Miscellaneous

IEEE Day Event Successfully Held at Georgia Tech

On Oct. 4, I have organized a four-hour workshop on printed circuit board (PCB) design and manufacturing in collaboration with speakers from the NCAB Group, a leading global PCB supplier. It is held on Georgia Tech campus and free lunch and swag were provided to all attendees. This workshop is doubly significant. First, it marks the first in-person event of the IEEE Power Electronics Society (PELS) Atlanta Chapter since the COVID-19 pandemic (we went virtual for three years). Second, it is one of the IEEE Day 2022 events that are taking place around the globe on Oct. 4 and 5.

The planning and organization process faced several difficulties, including the departure of several IEEE PELS Atlanta Chapter officers in 2022. However, thanks to the help from other IEEE Atlanta Section members as well as a good rapport with the Georgia Tech student groups (e.g., IEEE GT, IEEE GT PES, GTSWE, GTSBE, GTSHPE), I was able to successfully run the whole event. Overall, this was a great experience and I am also extremely glad to see that the workshop attracted a diverse crowd!

ECCE Student Attendance Grant

I have been selected to be a recipient of 2022 ECCE Student Attendance Grant. This is one of the top energy conversion conferences and I will be presenting my paper on cyber-physical systems security. I look forward to visiting Detroit in Fall!

The Renaissance – The Age of Awakening

An abridged version of my previous essay (a feeble attempt to historical analysis and interpretation…)

The Renaissance is the age of awakening.  It is the age of change because Europeans were no longer satisfied with their current situations, and eagerly desired to learn more about the world.  Many changes that took place during the Renaissance are still relating to people’s lives today.  Then, a question arises: “To what extend should the Renaissance be considered ‘modern’?”  The art people paint nowadays is very similar to the ones in the Renaissance since they all have, for example, realistic human features and perspectives.  The Renaissance ideal of a man formed the basis of its modern counterpart, and the mannerism suggested by Castiglione still applies to various kinds of people today.  Nonetheless, there are drawbacks in the Renaissance.  The most notable one is the declining status of women.  Therefore, a myriad of evidence leads to the answer that the Renaissance was predominantly modern but with some medieval aspects.

The Renaissance paintings, patronized by wealthy merchants, were mostly inspired by classic Greek and Roman ideals, whereas in medieval art, which was patronized by the church, religion was the dominant theme.  Also, the elements in the Renaissance art are more proportional and realistic than the ones in the medieval paintings.  The concept of perspective was also established during this period: “Consequently, the desire to emulate the three-dimensional quality of sculpture may have encouraged painters to model their figures in light and shade and thereby suggest a sense of volume.” (Stirton 15).   In the painting Mythological Subject by Piero di Cosimo, the faces of the faun and the dead nymph are very emotional, and elements of nature are utilized.  There are shadow and perspective in this picture, and it is thought to tell the story of “The Death of Procris”.  On the other hand, the medieval art, The Effects of Good Government by Ambrogio Lorenzetti, does not portray a sense of space.  There is no shadow and perspective in it, and the human beings are odd and stiff, which is a feature that will not appear in the modern paintings.  Therefore, the art techniques had revolutionized during the Renaissance period, and the paintings gradually became more dissimilar than those of the Middle Ages, because they moved one step closer to the modernity.

The medieval ideal of a man emphasizes that he is well-versed in one subject.  Contrary to this, people in the Renaissance believed that a man should be well-rounded, also called polymath – having a broad range of knowledge and always desiring to know more, which is similar to what people believe in the modern times and still practised today.  For instance, the Ontario high school curriculum has compulsory courses for students which include art, civics, physical education, etc. that allow students to have the knowledge in many areas no matter what they are going to study in the future.  In his The Book of the Courtier, Baldesar Castiglione suggested that: “I would wish the Courtier favored in this other respect, and endowed by nature not only with talent and with beauty of countenance and person but with that certain grace which we call an ‘air’, which shall make him at first sight pleasing and lovable to all who see him.”  and “Therefore, let the man we are seeking…always arouses hatred and disgust in all who hear him.”  Undoubtedly, the mannerisms proposed by Castiglione are still useful for people nowadays.  For example, the ‘air’ which Castiglione suggested is called charisma today, and everyone is encouraged to possess it.  There are lessons to teach people how to show their charisma in the interviews or meetings, and certainly, it is one of the most important tools for the ones who want to be successful nowadays.  Therefore, the Renaissance ideals can be considered modern, and they are completely different from the ones in the Middle Ages.

However, some medieval aspects still existed during the Renaissance.  The legal status of women diminished because “a Renaissance woman was supposed to marry well, be loyal to her husband and give birth to boys.” (Renaissance Women).  This quotation illustrates that women in the Renaissance had to be subservient to men, and they could not participate in any activities other than child-rearing or housework.  The laws at that time did not protect women since rapes were not regarded as serious crimes.  Also, there was an increased number of infanticide which showed the inhumane perspective of the Renaissance era.

Changes in art style and expectations for an ideal man corroborate the view that the Renaissance was mostly modern; nevertheless, drawbacks such as ebbing status of women demonstrate that it also had some medieval aspects.  The Renaissance is the period of change that opened up people’s minds, and led to great inventions and adventures in the future.  It is still taking effect today.  Modern art techniques, novel ideals can trace their roots to this era.  The changes were gradual, but they took European or even all the human beings at that time to a new stage of civilization.

References

Brian, Precourt. “Renaissance to Modern Art.” Classical Mythology. University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, n.d.

Castiglione, Baldesar. The Book of the Courtier. New York: Bantam Doubleday Dell, 1959.

Lorenzetti, Ambrogio.  The Effects of Good Government.  1338.  City Hall of Siena, Siena.

“Renaissance vs. Middle Ages .” historysage.com. History Sage, 14 September 2008.

“Renaissance Women.” Renaissance Personalities. Riverdale Junior Secondary School, n.d.

Stirton, aul. Renaissance Painting. 1979.

Classical Music

Playing the flute at U of T.

My top three favourite composers are Gustav Mahler, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and J. S. Bach, for their music express all emotions of the universe. In fact, I regard Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 (Resurrection) as one of the greatest symphonies of all time, and I recommend performances by Bernstein/London Symphony Orchestra and Abbado/Lucerne Festival Orchestra.

Another favourite symphony of mine is Symphony No. 4 by Johannes Brahms and its recording by Kleiber/Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra. This piece stops time and places the listener in an ethereal dimension that reality seems to be far away.

Some YouTube recommendations: