Scholars Who Shout ‘Eureka!’

By James Grant on April 21, 2009 9:47 AM

Over the centuries, questions from scholars have led to astonishing “eureka” moments - such as the time when tradition tells us that the ancient Greek scholar Archimedes asked, “How do I measure the volume of an irregular figure?”

In Archimedes’ case, the research lab was a public bath and the discovery was that his body displaced water in direct proportion to his own body’s volume. Although scholars now say Archimedes probably never actually uttered “eureka” in that bath in ancient Syracuse, researchers have since made countless new discoveries and inventions.

At USC, thanks to a new innovative research fellowship, dozens of new scholars are asking themselves the types of questions that may result in new ways to look at the world.

Announced in 2007 by USC Executive Vice President and Provost C. L. Max Nikias, the USC Annenberg Graduate Fellowship program was a creative answer to the question: “How can USC be innovative in funding research?”

The plan - to make available at least $4 million annually in new funding for graduate student fellowships at the USC Annenberg School for Communication, the USC School of Cinematic Arts and the USC Viterbi School of Engineering - is now paying off.

Research by some of the nearly 200 USC Annenberg fellows will be highlighted at Town & Gown on April 27. A sampling of the work being presented indicates that enduring scholarship is still often based on seminal questions, among them:

How can we help the blind to see?

Using stereo cameras, careful measurements and a firm grounding in robotics, USC Viterbi doctoral candidate Jonathan Kelly and his colleagues are developing a prototype handheld system called GUIDE (an acronym for Guiding the User Independently Through Dynamic Environments), which will enable individuals to safely navigate in structured and unstructured environments that contain static and moving obstacles. “We hope that GUIDE will empower individuals with visual disabilities by making it easier for them to interact with the world,” Kelly said.

Why do black males disproportionally drop out of school?

Journalist Amber Mobley has channeled her background in newspapers into a new research passion: improving educational outcomes for black males. As a master’s candidate at USC Annenberg, she’s created a new Web site to explore the key issues. “Black males in our nation’s public schools aren’t learning,” Mobley said. “A disproportionate number of them are dropping out of high school and going to jail. This site monitors what’s causing it to happen and spotlights and supports those sounding the alarm and/or trying to change the tide.” Visit the site at http://amobley.ascportfolios.org.

How can I get the same digital TV broadcast on all my electronic devices?

USC Viterbi doctoral candidate Ozgun Bursalioglu is using advanced modeling to find the best way to send digital TV broadcasting to different devices such as cell phones, laptops or high-definition television sets - each of which have different data transmission capabilities and resolutions.

What can I do to blow your mind?

Cinematic Arts MFA candidate Ian Dallas put it simply: “I’m interested in creating surreal experiences that people have never had before.” His project: a haunting online game called “The Unfinished Swan” in which the player must paint in order to navigate an entirely white world. (Play the game at http://giantsparrow.com/games/swan/)

Can I be Korean and not live in Korea?

Kristy Kang, a doctoral candidate at Cinematic Arts, noted that Los Angeles’ Koreatown contains the largest population of Koreans living outside of their native country. As digital tools change, she is exploring the role assigned to new media and how it is distributed and consumed within these cultures. “If media is a form of cultural currency,” she asked, “what meaning does that currency gain when it is digital?”

How do I get more functions from a single device without compromising on cost or performance?

Ankush Goel, a doctoral candidate at USC Viterbi, is trying to help make mobile phones more useful. “As the market for wireless communication continues to grow,” he said, “an interesting trend is evident - multi-functionality. Users want more functions from a single device without compromising on cost or performance.” Goel is working on enabling the use of multiple bands of radio waves by a single device in mere nanoseconds.

How is vegetarianism portrayed in media outlets?

Garrett Broad, a doctoral candidate at USC Annenberg, wonders how vegetarians are perceived within the African-American community - and what role major and niche media play in those perceptions. Broad’s deconstruction of media texts is uncovering biases in both realms.

How can the teaching of math be improved?

“While an undergraduate at the University of Texas, I often found that the abstract principles of mathematics that I studies were never truly clear to me until many months after I left the course,” said Kerem Sanga, a MFA student at Cinematic Arts. “It was then that I would have the distance necessary to put each of the concepts I learned into a broader framework of the discipline. It was then, too, that my understanding of the principles themselves would take on a visual dimension.” Sanga’s quest at USC is to create a series of animated short films that visualize mathematical principles and inspire future mathematics students.

How can my doctor remotely monitor my health?

What if a cell phone could update a doctor on one’s health? Harshvardhan Vathsangam, a doctoral candidate at USC Viterbi, is trying to make it possible. His research focuses on creating mathematical algorithms to help transmit data from sensors on or in the human body to devices such as mobile phones or personal computers.

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