Nicolena Stiles: The Triangle

Greeted by the event’s largest crowd to date, drag kings and queens took to the stage of the Main Auditorium for Drexel University’s fifth annual drag show April 22. Featuring Jujubee of “RuPaul’s Drag Race” and hosted by the Drexel Foundation of Undergraduates for Sexual Equality (FUSE), the show gave both current students and interested individuals a platform for performance.

Boasting 18 acts and featuring 15 performers, students seemed to agree that this fifth round proved to be Drexel’s biggest and best yet. The crowd of more than 500 consisted not only of Drexel students, but those from Temple University and the University of Pennsylvania as well. Others still were not college students but area residents, who came to see the event.

Performers, too, were a mix of Drexel students and area drag artists. Kemar Jewel, a visiting performer, particularly enjoyed the show this year.

“I believe that as events go, people start to recognize how professional and how dedicated those putting together the event are,” Jewel noted.

Nicolena Stiles: The Triangle

“I was here last year and as impressed as I was at how well done everything was, this year has even managed to top that,” they continued.

Jewel was on stage twice that night: first donning a golden fitted gown and lip synching to the late Whitney Housten’s classic “I’m Every Woman” and later wearing a glitter-covered fedora to jazz it up with fellow performer and friend Dalyla Mizani to “Nowadays/Hot Honey Rag” from the musical Chicago.

In addition to providing entertainment, Jewel aims to prompt conversation with their performance. Many call Jewel’s style of drag ‘genderf–k’, a name that captures the confusion and shock many will have when they first come out not only in heels and a dress, but sporting a full grown beard as well.

“Last year, I performed ‘Random Black Girl’ which is, of course, a song about being a random black girl in a casting call. But this year, I did ‘I’m Every Woman’ when, of course, I’m really not like every woman,” Jewel said with a laugh.

“I love doing songs that call into question what gender is about and ask ‘So what is this, really, this thing we call gender?’ but still want it to be entertaining,” they continued.

Nicolena Stiles: The Triangle

Much has changed for Jewel since they started performing nearly two years ago. The Drexel drag show last year was one of their first performances in front of a large audience and helped teach them a lot about professionalism, dedication and style.

“I’ve learned to be a more serious performer,”Jewel said of their experience evolving as a drag artist.

“I think a lot of people, including myself some years ago, thought that drag was just about putting on a wig, some lipstick and a dress to parade around and act like a woman. But now, I see drag as an art form, not unlike singing or dancing. It has this breath and life to it and is such a beautiful culture. Because I like to honor culture, I now really try to do my research: I watch videos of other performers, I look up makeup tips, I study dances and choreography and buy new dresses when I need to,” they continued.

Though drag as an art form on its own has only been largely recognized since the ’80s and ’90s, acts heavily reliant on drag, such as opera, can be traced back to the 18th century. Recent pro-LBGTQ+ movements and cultural shifts have offered the performance style more exposure and popularity, with one of the largest sources for such attention being the reality competition show “RuPaul’s Drag Race.” It was there that the Drexel drag show featured act Jujubee found her fame as a competitor.

“Work your a– off and be proud of what you do,” she said, speaking to the Triangle backstage after the show about advice she has for current students. “And that’s the thing: I feel like when you are so busy studying and working, you lose yourself in that. So live in the moment and know exactly why you are here. There’s always a reason, you know? Always a reason,” she emphasized.

“It was the best night of the year and it was such a great experience. It really put me in a great mood. I can’t wait to see what next year is like,” Mary Faron said, a junior student at Temple University.

Drexel student Michael McGarry agreed, grinning. “I thought Jujubee was amazing and the student performers really gave it their all. It was amazing to watch and such a fun night,” he commented.

Many other audience members said they were looking forward to next year’s show, excited to see what performances the future will hold.

The post Drexel Drag Show hosted by RuPaul’s Jujubee appeared first on The Triangle.

In the world of video game journalism and review, there is one name that everyone knows: Anita Sarkeesian. She became famous in 2012, when she initiated a Kickstarter campaign to raise $6,000 towards her Tropes v. Women in Video Games YouTube series. She collected almost $160,000, exceeding her original goal by nearly 2500 percent. However, there was a price to pay. With all the attention Sarkeesian’s campaign gathered, she soon became the most aggressively harassed woman on the internet, a title she still bears — with pride.

Partnering with Temple Libraries as a part of their Beyond the Page series, Drexel University’s own Entrepreneurial Game Studio secured an informal Q and A session Feb. 19 with Sarkeesian. The event, moderated by Director Frank Lee and Program Manager Arianna Gass, posed student-authored questions for the feminist icon in a relaxed and honest environment: no audio or video recording was permitted, although tweets and photos were encouraged.

Lee was excited to have such a prominent name visiting Drexel, but recognized the sensitive nature of her visit.

“We wanted to keep it very controlled. The audience had to be restricted, which is why the event here [at Drexel] was invite-only and why Temple required pre-registration.” Such stringent security was far from unmerited as Sarkeesian had to cancel a recent appearance at Utah State University following multiple death threats.

Standing at just over five feet tall, Anita Sarkeesian displays enough charisma and confidence to make her the biggest person in the room.

Even during a lunch break while speaking with students, she gave off a quiet strength. Her back straight, Sarkeesian nodded eagerly along to points she agreed with, but became most engaged when she heard those she didn’t. At these points, she’d put down her food and scoot to the edge of her chair.

In Drexel’s ExCITE Center, she moved about freely, chatting with students who were there to hear her speak. The mandatory bag checks and the armed guards stationed about the room seemed almost out of place. However, for Sarkeesian this has become the norm.

Photo courtesy: Entrepreneurial Game Studio

“I was really frustrated with how inaccessible feminism and feminist theory was,” Sarkeesian began talking on stage, reflecting on her time in graduate school and the early days of her web series, FeministFrequency. “There’s actually not a lot written about the damsel in distress,” she continued.

When Sarkeesian began examining female representation in video games, no one knew that her mission would eventually be what catapulted her into fame and made her the center of one of the internet’s most notorious anti-feminist hate campaigns — Gamergate.

In their early years (circa 2009), Sarkeesian’s vlogs did not garner much attention, though both academics and those who also had a casual interest in feminism applauded her work. One of her more popular series is titled “Tropes vs. Women” and examines movies from a feminist perspective, featuring topics and titles such as “The Manic Pixie Dream Girl,” “The Straw Feminist” and “The Smurfette Principle.” This series was the one that garnered Sarkeesian national attention, and eventually shifted its focus from movies to video games.

“We contributed a feminist lexicon on how to talk about games that started from a working body of feminist study,” she said of the webseries’ successes. This marks quite a bit of progress — she’s progressed past arguing with people over whether or not Princess Peach was a “damsel in distress” — but Sarkeesian constantly reminded the audience about the long journey that the gaming industry has ahead of it.

The Q and A continued to describe the faults in video game culture and their impact on women. Sarkeesian viewed this discussion as a global one, a point she made clear when asked about the nature of differences in representation between western and non-western games.

“US media is exported across the world, and that’s fine except when it becomes exported ‘whiteness’ instead. In Japan, we see this as the exporting of Japanese culture,” she observed. “While culture can be exported, sexism cannot. We always need to consider the impact exported games can have on the community as a whole,” Sarkeesian continued.

She also noted that the definition of the gamer “community” has changed significantly, especially with the growth of mobile games.

“Who we consider a ‘gamer’ and what we consider ‘gaming’ has just changed so much. You’ll hear some mobile gamers called ‘casuals’ by others who focus on PC or console games, but I don’t think that’s fair. There’s nothing casual about the way my mom plays Candy Crush,” she added with a chuckle. This increase of inclusion hasn’t always meant better games, just a wider audience. She observed the redundancy of games in the mobile market, citing the many “Flappy Bird” knockoffs that litter the App Store.

These transparent cash grabs served as a case-in-point for Sarkeesian’s response to the next question posed: Do game companies have any moral or ethical obligations?

After a brief pause and a laugh, Sarkeesian responded: “I would love for companies to have moral restrictions, but they don’t.” She then dove into a multitude of examples of games or movies wherein female characters are used only as devices to show how depraved a male character is, citing specifically Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood and the Grand Theft Auto series. “Video games are an art form, but they’re made by corporations, and corporations aim to make money,” she explained, noting a corporate flaw.

It was by this reasoning that she was able to answer the next question about how consumers can let game makers know that they’re unhappy with their games.

“We have more means than ever,” she said excitedly, referring to social media and all things online. Sarkeesian was quick to acknowledge how this connectivity can be a double-edged sword, especially given her own experiences with communities on the internet. She chose to look on the bright side instead, noting, “Entitlement campaigns can rise up, but we too can build up campaigns of our own using social media,” she continued.

Despite her history of online harassment, stemming predominantly from anonymous sources, Sarkeesian came out in support of hidden identities on the internet.

“There are so many [people] out there who can’t reveal their identities for the sake of their own safety,” she observed, pulling a hum of approval from the crowd. She was also careful to point out that her negative experiences came not from the anonymity itself, but the culture that hides behind it. “I think it’s a cop-out, really,” she said with a sigh.

Knowing that games work as companies, Sarkeesian emphasized that one of the best ways gamers can change the culture is through game reviews. “Getting bad reviews makes them really pay attention to what we’re saying,” she explained. Continuing, she noted how many gaming companies still operate on the now-archaic market research that white males ages 18-32 constitute a vast majority of the gaming industry’s clientele. However, video game market analysts have noted as far back as 2014 that the gaming industry is an incredibly volatile market with high levels of participation from many different demographics. The Entertainment Software Association reported that in 2013 nearly equal numbers of men and women played video games, at 52 percent and 48 percent respectively. When considering age as part of the equation, the same study noted that adult women made up for a higher percentage of the market share than teenage boys, at 36 percent as opposed to 17.

Sarkeesian also noted that there are, in fact, many developers out there who want to include better and more accurate representations of not only women, but of people of color and members of the LGBT community.

“We’re seeing more developers wanting to get better but not knowing quite how,” she said, making a case for why video game reviews should try to have a feminist or socially-aware edge to them. “Sometimes all that needs to happen is that developers are more thoughtful– and that could be as simple as being more aware of social goings-on,” she continued.

The next segment of the Q and A segued into next steps, beginning with a question asking how game developers could incorporate more powerful women into their games. At this, Sarkeesian rolled her eyes.

“There’s no formula for building a ‘good’ female character. A female character that can only be described as ‘strong’ isn’t a good character, either. They should be honest, meaningful, multi-dimensional characters, not just placeholders for the sake of ‘diversity,’” she explained.

Sarkeesian closed her discussion with notes on the power of media and education. “Progress doesn’t just happen, we fight for it,” she said while touching on the importance of women entering the game design industry and the implications that this could have on the quality of games.

“It’s not additive. It has to happen all at once. These are not issues that can be overlooked,” she said. In agreeing with Lee’s argument that more diverse groups create better games, Sarkeesian stood up in front of the group and concluded, “Look, all my work is based around the idea that media matters. What you produce goes out into the world and affects people. And that’s f-cking awesome,” she claimed.

Though she was on a tight schedule with a formal lecture at Temple at 4 p.m., Sarkeesian took 15 minutes to talk personally with interested students and pose for pictures. Joanne Wong, the President of the Drexel Game Developers Group and Ciera Gordon, the Head of Outgoing Donations for Drexel TechServ, were among the 70 students present for the event and both loved the honest environment.

“I love that she swore so much. It definitely personalized her and made everything seem much more casual and real,” Wong said.

Gordon agreed, adding, “I was happy and surprised about her stance on anonymity. I agree that there are a lot of people out there who need it to be able to connect with others on the internet.”

Following the cleanup of the event, Lee was tired but proud of how everything went.

“This panel really confirmed things I already knew and things I’m already trying,” he said, particularly excited about how this reflects on his Entrepreneurial Game Studio. “The EGS is not under any specific department or college. It is open to all [people].” Lee was most happy about Sarkeesian’s agreement of endorsing a diverse gaming industry.

“As I’ve always said, I want diversity in the gaming industry for purely selfish reasons: the more diverse the game industry is, the more interesting and awesome the games produced are. And I just want awesome games,” Lee said.

The post Featured this week: Playing the feminist game – Anita Sarkeesian talks on gender in video game culture at ExCITe Center appeared first on The Triangle.

College does not lend itself to love — Perhaps to passion, to lust, to sleepless nights embracing wild youth, but not to love. For living now the halcyon days of self-expression and discovery, shouldn’t our eagerness to feel and understand everything around us wax romantic? It doesn’t; it never has, but it seems now, more than ever before, college students guard their hearts in fear — of each other.

There has never been anything cooler, more powerful, more demonstrative of worth than having admirers. In many ways, it’s how society has come to measure success: so long as people care about you while you don’t care about them, you’re important. Think back to high school and remember the “in” crowd — the kids that made such a show of ignoring so many people that the world was left with no option but to pay attention to them. Surely gaining their attention would mean something? To finally be noticed by a group of people who never gave the gift of their time away would mean something special; to indicate that you — yes, you — have been worth something all along.

Except that it doesn’t.

Those kids just learned the secret art of what it takes to be cool while they were young enough to use it in high school, the perfect testing environment. There’s nothing innately more meaningful about their attention or time than that of, say, your best friend’s. It’s an illusion they crafted though the laws of supply and demand: by making their attentions “rare,” they tricked everyone into believing, at least on a subconscious level, that their attention is 1) somehow more important than others and 2) that it ought to be earned if it is not already possessed.

This isn’t a new observation; it’s been noted by historical figures such as Benjamin Franklin and has been studied scientifically as the theory of “cognitive dissonance.” Franklin’s famous maxim on the topic goes as follows: “He that has once done you a kindness will be more ready to do you another, than he whom you yourself have obliged.” It seems peculiar at first, but I’m sure you yourself could think of a few times wherein you’d behaved in a similar way. Being asked a favor seems to feed our egos a bit, and instill a sense of worth in us that is often able to equate to whatever work has been requested. From a cognitive standpoint, this is the mind trying align perceptions with recent behaviors; here, it’s aligning personal views with the action of having completed a favor. In the case of the “in” crowd, your mind is trying to resolve the scarcity of their attentions with “value.”

Apply the concept of cognitive dissonance to romance and you get what most of us call “playing hard to get.” The theory, anyway, is that the “chaser” will start to think that the more they endure for affection, the more that affection must mean to them. This model, though sometimes a bit ethically questionable, will often work for that very reason, provided there’s a balance in the roles. Having two “chasers” works as well for obvious reasons (unless they’re both awkward individuals. Then they’ll get there someday … just not nearly as quickly as they could have).

But here’s where things get a bit weird — what if both parties view themselves as the “avoiders,” the parties worthy of being chased? Admittedly, it’s a much safer role. The “avoider” needs not put their heart on the line for the attentions they wish to receive. In their mind, they only need to exist to garner admirers. They’re also considered cool by society for the same reasons as the “in” crowd: people care about them; they don’t care about people.

Having two parties playing hard to get isn’t a phenomenon new to the digital age. It’s happened before, though arguably not to the same magnitude. Modern “romance” has a new edge to it, a bitingly sharp side built around the age-old notion that whoever cares less has the most power in the relationship. Armed with Tinder, passive-aggressive read receipts and social media presences that are able to distort reality to fictional levels, the modern college student is more capable than ever before of not just sex without love, but relationships without emotion of any kind.

It’s worth noting that I don’t think everyone in college should be trying to find love. Not now, at least, when we’re all still so enamored with the changes and opportunities growing around us. But is there really nothing wrong with our world when it’s the norm to not only disregard past hookups, but actively belittle them? Somehow, the message we send has changed from “I’m not into you like that” to “I don’t like you,” from “last night was fun” to “last night didn’t mean anything to me.”

Step back for a moment and ask, “What have we done to each other?” How it is possible that, as much time as we spend tearing each other apart, we never really share anything that goes deeper than surface-level?

I’m not saying we should end hook-up culture, and I’m not saying we should all become hopeless romantics. But would the world end if rather than ignoring our hookups in public, we smiled and waved? What of our egos, which have become so inflated that having one of our late-night partners ask how we’re doing means we automatically assume they’re “just so into” us?

Cliche as it sounds, there’s a certain charm in genuinity. Even a drunken tryst is beautiful in its own right — spontaneous, wild and ephemeral. It may not have been love, but then, not everything has to be. Maybe college love isn’t about the person, but the experience: the nights wrapped in the arms of another, content to share body heat instead of secrets. And there’s no shame in that at all.

The post Caring is human: a reflection on love appeared first on The Triangle.

Freshman dorms are always the most convenient places to study, although they can sometimes be prone to annoying roommates and distractions. While the WiFi at dorms isn’t often reliable, Drexel has some of the fastest Ethernet in the country. It’s well worth the $10 investment in an Ethernet cable from Amazon for those who don’t already have one. Most dorms offer dedicated study spaces, which are both nearby and quiet places to work.

The W. W. Hagerty Library is most obvious spot on campus to study. The big con is that this space can get crowded quickly, especially during finals week. However, if you can find a spot, the quiet space on the lower level is often less crowded than the rest of the building, and the recently renovated Silent Area on the second floor has extremely comfortable seating. If focus is key, be sure to check these places first.

Facebook: Drexel University Libraries

The cafe space (it once housed Drexel’s Taco Bell is open all day, every day) has outlets and booths (it still smells a bit like tacos though).

The Library Learning Terrace is located below Race Hall, this study space offers multiple large tables for group work. Its proximity to the dorms is one of its best features. There are more than enough whiteboards in this space, but not often enough dry erase markers. If you’re planning on using the space, be sure to bring a few of your own.

Main Building is open 24/7. It’s the oldest building on Drexel’s campus and home to many a lecture hall can easily double as a study space. There’s something to be said about studying for fall term finals in the decorated lobby just before winter break. Bring a friend, or five! Most of the lecture halls and classrooms in Main are open at all hours. The whiteboards can make for an excellent place to brainstorm or study with a group.

For nice days, when outdoor studying seems like the only way to get work done, Drexel Park is a great option. It is one of the most relaxing places to study on campus. While there are no outlets, there is both WiFi and a beautiful view of the Philadelphia skyline. Plus, if WiFi isn’t necessary, the Philadelphia Art Museum is only about a ten minute walk from Drexel Park and can be a beautiful place to study in the spring and summer months. The Schuylkill River Trail is also close by, with many spots for potential study and relaxation.

The post Upperclassmen talk study spaces appeared first on The Triangle.

Incoming freshmen are required to have meal plans with the exception of commuters. With that in mind, it’s one of the top priorities of new students on campus.

Perhaps the most frequent area that incoming students will utilize is the Handschumacher Dining Center. The Hans is Drexel’s dining hall: no more, no less. Many love to complain about the food there, but at the end of the day, it’s a dining hall with food quality to match its station. While it’s no five star restaurant, it’s worth going to simply because it’s part of the mandatory meal plan.

Don’t be afraid to go to the dining hall alone. No one actually cares if you’re sitting alone and it’s not worth going hungry to avoid it.

Coffee drinkers: bring your thermos! The Hans has pretty good coffee and, as it’s buffet-style, bottomless refills. This will become increasingly useful as finals week approaches.

Most students find that the meal plan with fewer dining hall swipes is more than enough (14 swipes/week, $475 dining dollars).

The next venue that is available to students is the North Side Dining Terrace. Due to its proximity to the dorms and acceptance of dining dollars, Northside is quick to become a freshman’s favorite place. The food quality from Currito, Subway and Chick fil A is a bit different from the chains’ other standalone locations, but will be a welcome break from dining hall food. Their grab-and-go options are excellent options when time is of the essence.

Currito’s smoothies are a high point of Northside: the Nutella milkshake especially. For fruit lovers, the Berry Blitz is a must. Not bad for dining dollars!

Be sure to budget out dining dollars. Prices at Northside are higher than at most grocery stores, and it’s easy to feel like dining dollars are “play” money.

For students with a more specific palate, Vegetate is able to serve those student’s needs. Drexel’s resident vegetarian/vegan restaurant is also friendly to dining dollars. As part of the Chestnut Square complex, this restaurant is located conveniently close to Main Building and the bulk for Drexel’s academic buildings.

Both the flatbread and smoothies here are some of the campus favorites.

Vegetate employs students! Any interested students can look into getting involved here through work/study.

There’s also an ATM nearby between Franklin Mint and Yogorino.

A staple for any college campus is the local coffee shops. The Gerri C. LeBow Hall conveniently has a Starbucks located inside its first floor. With greatly reduced hours and increased traffic compared to their other locations, this Starbucks may not be the best, but it is the closest. For longer study sessions, the locations on Walnut and Chestnut near the University of Pennsylvania might be better options, but they do lack one thing: acceptance of dining dollars.

As noted above, this Starbucks takes dining dollars: that means that all the cups, mugs and merch can also be bought with dining dollars. A high quality $20.00 thermos will be well-worth the investment as the winter months hit and is the gift that keeps on giving. Don’t forget that other Starbucks locations offer a $0.10 discount for bringing your own thermos!

Something that every city goer will quickly realize tis that 7/11 are almost omnipresent. As if anyone really needs a run-down on this convenience store. Located both next to Towers and across from the Science Center and open all day, every day, every Drexel student will make a stop here for something.

There’s an ATM inside: the transaction fee is $2.00 (a dollar less than the one in Main), but paying by debit card for a small purchase and selecting cash back has no fee!

The Arizona teas here are $0.99 flat for 23 ounces — one of the best deals on campus.

If a sit down restaurant is something you want, two restaurants in particular stand out and are close to campus: Savas and Ed’s Pizza. Located just past the 7-Eleven down Lancaster Avenue sits two great pizzerias. The question “Ed’s or Savas?” is one most Drexel students are bound to ask at least once a weekend. With both toting hours until 2:00 a.m. on the weekend and delivery options, the real winner of this rivalry is the hungry coed.

Savas has a bar and full restaurant option, which is well worth checking out. They’re reasonably priced and provide that kind of dining option that is often missed during college life.

Ed’s is known for their wings as well, and often post special deals for orders of their delicious finger foods. Keep an eye out for flyers and updates to save a few dollars!

A local favorite for everyone living on or near Powelton Avenue, Pizza Wings and Steaks or “PWS” is everyone’s go to late night stop. With a somewhat secluded location near Drexel Park and no indoor seating available, PWS, pronounced “P-dubbz,” is a true diamond in the rough. Open until 3 a.m., this eatery serves large amounts of food for a great price. In the battle between Ed’s and Savas, many choose PWS.

They even have a Coca-Cola freestyle machine! It’s the only one on campus.

PWS is known for their “Big Daddy” pizza: breaded chicken, bacon, ranch dressing and barbeque sauce. They offer vegetarian and vegan options for pizza as well!

The post Upperclassmen talk campus dining appeared first on The Triangle.

Seeing things differently is nothing new to Dr. Kapil Dandekar, a professor in Drexel’s College of Engineering and director of the Drexel Wireless Systems Laboratory. Dandekar and his team have made improvement in wireless communications over the past ten years with work involving reconfigurable antenna models. Recently, their technologies have been brought to market by Daniele Piazza, a doctoral graduate and long-term team member, and his company Adant Technologies Inc.

“Reconfigurable antennas are capable of adapting themselves to the needs of the overlying communication system,” Dandekar explained as to why these new antenna models are so effective for relaying information. “Rabbit ear” antennas that were once very commonly used for television signals are an example of reconfigurable antennas that can be mechanically adapted to receive a better quality signal. The reconfigurable antennas that have been developed at Drexel can be adapted electrically rather than mechanically and are compact enough so that they can be integrated with wireless devices like WiFi access points, laptops and cell phones. Also, in addition to using these reconfigurable antennas to increase the amount of information that can be sent from a transmitter to a receiver, we are also developing strategies to use these antennas to mitigate interference from surrounding transmitters, as well as provide additional layers of security that can protect sensitive information.

Dandekar’s novel approach has an equally interesting source of inspiration: Terminator 2. “In the movie, there is a liquid metal robot that was able to change its form,” he said. “One of the thoughts that I had when I saw that movie is that if an antenna could also be made to change its shape in such a flexible manner, that it could provide a valuable degree of freedom for future radio technologies. In the lab, we have not only focused on designing and building these new types of antennas, but we have also considered how these antennas can be integrated into practical communication systems.”

Now, ten years from its inception, Dandekar’s technology will be available in the market in the form of the ZyXEL WC6500 series, a Wi-Fi access point powered by Arden Technology’s antenna with “beam shaping” capability. For some, the success may be enough to pull them into the business side of things and give up research, but such is not the case for Dandekar, who instead sees the experience as a chance to improve his techniques. “I am very happy doing what I’m doing,” he said, “and I plan to continue to work as a researcher with an eye towards commercializing promising technologies that are developed in my lab.”

Also key to his decision to continue his research is the experience of Daniele Piazza. “Observing a [doctoral] graduate, Daniele Piazza, from my lab form a company and successfully commercialize this technology has definitely provided many insights that can be used in my research. In my opinion, one of the defining characteristics of an engineer is the ability to identify and manage constraints in order to address a challenge. These constraints are not only technological, but also ethical, environmental, economical, societal, etc. Gaining additional insight into the commercialization process has helped me identify practical constraints that need to be considered when taking a technology to market, and I believe that this knowledge will be very helpful as I move forward with my research,” Dandekar said.

With a decade of research under his belt, Dandekar has become incredibly familiar with the process of design and development, and is proud to have called Drexel’s labs home for that time. He said, “My lab received a lot of support from the Drexel Office of Technology Transfer and Commercialization under the leadership of Robert McGrath, in commercializing these and other technologies. Given Drexel’s history of ‘use-inspired research’ and the launch of Drexel Ventures, I am hopeful that Drexel is building a strong culture that will empower students like Daniele to apply what they have learned in the classroom and developed in the laboratory to form their own companies and commercialize their technology.”

Despite all the success he has found along the way, Dandekar cited the process, not the products, as the true reward of his work. “It has truly been a pleasure to work with my colleagues at Drexel on various efforts relating to this technology over the years and I look forward to the opportunity to continue with similar efforts in the future,” he said.

The post Decade long study brings new antenna to the market appeared first on The Triangle.

Nicolena Stiles The Triangle

It seems presumptuous for a pop-punk band hailing from Vancouver, Canada, to call their latest tour “The Legend Continues,” but in watching Marianas Trench pound out one anthem after another to legions of devoted fans in the packed Theatre of Living Arts, it almost feels like an understatement.

Opening for the band was 28-year-old Ivy Levan, a relatively new face who has described her past work as both “punk/rock” and “swamp/hop.” Her latest single “Biscuit” sits comfortably in the club-ready dance music genre, and brought the room full of tweens and young adults to their feet impressively fast. Able to pull of a level of theatricality and raw skill that is rarely accomplished live, Levan made an ideal accompaniment for Marianas Trench. Enticed by catchy hooks and a soulful voice, many in attendance raced to the merch table as Levan belted out the last note, hoping to get a chance to meet the rising star.

One 15-minute break later and the audience had pushed as far as possible up to the barricades in front of the stage. As the lights turned down and the opening harmonies of “Ever After” filled the air, the low rumble of the audience turned into a deafening roar. With its swelling vocals and immense, rock-opera sound, the song made for a powerful opener and ideal platform for frontman Josh Ramsay to showcase his top-notch vocals. Dressed in low-hanging red snakeskin pants paired with a tophat and jacket combo to make the likes of Slash jealous, Ramsay was the picture of a pop-rock icon.

The high-octane performance didn’t stop after the first song. The band rolled directly in to “All to Myself” and “Desperate Measures” before finally stopping to properly introduce themselves. Though Ramsay is clearly the main attraction, the entire band embodies charisma and is able to bounce jokes back and forth without missing a beat. “I’m trying my best here, I’ve got a belt on and everything! I just have narrow hips,” Ramsay shouted into the crowd after a fan pointed out how far his pants have fallen in the course of the set.

With three studio albums and nearly 15 years of experience playing together under their belts, it would seem easy for Marianas Trench to have become set in their way. The reality of the situation is far from it: these veteran performers are eager to entertain using a variety of genres and songs across the band’s history. “Pop 101,” a mid-2014 single, was a strong crowd pleaser that showcased the full breadth of the band’s sound: from folk to synth, Ramsay’s tongue-in-cheek lyrics kept the crowd laughing and dancing.

In addition to playing expected hits such as “Fallout,” “Truth or Dare,” “Cross My Heart” and “Stutter,” the audience was treated to three new songs from the band’s upcoming album “Astoria.”

The first, “This Means War,” was par for the course of Marianas Trench songs. Catchy and danceable, the song kept the audience moving but didn’t offer anything new. This was not the case with the second song unveiled, “Shut Up and Kiss Me,” which featured a funk sound that kept bassist Mike Ayley busy while Ramsay riffed note after note.

The third and possibly best of the three was a slower ballad-style track called “While We’re Young.” The song opened with the four band members harmonizing at a level that would make even The Beach Boys jealous, and was one of the high points of the concert from a technical standpoint.

After the powerful closer “No Place Like Home,” Ramsay’s favorite song the band has produced, two encores were played. Toting a red maple-leaf shaped guitar with him back on stage, Ramsay performed an acoustic rendition of “Good to You” solo in front of an LED screen that showed scenes of the Canadian wilderness at night.

As a final goodbye, the full band came back out and performed a beautiful acapella cover of “And So It Goes” by Billy Joel. Drenched in sweat and smiling like a maniac, Ramsay and the band left the stage to the sounds of screaming and cheering that could only come from an audience that got so much more than it expected.

With the band members just hitting their early 30s and already having 15 years of playing experience together, Marianas Trench is bound for even more greatness as they become increasingly well known outside of Canada. Ramsay’s penchant for writing hits as already been confirmed (summer hit “Call Me Maybe” was a song he produced with fellow Canadian performer Carly Rae Jepsen), so it seems to be only a matter of time until the band begins playing stadiums and much larger venues. For now, their talent and enthusiasm serves as quite the treat for smaller concert halls and will surely be appreciated for the rest of their tour.

The post Marianas Trench pounds out anthems at TLA appeared first on The Triangle.

When I first learned that I would be getting an Apple Watch through my co-op, I couldn’t have been happier. Much like the rest of the world, when Apple announces their next big product, I pay attention. This is only furthered by my current occupation as an iOS developer. So being given the task to get familiar with the Apple Watch didn’t feel like work at all.

The day the watch came in, I took great pleasure in seeing my co-workers swarm around my desk, asking to play with it, or, in the case of one, more enthusiastic, visitor, “So, have you fallen totally in love with it yet?” I had laughed and told her no, since I hadn’t even finished charging it, but was very sure that was something I could count on happening. Even though I hadn’t used it yet, something about just having the watch in my possession made the day better. Looking back, it’d be apt to call this the “honeymoon phase.”

By now, there are hundreds of reviews and blog posts online that will walk the reader through a first day of owning the watch. From what I’ve read, my experience was more of the same: fun and interesting responses to instances when I would normally have to reach for my phone, as well as the novelty of getting to show off some new tech before most of the public has seen it. After two days of activating the camera on my phone remotely just because I could and browsing my Twitter feed on a 42 mm screen, I began to realize how the watch might actually function in my life, once all the shiny newness of it all had worn off.

Apple has said this time and time again, especially in their developer documentation: The watch serves mainly to deliver notifications that the iPhone receives. This seems intuitive, and was something I had been completely aware of before I first gave one a home on my wrist, but for whatever reason wasn’t a concept I had fully grasped until the start of day three. The watch does just as promised: It delivers notifications for every app you have enabled, from texts to Facebook messenger to Snapchat and beyond, but never in my life had I been more aware of just how many notifications I receive.

The watch uses a new and exciting technology to alert you of incoming notifications called haptics, which are essentially pulses of sound. Where the type of vibration employed in nearly all phones today might be thought of as a buzz, haptics produce a tap on the subject’s wrist, and are prominent enough to be noticed and difficult to mistake for anything else. Because I had originally wanted as much interaction with the watch as possible, I had all notifications set on, as is default. Over the course of a few days, however, I found myself turning off the notifications one by one, to the point where I had disabled them completely.

No instance better exemplifies how oppressive these notifications can be like performing a normally mundane task, as I was doing when I decided to silence them. Emptying the dishwasher usually takes about 10-15 minutes for me to accomplish, depending on how many dishes were washed and if they needed to be hand-dried. Granted, I had been messaging a few people back and forth about making plans for later that night and could have expected to receive many different texts, but it ended up taking closer to half an hour to wrap up what I was doing, despite not having taken any extra time to respond to the bulk of those messages. When I hear my phone chime from across the room or even in my back pocket, just the physical motion of needing to pull it out and unlock it is enough to deter me from checking my notifications until I’ve finished whatever I’m doing. This is not the case with the watch. Apple bills it as their “most personal product yet,” and rightfully so: it’s almost too easy to drop everything at the watch’s friendly tap.

I will admit that since I work in mobile development, my opinion is going to be biased. By the time I get home from work, I’m absolutely done with messing around on phones, and usually just have my device set on silent and opt instead to check it at my leisure. But, Apple Watch or no, it’s clear that getting absorbed in the digital realm is easier now more than ever and that constant exposure comes with a cost. How many hours are lost, trains of thought stopped or conversations ended early because of an incredibly needy machine?

One of the most kind and meaningful gestures I’ve seen in a while happened recently when I was home getting coffee with a friend. As a Virginia native, I don’t get the chance to catch up with my childhood friends in person very often, so while this was no formal occasion, it was exciting to finally be able to hang out. Just after we sat down, my friend pulled out her phone and switched it to airplane mode, before stowing it away back in her purse. “Low battery?” I asked, assuming she’d need her phone later that night and didn’t have a charger. “Nah,” she replied. “I’m here right now, talking to you.” It had been so long since I’d just sat and talked to someone without any interference from our phones that the encounter seemed almost strange and scary, despite having gone through it with one of my best friends.

While meeting with Bruce Eisenstein, the vice dean for the College of Engineering, to discuss the new Ex3 suite of courses, I was posed an interesting question: where do you see wearable technology going in the future?

Despite having spent eight hours a day, five days a week working with the watch for close to a month, I didn’t initially have an answer. After a moment of reflection (and yet another wrist tap), I realized that this tiny computer sitting on my wrist could one day serve nobler and greater purposes than letting me know every time one of my friends sends a Snapchat. It’s not hard to imagine the Apple Watch, or devices like it, one day taking the plunge into the medical field, where they would offer truly personalized care in a sleek and efficient way. In a world where the use of the word “impossible” is becoming less and less, it would seem that the possibilities are truly unlimited.

There is a limit, however, on how much time we can spend experiencing any one given event. We can’t take mobile technology out of our lives, and even if we could, I would strongly advise against it. But for anyone looking into purchasing a smart watch, I ask that you please be aware of what you’re getting into. While there is much about the Apple Watch that could help out the wearer in a variety of situations (I admit, the ability to check the forecast from your wrist was surprisingly useful, as was Apple Pay), the current focus of the wearable industry is on notifications. As the hardware and software evolve, I’m sure this will cease to be the case, but for now, it is worth making sure that the bright future of technology doesn’t prevent us from fully experiencing our own.

The post Apple Watch notifications are less convenient, more annoying appeared first on The Triangle.

Welcomed by the roar of more than a hundred in the audience, drag queens and kings took the stage at Drexel University’s fourth annual drag show May 29. The event featured Raven of “RuPaul’s Drag Race” and students from Drexel and surrounding universities who showcased their skills through singing, dancing and lip-syncing along to songs in a variety of musical performances.

Although drag is typically associated with entertainers dressing and performing as the opposite sex, many of those who were involved in the event felt that drag carries a much more broad definition. Corey Collins, current Drexel student and drag performer, points to a quote from RuPaul, famous drag queen, for his definition: “We are all born naked, the rest is all drag.”

Collins, who is no stranger to the world of drag, performed both in a solo act and as part of an ensemble rendition of “The Cell Block Tango” from the Broadway musical “Chicago.” While he can now dance in heels with ease, he still remembers his humble beginnings in the drag scene. “I started three years ago. My friends from home and I had started watching RuPaul’s drag race and really wanted to try getting into it. We went to Applebee’s in drag, actually, Dragglebee’s,” Collins said.

Dalyla Mizani, a visiting performer, sees drag as her artistic medium. “I describe drag as an outlet. For me, it’s been escape from the real world, a chance to go out and be my true self,” Mizani said.

Though friends say she now has the confidence and dance moves to put many to shame, it was only recently through drag that Mizani came into her own. “I would say drag changed my life, if only because it gave me a sense of who I am. I was always wondering what I would be good at, what I needed to do, until I put on makeup and lipstick in the mirror one day and felt really comfortable.” Mizani explained.

“Later, through an internship, I found out that there were shows I could perform in, and after that, when people were coming up to me and congratulating me and saying they loved the performance, I finally felt like this was something I could do,” Mizani continued.

Mizani has spent much of her time practicing both alone and with fellow drag performer Kemar Jewel. Donning a beard and women’s clothing while performing, Jewel’s brand of drag is called “genderf–k,” and is meant to do more than just entertain.

“In my opinion, drag should either teach people about yourself or the audience, and for me, it’s about the audience.” Nowhere is this more evident than with his choice of song “Random Black Girl,” which he said uses comedy to prompt a very real discussion about the stereotyping that goes on in Broadway casting. “When I’m in character, when I’m lip-syncing, when I’m offering up attitude and sass, I can make people laugh, but I can also make people think along with it,” Jewel said.

“I always do numbers that people have never heard before, but also that make people think later on. In the moment, it makes them laugh, but I still want to make sure that I’m getting a message across,” Jewel explained.

Mizani and Jewel encourage those looking to get involved in drag performance to not be scared, but also to treat it with the same respect that should be given to any skill or art. “Just like with dance, just like with singing, just like with theater, it is a craft and an art, and should be treated like one,” Jewel said. “Pay homage to those who came before. Especially now with the Internet and YouTube, you have access to more information than ever. Be yourself, pick songs that make you happy, not make other people happy, and do your homework.” On being fearless with expression, Mizani offered this advice: “You don’t need a crown to be a drag queen. Feel free to get as messy or as pretty as you want. Don’t be afraid to get ugly, because it’s always going to get ugly before it gets pretty.”

Boasting 14 different performers, this year’s drag show was noted by many for both its scope and enthusiasm. Maxime Damis, a current graduate student who has been coming to the annual drag show since its early days, was quick to note how much has changed since the beginning. “There were probably about five times as many people here, which was amazing, plus so many new performers. It seems like it’s starting to finally become a big event here at Drexel, which means it’s only getting more and more exciting every year,” Damis said. Having been in attendance for past shows, Damis is familiar with many of the performers and was excited to see how they’ve grown. “I loved seeing the transformation of all my favorite Drexel queens from the first year I came to now. They’ve all become better performers and it’s awesome to see that.”

With the success of this year’s show now behind them, many of the performers are already looking ahead, excited to see what the future holds for drag.

“It’s already been branching in a hundred different directions: genderf–k, punk, all sorts of others,” Collins noted. Mizani agreed “I would love to see new types of drag. I want to see how far drag can go.”

Regardless of where the performance goes, many believe that the Drexel drag show will provide an ideal stage for future expression. “This was my first time, here on the Drexel drag scene, but I was very impressed with both the performers and the audience,” Mizani said.

Jewel was quick to agree that his favorite part the night was seeing so many people go on stage being themselves and receive so much support from the crowd.

The post Don’t be a drag, be a queen: RuPaul’s Raven performs at 4th annual student drag show appeared first on The Triangle.

Bill Eisenstein, a founding professor of the new Ex3 course suite at Drexel University, believes that there is something very wrong with what students are being taught in college. “A real education gives you the tools to understand the world as it is today,” he said. “Should you really be able to graduate college in any area without knowing the basic principles behind how a cell phone works? Or a television?”

Eisenstein hopes to address this question and many like it in his new course, “Do It: YourCell Phone,” which will be offered through the College of Engineering. The class is part of the segment “Explore. Explain. Experience.” or Ex3, which is a suite of programs that encourages students to not only learn about the world around them, but to understand how it works. The catch? The target audience is non-engineers.

In the same way that engineers are encouraged to take introductory classes in arts and humanities away from those typical of their major, Eisenstein hopes the Ex3 program will open the gates into topics that were once regarded as engineer-specific. Both he and many other faculty members from the College of Engineering cite the difficult requirements for understanding current engineering courses as the inspiration behind the new classes.

“The key thing about this collection of courses is that they have no prerequisites and that’s very intentional,” Eisenstein said. “Because of their common first year classes, an engineer can walk into an introductory course in a different engineering discipline and be able to grasp the material. But the same would not be true for a student from a different discipline.”

Offering just over a dozen courses with exciting names like “Stuff Matters: Exploring the Marvelous Materials that Shape Our World” and “In Good Spirits: The Process of Fermentation and Distillation,” the College of Engineering hopes to appeal to those students who might have never thought about the how and why of the world around them. For this reason, “Hardhat Required: How Things Get Built” is one of Eisenstein’s favorite courses being offered. “Here at Drexel, we’re exposed to more than enough construction, but I’d never really been aware of how much goes into making sure buildings stand up. It’s a fascinating process,” Eisenstein said.

Not only does the extra technological understanding make for a more well-rounded education, it makes for a better citizen as well. “Technology has become such an irrevocable part of our lives, yet there are so many aspects that the general public doesn’t understand. For example, net neutrality has become such a huge point of discussion, but how many people even realize what that means?” Eisenstein posed, referring to the Internet’s principle of providing customers with open networks that allow one to visit any site they wish freely.

Interested students are encouraged to visit the College of Engineering’s website, where they can find the full list of potential course offerings, as well as a poll where they can vote for which courses they would like to see offered each quarter. “There was a lot more interest then even what we have right now on our first write-up: so many different professors were very excited about getting to teach topics that they hadn’t quite found the right niche for yet,” Eisenstein said.

Though he’s excited about the chance to expose students to concepts and technologies they might not have learned about otherwise, Eisenstein is most interested in seeing what the students can teach him with their new and different perspectives.

“I’m an educator at heart. I feel like my role in life is to teach people, and there is nothing I love more than when I can see their faces light up after learning something new, and watch them go on to use that knowledge and do something that hasn’t been done before,” he said.

Courses are set to begin in summer term. In order to have a say in the courses offered in this program, students are encouraged to vote on the College of Engineering’s website, on Ex3 page.

The post Engineering new understanding: Ex3 courses target non-engineers appeared first on The Triangle.