Following this meeting, he was present more often, advising, and offering workshops.

During one of his first classes taught, he had noticed one of the most eager participants was a young undergraduate who presented good questions.

“She came up to me after class and she thanked me for coming so far to teach,” Jordan said. “And I was feeling good about myself and then I asked, ‘Well what about you?’ and she had taken a bus 25 hours to get to that class. So, this to me really underscored the thirst and the hunger for knowledge down there so I found that very rewarding.”

Thus when given the opportunity to establish and sustain the PanAmerican Bioinformatics Institute, Jordan pursued it.

With the goal of producing sustainable capacity in Latin America for bioinformatics and genomics, collaborative research is pursued, short courses on bioinformatics and genomics are provided and student exchanges are conducted.

Jordan once again returned in 2016 as a Fulbright scholar and launched the chocoGEN project.

“I tried to essentially initiate several different initiatives that would help nucleate our [Tech’s] efforts there,” Jordan said.

With a new National Center for Bioinformatics in Colombia, a master’s program at Universidad de Los Andes and several exchange students participating in graduate studies at Tech, it is clear the initiatives have assisted with the rise of bioinformatics in Latin America.

“It is most gratifying seeing young people trained in genomics and bioinformatics either going back to Colombia to work in research institutes there or working from here but carrying the torch in terms of facilitating collaborations with countries in Latin America,” Jordan said.

Jayaraman and Park similarly established the Kolon Center for Lifestyle Innovation, with the goal of lifestyle innovation through materials and manufacturing while increasing economic development between Georgia and South Korea. With $3 million in funding, projects from many different disciplines are funded.

As of now, 10 projects are under completion or have been completed.

For students who are interested in research and partaking in undergraduate work, both professors have some advice.

“First and foremost is, don’t do it because your peer is doing it. It doesn’t work that way,” Jayaraman said.

Jayaraman emphasizes the value of having fun with research. “Get started as early as possible,” Jordan said. “Georgia Tech offers a lot of different mechanisms for undergraduates to pursue research.”

He further highlighted the importance of mentorship, as well as actively looking for a student mentor rather than singularly relying on your principal investigator.

“They can give you better advice in terms of the actual techniques and tools that are used in the lab,” Jordan said. “They are useful to you, as an undergrad, to provide relevant advice about the process of applying to graduate school.”

Jayaraman further emphasizes going into research with the goal to improve the world. Having the right attitude and willingness to do something that is good, not just for yourself, but for society,” Jayaraman said. “The beauty is that you can always do well by doing good.”