Whether you're into art, atoms, AI, or the outdoors—there’s something for everyone. Don’t miss it!
😄 11:30 AM – The Great Library Primal Scream
Kick off your Monday with a laugh and a collective reset at The Great Library Primal Scream—a quick, fun way to shake off stress and start fresh!
🧭 1:00 PM – Choose Your Adventure!
🎨 University Art Museum Tour: Take a behind-the-scenes tour with Berly Brown and preview the powerful Black Excellence exhibit.
⚛️ Ion Beam Lab Tour: Explore the lab with Andrew Knutson and see how particle acceleration powers cutting-edge research.
🧭 2:45 PM – Pick Your Path!
💻 Supercomputing & AI Tools: Join Jose Sobrinho to discover how UAlbany’s supercomputing and AI tools can elevate your research.
🌿 Campus Ecology Walk: Walk on the wild side with Mary Ellen Mallia during a campus tour, complete with birdwatching and sustainability insights.
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Camp Kickoff: The Great Library Primal Scream |
| Description: Time for a lighthearted stress release! Join our group primal scream—a therapeutic, instinctual yell to let out pent-up tension. This isn't about anger; it’s about a fun, collective reset! On the count of three, we'll let out one mighty roar together. This quick, wonderfully absurd activity is designed to break the tension and leave everyone laughing and refreshed. This will be a great way to collectively clear our heads and start Fall 2025 with a clean slate! |
| Location: Outside of the University Library Main Entrance |
| Presenter: Elaine Lasda |
| Presenter Bio: Library Strategist and Summer Camp organizer |
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Behind-the-Scenes tour of the University Art Museum & Preview of Noel W Anderson: Black Excellence |
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Session Description: In this interactive tour, go behind-the-scenes with Education Coordinator, Berly Brown and other staff to learn more about the University Art Museum’s dynamic learning environment! You will get a preview of our fall 2025 – spring 2026 exhibition, Noel W Anderson: Black Excellence, the internationally renowned artist’s most comprehensive museum exhibition to date featuring newly commissioned suspended and stretched Jacquard tapestries centered on Black labor, identity, and performance. We will also take a brief trip back in time through archival materials telling the story of the UAM’s 1968 exhibition Romare Bearden: Paintings and Projections and its accompanying catalogue essay by Ralph Ellison in Romare Bearden & Ralph Ellison: From the Archive featured in the museum’s Collections Study Space. Including correspondence between Bearden, Ellison, and UAM founding director, Donald Mochon, you will see Ellison’s original manuscript, an essay that soon became an essential work in Ellison’s bibliography, the literature on Bearden, and the history of twentieth-century African American culture. Don't miss this sneak peek of our in-progress installations that are three years in the making before we reopen for the fall and be sure to come back on September 4 between 5:00 – 7:00pm to see the exhibitions in their final iteration, plus an Artist Walkthrough and Reception with Noel W Anderson himself! |
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| Location: University Art Museum | |
| Presenter: Berly Brown, Education Coordinator | |
| Presenter Bio: As the Education Coordinator at the University Art Museum, I work with the museum team to advance museum/faculty relationships and promote interdisciplinary collaborations related to current and upcoming exhibitions and programs that demystify contemporary artistic practices for a range of student and public audiences. Through exhibition-based learning and inquiry-based touring techniques and strategies, I engage students and the public first-hand with contemporary art and artists to learn to think critically about visual culture. In addition to my position at the UAM, I am also a working artist and my own practice informs my ability to understand, interpret, and articulate the nuances of artistic processes. I have shown my work at Collar Works, Troy, NY; The Dairy Center for the Arts, Boulder, CO; Ely Center for Contemporary Art, New Haven, CT; the Hyde Collection, Glen Falls, NY; The Rochester Contemporary Art Center, Rochester, NY; and Tugboat Gallery, Lincoln, NE. I earned my BFA from the University of Nebraska at Lincoln in 2011 and my MFA here at UAlbany in 2017. | |
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| Session Description: Ever wondered what happens when atoms go full throttle? Step inside our Ion Beam Laboratory, where particles get a first‑class ticket to near‑light speed and science takes the wheel. This isn’t your average field trip — it’s a behind‑the‑scenes look at one of UAlbany's particle accelerators. On this guided tour, you’ll stroll past powerful magnets, vacuum tubes, and beamlines that look like they came straight out of a sci‑fi movie. Our friendly guide — part physicist, part storyteller — will decode the mysteries of ion beams without the complicated math, explaining how we accelerate ions to study everything from space radiation, vehicle batteries, and new-age nuclear reactors. You’ll see where ions begin their journey, follow their twisting path through the accelerator, and find out what happens when they finally “crash land” into a target. Spoiler: no explosions, just amazing data that helps us understand our universe and build better technology. Along the way, you’ll hear fun facts, peek at instruments that make engineers geek out, and hopefully capture some great memories or inspiration. Whether you’re a science buff, a curious parent, or just here for the cool Instagram shots, you’ll leave with a new appreciation for the tiny particles that drive our modern-day technology. Buckle up: it’s going to be a positively charged experience! | ||
| Location: Ion Beam Lab B083 - Basement Level corner of Pine Bush and Biology | ||
| Presenter: Andrew Knutson - Ion Beam Lab | ||
| Presenter Bio: I’m the manager of UAlbany’s three particle accelerator lab. I coordinate research with universities, state agencies, and industry partners, which means any given day could involve studying cosmic radiation, testing materials for future spacecraft, or helping someone figure out why their experiment exploded in theory — thankfully, not in the lab. My personal research dives into nuclear physics, especially developing light‑element nuclear reactors. It’s like building a star in miniature — only with more safety checks and fewer supernovas. Outside the lab, I teach freshman physics courses, where I get to introduce students to concepts like “why everything falls down” and “why protons are basically introverts.” Watching that moment when it all clicks — or when someone makes their first bad physics pun — is one of my favorite parts of the job. In short: I smash particles for a living, collaborate with brilliant people, and try to make physics a little less intimidating and a lot more fun. | ||
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Don't Just Compute - Supercompute! Power Up Your Research with UAlbany's Cutting-Edge AI & Supercomputing Resources |
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| Session Description: Join us for a journey into UAlbany's computational powerhouse! We're talking serious horsepower here – AI clusters that can crunch numbers while you sleep, supercomputing resources that laugh in the face of your most complex datasets, and enough processing power to make your laptop weep with envy. In this session, you'll discover the full scope of UAlbany's cutting-edge resources that are just waiting to turbocharge your research. We'll walk you through what services are available, explain the process of getting access, and show you how to go from computational zero to research superhero. And if the tech gods smile upon us, we might even throw in a live demo that'll show these systems in action! Think of it as computational show-and-tell, but with way more processing power and significantly less macaroni art. | |
| Location: Cobb Room | |
| Presenter: Jose Sobrinho | |
| Presenter Bio: As an AI Developer at the Research Technology Services team, I work on the frontlines to help faculty, researchers, and students unlock the full potential of our university's supercomputing systems. In my current role, my days are spent demystifying the world of high-performance computing, turning "How do I even begin?" into "Wow, I can't believe how fast this runs!" I've helped everyone from first-time cluster users who think SSH is just a sound effect, to seasoned researchers looking to scale up their projects. | |
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| Session Description: Lace up your walking shoes and get ready to explore the wild side of campus! Join the Office of Sustainability for a fun, guided tour of UAlbany's hidden natural gems. We'll stroll through campus gardens, discover special spots, and make our way to Indigenous Pond, all while learning about our local ecology. Before we set out, participants will get a quick lesson on bird identification and have the chance to spot and identify some of our feathered friends during the walk. It's a great opportunity to connect with nature and see the campus in a whole new way! Please dress for the weather and wear comfy shoes. | ||
| Location: Minerva Room | ||
| Presenter: Mary Ellen Mallia | ||
| Presenter Bio: Originally from Cobleskill, NY, Mary Ellen began her career in finance after earning her bachelor's degree in economics from Siena College. She worked first at a brokerage firm and then in financial management at GE in Schenectady. She then shifted her career to teaching, earning a master's degree in secondary social science education from UAlbany. For eight years, she taught Economics, Public Policy, and American History at Guilderland High School before returning to Siena College to teach Economics. While teaching, she earned her PhD in Ecological Economics from RPI in August 2006. She assumed the role of Director of Sustainability at UAlbany in 2008, and since then has overseen the creation of the campus' first Climate Action and Sustainability Plan. Her work includes coordinating a wide range of operational and educational initiatives, such as installing solar panels on the podium roof and charging stations for electric vehicles, developing a sustainability minor and a student peer educator program, establishing composting systems for the dining halls, campus center kitchens and offices and leading service-learning projects with community groups. Outside of her professional life, Mary Ellen is an avid nature lover with a deep commitment to animal welfare. | ||
