Commencement 2018 Profile: Zachary Pearson
Exploring the art and science of lighting and architecture
Zachary Pearson is highly motivated to use architecture and lighting to tell a story or immerse viewers in a fantasy world. His fascination with lighting began at age 6, when he saw a Christmas display at Disney World.
“Over the years, it’s grown into quite a passion,” says Pearson, who can be counted on to create intricately built and lighted scenes at Halloween and Christmas. “My parents are supportive and they joke that they need to limit the hours they keep the lights on.”
Raised in Columbia County, Pearson was taught at home until the age of 14 when he started Hudson Valley Community College. After graduating with an associate’s degree in computer-aided design and drafting, as well as another associate’s in architectural technology, Pearson enrolled at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in order to continue exploring both the art and science of lighting and architecture.
“I chose RPI because it has a great reputation and the philosophy of the Architecture school matched my academic goals,” he said. “I wanted a curriculum that would include opportunities to travel abroad and that would support the pursuit of more than one course of study. At RPI, I was able to enroll as a co-terminal student, which has allowed me to work toward completing a master’s in architectural lighting design at the same time as my bachelor’s in architecture.”
Pearson traveled to Argentina with fellow architecture students, learning the philosophy and aesthetic of a completely different culture. He and his three Argentine partners received an honorable mention award for their submission to ISARCH, an international competition. During his semester at the Center for Architecture Science and Ecology at SOM in New York City, he studied the process that plants use to remove contaminants from the air and ground and how structures can be created to support plant life within office spaces.
At Rensselaer’s Lighting Research Center, Pearson's courses have included the Physics of Light, which helped him gain an appreciation for why light acts the way it does. In Human Factors, he studied circadian rhythms and how lighting can benefit health. “It’s its own science—the human response to lighting,” he noted. While taking Lighting Workshop, Pearson created the lighting control system prototype for Breathing Lights, an art installation that temporarily lit hundreds of abandoned buildings in Albany, Troy, and Schenectady. This spring, he was selected to receive the merit-based IESNYC Scholarship. Currently, he is a lighting consultant for an augmented reality cultural heritage project in Cohoes.
In the Rensselaer School of Architecture, one of the highlights of his year was an architectural studio course that was devoted to conceptual artist Marcel Duchamp. He and his classmates designed the layout of an exhibit at the Tang Museum at Skidmore College. Pearson’s own art was chosen as one of the featured pieces. His debut piece, titled Spect[at]er, is an interactive media exhibit.
His contributions to academic and campus life netted him a Founders Award, the Norman Waxman Memorial Award, a Fourth-Year Faculty Award for Exceptional Design Ability, and numerous other honors. Pearson has volunteered endlessly for campus projects including peer tutoring, tour guiding prospective students, and mentoring incoming freshmen.
With a strong theatrical background, Pearson found the time to choreograph two musical productions with the RPI Players, both earning him TANYS awards. A lifelong dancer, he also joined the RPI Competitive Ballroom Dance Team. “Last season, I competed in 14 to 16 different styles of dance,” he said. ”It’s a lot to keep track of but I enjoy the challenge!”
Pearson seems to have no explanation for his ability to say yes to, and excel at, limitless activities. “It’s easy,” he said, “when there are so many exciting things to work on. In life, it can be simple to get stuck in one track. But at RPI, there are so many inspiring opportunities that I love saying yes and not being limited to doing just one thing.”
Given his love of theater and design, Pearson might well have chosen an art school or a liberal arts college, but at Rensselaer, he is in an environment where he can study the art and the science of what he loves most—architecture and light. “My future plans include pursuing a doctorate degree as well as working with the youth in the community to inspire future builders and designers. Eventually, I hope to be able to realize my dream of working in architectural theme design.”
Commencement 2018 Profile: Cole Funk
A passion for teaching
For all his successes at Rensselaer—a double major in biochemistry and biophysics, with minors in chemistry and psychology thrown in, Dean’s List every semester, a Rensselaer Medal, and several successful game designs, all packed into three years—Cole Funk is especially gratified by one particular accomplishment: Helping other students.
“My most memorable experience has been tutoring my friends and peers in organic chemistry,” he says. “My students rely on me to help them understand the material, expectations of their professors, and how to approach difficult problems. In order to do this, I must understand them, their situation, their problems.”
For four semesters he mentored students in organic chemistry classes and labs. And for three semesters, Funk tutored his favorite subject through the Advising and Learning Assistance Center. These responsibilities often found him working after class, late at night and on weekends, as he balanced his own significant course load. But helping students learn, Funk came to see, was more than a rewarding extracurricular activity or good way to earn money. It was an important part of his own education. By senior year, Funk realized that he wanted to teach.
“It isn’t so much the material I’m teaching but rather the reward of teaching itself I really like,” says Funk, who is interviewing with high schools to teach chemistry, biology, math, or physics. “I’ve gotten great experience testing out different techniques.”
A native of Mesa, Arizona, he was always a strong math and science student. Funk was drawn to Rensselaer because it offers such a broad range of disciplines. And since he had so many AP credits, he skipped most first-year classes and dove into more rigorous courses in organic chemistry and biophysics. He was pleased also to pursue psychology in the School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences.
Funk tackled up to 24 credits at once. He was proud of this, and for creating several functional programs and games in Python, Visual Basic, and C#. But there were times when he also struggled to navigate all the expectations, from simply getting his laundry done all the way to pursuing a career path.
“This, mixed with the realization that you need to figure out every professor's teaching and testing styles while keeping on top of the material in order to get good grades, can be daunting,” he admits.
Funk saw that Rensselaer offered assistance in many forms. Professors and graduate teaching assistants had generous office hours. He learned he that he could use the test bank to get ahead and that students can confidentially request extra time on exams. He relied on the Center for Career and Professional Development to help him develop a resume and prepare for job interviews.
Now he leaves Rensselaer prepared academically, with better organizational skills and a good idea what other students experience. And, a good start as an educator.
“I am grateful for the wide variety of classes and being able to share those interests with future students in hopes that they will find their passion,” Funk notes.
Commencement Profile 2018: Jazmyn Borman
Following the beat of a different drummer
For Jazmyn Borman, choosing a college was easy. One tour of Rensselaer and its nationally ranked Games and Simulation Arts and Sciences (GSAS) Program, and “I knew I wanted to be part of that community.”
It was the right decision then and, four years later, seems smarter than ever.
Borman graduates from Rensselaer May 19 with a Bachelor of Science degree with a dual major in GSAS and computer science and a job as a software engineer with game developer Velan Studios in Troy, N.Y.
That’s only half the story.
Borman also is one of two students to receive the first Bachelor of Music degrees awarded by Rensselaer. And, she has a steady gig with a percussion ensemble—playing a style of music she didn’t discover until she came to Rensselaer.
“I could not have done this anywhere else,” Borman said.
She became acquainted with Afro-Cuban rhythms almost by accident. Borman was registering for classes, looking for an arts elective, and someone recommended Introduction to Afro-Cuban Percussion. One class led to another, and soon Borman was taking private conga lessons, composing music, and performing with three ensembles: Roots of Africa, the Afro-Cuban Jazz Orchestra, and Ensemble Congeros. She will continue to play with Ensemble Congeros after graduating.
By the end of her senior year, Borman had 21 drumming credits and enough additional music credits to qualify for the music degree that Rensselaer introduced in fall 2017. The degree program combines depth in music with breadth in the sciences, media, and engineering to prepare musicians for careers in creative professions.
Although it’s exciting to be among the first to earn the degree, that was not Borman’s intent. She took the classes for pure enjoyment and “the satisfaction of learning to master the instrument.”
Her passion for conga drumming is not surprising. When Borman is interested in something, she gives it her all. Not long after joining the computer security club, RPISEC, Borman realized that some students—including her—would do better in a more introductory environment. “The material was designed for a more advanced student,” she said. “We were being thrown in too deep, too quickly.”
Some students were intimidated and left. Borman opted for a different approach. Along with a fellow student, she founded an offshoot organization called IntroSec, and developed a series of lectures and supplemental materials to help students fill in the gaps. That work led to an invitation to present at a hackathon sponsored by the Association for Computing Machinery’s Council on Women in Computing.
Borman complemented her classroom and extracurricular activities with internships at Regeneron Pharmaceuticals and the Blackstone Group. She also took full advantage of Rensselaer connections. A local networking event, The Business of Digital Games, introduced her to her new employer, Velan Studios, a company with strong ties to Rensselaer. Co-founders Guha and Karthik Bala ’97 were named the 2013 Rensselaer Entrepreneurs of the Year.
Equally important, Velan’s emphasis on innovation resonates with Borman. And its location—in the same city as Ensemble Congeros—means she can keep drumming.
About Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, founded in 1824, is America’s first technological research university. For nearly 200 years, Rensselaer has been defining the scientific and technological advances of our world. Rensselaer faculty and alumni represent 86 members of the National Academy of Engineering, 17 members of the National Academy of Sciences, 25 members of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, 8 members of the National Academy of Medicine, 8 members of the National Academy of Inventors, and 5 members of the National Inventors Hall of Fame, as well as 6 National Medal of Technology winners, 5 National Medal of Science winners, and a Nobel Prize winner in Physics. With 7,000 students and nearly 100,000 living alumni, Rensselaer is addressing the global challenges facing the 21st century—to change lives, to advance society, and to change the world. To learn more, go to www.rpi.edu.
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