George Jacob Armentrout
BSA 2024, Mathematical Sciences and Music Technology with a minor in Computational Finance
Algorithmic Composition: An Application of Markov Chains

The application of algorithms to music composition has long been viewed simply as a proof of concept yielding highly experimental results. This project aims to subvert such expectations by utilizing Markov chains in composing musically interesting and harmonically relevant music.

Evelyn Bang
BHA 2024, Philosophy and Art with a minor in Human-Computer Interaction
The Capacity of Connective Disconnection

The ergonomics of the human body and mind can be approached in many ways. One is through technological advancement alongside constant readjustment of how to make the experience between the human and the computer seamless. As it extremely progresses, one potential of the future is for the “over-ergonomification” of technology, making the human body solely depend on machinery to experience life.

Luca Faith Bartman
BSA 2024, Neurobiology and Music Performance
Harmonizing Minds

Developing and utilizing computational model simulations to examine how different musical-based interventions contribute to physiological and biological improvements to individuals with auditory processing delays.

Jude Bissonette
BS 2024, Mechanical Engineering with an additional major in Engineering and Art
Asspire

Asspire is an artistic utensil by which one can make art with their butt. This is done via an IMU and pressure sensor connected to an inflatable buttplug.

Timothy James Carullo
BCSA 2024, Computer Science and Music Performance
Emote: An Original Musical

This BXA capstone project aims to create and produce an original musical, “Emote”, that navigates the intricate landscape of human emotions and the ethical dimensions of AI. The musical employs a wide range of musical genres—jazz, pop, and classical musical theater.

Rui Chang
BSA 2024, Mathematical Sciences and Art with a minor in Human-Computer Interaction
Journey

The journey of exploring the idea of empowerment begins with understanding individual strengths and weaknesses.

Spoorthi Cherivirala
BCSA 2024, Computer Science and Design
From Sketch to City

This project is an exploration of employing applied fabrication and vector illustration techniques to capture the essence of cities around the US, through creating portable and intricate layered wooden maps.

Marilyn Gao
BSA 2024, Biological Sciences and Art with an additional major in Russian Studies
Reversible Refractive Index Matching for Imaging Living Candida Albicans Biofilms

This manuscript investigates the use of iodixanol, a radiographic contrast agent for coronary angiography, in the imaging of live biofilms of Candida albicans. The manuscript is paired with a video montage that explores alternate ways in which quantitative image data can be disseminated in an artistic manner.

Hikari Lyane Harrison
BESA 2024, Engineering Studies and Drama
Spring Carnival Animal Crossing Booth

The Animal Crossing Booth explores the balance of logistical planning and implementation to create a large-scale collaborative project. From the beginning stages of recruitment to managing a team of 130 people, the project brings together crafts, arts, painting, building, and design for display during Spring Carnival weekend.

Anthony Y.H. Hong
BESA 2024, Engineering Studies and Music Technology
Stochaostic Process

Stochaostic process is intended to be a stochastic drum machine that transforms drum sequences into chaotic sounds.

Julian Hsieh
BHA 2024, Global Systems & Management and Music Performance
Twitter Bot For Musicians

This twitter bot will allow musicians to automate daily online interaction by posting content from a curated list.

Inés Rodriguez Hsu
BSA 2024, Physics and Art
Falling into a Black Hole

Black holes are among the most mysterious and fascinating objects in space, with a gravitational pull so strong that not even light can escape them. This virtual reality experience lets users travel through a galaxy and fall into a supermassive black hole, observing the physical and gravitational effects surrounding it.

Ellis Carson Jones
BHA 2024, Literature & Culture and Design
Dare Not Speak

Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray and Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women were both published, re-edited by their authors, and then republished to remove queer content from the novels. This project visually represents the self-censorship performed on both of these books through a hand-bound copy of each book.

Nicholas Jun
BHA 2024, Film & Visual Media and Architecture
Fallingwater

Fallingwater is a short film that follows a directionless college student’s search for their major.

Anabelle Masina Kang
BHA 2024, Creative Writing and Art with a minor in Film and Media Studies
Rabbit, Hollow

Rabbit, Hollow is a stop-motion animated short film seen through the eyes of a tragic pet rabbit.

Emily Marie Krueger
BSA 2024, Biological Sciences and Art
A Practice in Science Communication

This project involves collaboration with a biology lab at CMU to provide illustrations and design to better communicate technical scientific concepts. This includes a figure for a published journal article and a lab logo.

Clara Ga-Eun Lee
BHA 2024, Ethics, History, & Public Policy and Architecture
The Feasibility of High-Speed Rail Within the United States

This project is a written proposal for a federally owned high speed rail system within the United States. In this proposal, it includes a brief history of American federally owned public rail, a discussion of case studies of foreign high-speed rail systems, potential suggestions as to how this can be implemented in the US, as well as the benefits it would bring to the country.

Ethan Lee
BSA 2024, Biological Sciences and Music Performance
Reliable Detection of Genetic Modification in Soy and Corn Food Products

Commercially grown soy bean and corn plants are often genetically modified to contain transgenes that help optimize crop yield, and these genes usually remain intact even after the plants are processed into food products. This project focuses on reliable detection of these transgenes in various food products through PCR optimization.

Kaisa Grace Lee
BHA 2023, Ethics, History, & Public Policy and Drama
Art is a Form of Love: Art as Means to Assert Humanity, Rebellion, and Ownership in the American Carceral System

A research project focused on the role art in prison plays for incarcerated people to assert their humanity within a system of mass incarceration and oppression. This project utilized historical research, critical analysis of policy and legislation, and firstperson interviews and discussions to craft a dynamic picture of the importance of art in prison.

Eric Li
BCSA 2023, Computer Science and Music Performance
Efficient and Immersive Adaptive Video Game Music

This project proposes an adaptive music system designed to make video game music more than just background ambiance, but still efficient enough for usage in modern performance-intensive games. The system is showcased through a mod of Hollow Knight, involving a new boss whose actions determine the flow of the music.

Connor Viani Maas
BCSA 2024, Computer Science and Music Technology
Flik Social Networking
This project addresses the challenges faced by users of existing social networking apps by developing a new and improved platform that offers a more efficient and user-friendly experience.

Joey Mok
BESA 2023, Engineering Studies and Music Performance
Stage Light Control Interface

An exploration into the electronic control of visual effects and their usage in a live concert setting.

Bridget Amanda Nance
BHA 2024, Cognitive Neuroscience and Music Performance with a minor in Music Theory
Musical Performance Anxiety in Wind Players

This two-part project consists of a reflection based on personal experience preparing and performing a complete senior recital in January of 2024, as well as the results of a survey on characteristics and coping mechanisms of MPA in wind players.

Valerie Joy Nayak
BCSA 2024, Computer Science and Drama
Global Majority Artists and Their Plays in Contemporary American Theatre

This project examines contemporary plays by global majority artists and how they get produced. It includes analysis of plays, research on production histories, and interviews with artists and industry professionals to shed light on the production processes of these often underrepresented voices.

Annie Nguyen
BHA 2024, Creative Writing and Drama
The Joy Luck Club

Carnegie Mellon is home to a substantial AAPI community but no Asian Studies degree program. The Joy Luck Club is a transformation of Link Lounge, an underutilized space on campus, into a free Asian Studies reference library and lounge to enrich our community and address this disparity in education.

Janika Ja-Min Oh
BS 2024, Mechanical Engineering with an additional major in Engineering and Music
Wearable Sensor Gloves for Music Control

Immersive music experiences can allow artists to express their art through new ways enabled by advances in technologies. This project involves the prototyping of gloves fitted with multiple haptic sensors to obtain real-time data for the control of musical effects or instruments.

Sion Park
BHA 2024, Social & Political History and Art
Art Forgery Research Project

This research paper touches upon why and how replicated, fake artworks are being invented and what the motivations are behind these deliberate creations. It focuses on the advent of AI and how it has affected the forging artists.

Angela Ren
BHA 2024, Ethics, History, & Public Policy and Art with a minor in Creative Writing
Bodies Ungendered: the Construction and Destruction of the Revolutionary Women during the Chinese Cultural Revolution

A research paper analyzing the Chinese Communist Party’s nuanced policies and their effects during the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution. The research focuses on the contrast between the ideological images in media and the reality experienced by women across China from 1966 to 1976.

Peggy Shen
BHA 2024, Information Systems and Art with a minor in Human-Computer Interaction
Black Box Armor

Black Box Armor is an art installation that delves into the concept of “technological intimacy” by juxtaposing opaque black boxes with transparent casing, exploring themes of human vulnerability and connection. Incorporating canvas paintings of circuitry patterns and tenderness alongside a glass number pad, it navigates the boundaries between openness and inaccessibility.

Bernard Sheng
BHA 2024, Information Systems and Music Performance with a minor in Human-Computer Interaction
Twitter Bot for Musicians

Twitter Bot for Musicians automates online interaction with posts curated from a premade list.

Juniper Spiegel
BSA 2024, Chemistry and Music Performance
Emote

This musical pulls together musical elements from various genres to create a new take on the musical theater style.

Zachary Joseph Sussman
BCSA 2024, Computer Science and Music Technology
A Programming Languages Based Approach to a Theory of Music

This project, inspired by the work of Lerdhal and Jackendoff’s linguistic based theory of music, aims to further illuminate the human musical experience. It offers a new view of the cognitive experience of music which is formalized through the lens of computer science.

Carmyn Talento
BSA 2024, Physics and Music Performance
Interplanetary Harmonics

This computer program processes audio and converts it to the way it would be perceived on the surfaces of other planets.

Grayson Elizabeth Ticer
BHA 2024, Decision Science and Art
Economic Influences of Storytelling

This multi-part study focuses on the kinds and content of stories people tell. The goal of this study is to better understand how cultural influences can impact the way people make important financial decisions.

Heying Wang
BHA 2024, Psychology and Art with an additional major in Human-Computer Interaction
Ice-breaking, Summer 2021

The project explores topics related to gender through written essays that delve into the formation and prevalence of toxic masculinity and systematic sexual discrimination. It culminates in the art-making process of a video piece, which presents a visual and emotional portrayal of the exploration of the concepts discovered through research and personal experiences.

Annika Wu
BCSA 2024, Computer Science and Music Technology
SonicGesture: Harnessing Sound with Smart Glove Control

This project is a glove that allows for live audio effect manipulation using finger flexing and button pressing. It serves as a tool to bring electronic musicians away from the computer and add movement to music making.

Laura Yu Wu
BCSA 2024, Computer Science and Music Technology
Dimensions

Dimensions is an album of original music, composed of spatial audio pieces specifically for any stereo listening experience, such as headphones.

Shuyi (Zoe) Yang
BSA 2024, Biological Sciences and Art with a minor in Psychology
Salvation

This project is a graphic novel aimed to honor my cats, closely examining the deeper meaning behind owning a pet and the weight of life.

Zixin Yang
BSA 2024, Mathematical Sciences and Art with minors in Game Design and Human-Computer Interaction
Shoal

This is a game design project with the goal of crafting an emotionally immersive virtual experience by materializing abstract feelings and thoughts. The narrative draws inspiration from extensive research into Alzheimer’s disease.

Cheryl Zhang
BHA 2024, Humanities Analytics and Music Performance with an additional major in French and Francophone Studies and a minor in Human-Computer Interaction
Paris Mosaïque

Paris Mosaïque is a multimedia website that explores the Asian diaspora in the 13th arrondissement of Paris. The event consists of a presentation and round-table discussion of this thesis project taking place in the town hall of the 13th arrondissement.

Tianan Zhang
BHA 2024, Film & Visual Media and Art with a minor in Photography
Polaroid Real+

This project involves capturing photographs as portraits and polaroid through scanning subjects with 3D technology, importing them into a virtual shooting studio. It engages the audience to explore the realness, and the fidelity, of photography in context of a virtual world.

Shangyi Zhu
BSA 2024, Mathematical Sciences and Music Technology
Koi Globe

This capstone project is a VR music composition game.

Ilona Emma Altman
BHA 2023, Decision Science and Art
Art, the Body, and Sustainable Urban Development: The Case of Nine Mile Run

In the 1990s, a section of Pittsburgh’s water infrastructure was transformed from a barren sewage dumping site into a thriving wetland ecosystem. Through writing and art, this project documents how this transformation unfolded, and reflects on how art can play a pivotal role in connecting people to nature, and thus foster sustainable development and decision-making.

Angelica Maria Bonilla Fominaya
BCSA 2023, Computer Science and Art
Knitting Myself a Home

This project is a sculptural installation that explores a fully knit interior space reminiscent of a childhood home.

Michelle Anqi Cao
BHA 2023, Film & Visual Media and Art with a minor Animation and Special Effects
CGA Studios Showreel Project

This project, as part of CMU’s animation club CGA Studios, seeks innovation and collaboration by teaming up with students across departments and majors to create a short animation. Animation is quite notoriously time consuming and often requires a metaphorical village to produce. The initiative aims to create a hub for CMU’s animation community to share resources, learn from each other and lower barriers to experiencing the joys of the medium.

Sarah Di
BCSA 2023, Computer Science and Art
Playful Foods

This project is an exploration of the making, displaying and consumption of food to foster interpersonal connections. Through installation and video, Playful Foods examines comfort and discomfort within eating, which reflects on the greater psychological climate induced by the pandemic.

Adam Grant
BCSA 2023, Computer Science and Art
Host

This video is a speculation on the future of our social life after social media and artificial intelligence, and a documentation of a party planned and hosted by ChatGPT.

Himalini Gururaj
BCSA 2023, Computer Science and Art with a minor in Animation and Special Effects
Generative Drawing Assemblage

This online tool allows users to make small drawing tiles and then generatively assembles them into a larger drawing according to user annotations on the smaller tiles. This outputs an SVG which can be used with a pen plotter.

Megan Matlida Julien
BHA 2023, Psychology and Music Performance
We’re Going Places!

Collaboration is a key part of stepping into new spaces and succeeding in any space in your career. This recital emphasizes the importance of collaboration.

Sabine Jung
BHA 2023, Decision Science and Music Performance with a minor in Human-Computer Interaction
The Importance of Relationships at CMU

The project is a review of the importance of relationships in the CMU body, as well as personal reflections.

Elena F. Keogh
BHA 2023, Global Studies and Drama
Livestaff: A Showcase of Student Musicians

A live music event for CMU and Pitt house bands and musicians, for the purpose of studying how these communities respond to informal student music spaces.

Ashley Yeunju Kim
BCSA 2023, Computer Science and Art with an additional major in Human-Computer Interaction
Equipoise

Equipoise is a Kinect-based real-time interactive media installation that explores the fragile boundary between idealization and reality in our lives. Through the constant generation of abstract motion in response to the audience’s movement, the installation reminds the audience of the control and choices they have in every moment.

Rahjshiba Amin Koanda
BCSA 2023, Computer Science and Music Technology
A Film Musicology Lecture

This project is a 45-minute lecture exploring film musicology.

Benjamin Joseph Krummenacher
BSA 2023, Biological Sciences and Art
Objects Toward a Pure Picnic

A process through which picnic objects from cartoons such as The Yogi Bear Show and Tom and Jerry can be authentically and purely brought into real life.

Lauren Kung
BCSA 2023, Computer Science and Art
Enchanted Objects

Enchanted Objects is a kinetic, interactive ceramic sculpture. It is an examination of how technologies exist outside of a focus on efficiency, ergonomics, and simplicity and satisfy some fundamental human desires.

Erin Sumin Lee
BSA 2022, Chemistry and Art
열공펜 (Ink Bleed)

열공펜 (Ink Bleed) is a pen that converts nosebleed into working ink real-time as part of a social commentary. Nosebleeds are often portrayed as an indication of overworking yourself, which is celebrated due to the daunting pressure of academic achievement as the route to success.

Henry Winston Liu
BSA 2023, Neurobiology and Music Performance
Cooperative Skill Mechanistic Analysis: An ERP Approach

Cooperative skill is an important component in everyday life. This study investigates the neural correlates of cooperation and the mechanisms behind human interaction.

Stefan Mason
BCSA 2022, Computer Science and Music Performance
Melody Master

Melody Master is a game intended for music education where users learn to play the piano on their own computer keyboard.

Barry Steven Mortichesky III
BSA 2023, Neurobiology and Music Composition
Bread, Wine, Love & Anger: An Evocative Approach to Defining the Social Psychology of Love

This composition is a choral song cycle on five romantic poems by the Chilean senator and Nobel laureate, Pablo Neruda, from his 1952 collection “The Captain’s Verses.” They are ordered as a chronicle of the cyclical process of modern human love, from infatuation to reconciliation, in a keenly expressive medium.

David Nam
BSA 2023, Biological Sciences and Music Performance
The Art of Selling

The Art of Selling is greatly influenced by Jordan Belfort’s Way of the Wolf. It showcases the psychology and art of persuasion and influence while also emphasizing the importance of trust and emotion.

Won Woo Nam
BCSA 2022, Computer Science and Art
Beyond Canvas

This app is targeted to art students seeking critique on their work. Once a piece of artwork is uploaded, other users can offer feedback so artists can grow and develop into well-trained professionals.

William Charles Ozeas
BCSA 2023, Computer Science and Music Composition with a minor in Game Design
SongBox

SongBox is a short video game that lets the player collaborate with the game creator to make music. The game uses Unity as a game engine and Max/MSP with RNBO for audio processing.

Sohye Park
BHA 2023, Decision Science and Art with a minor in Media Design
Wheel of Life

This project explores how movement and interactivity push the limitations of traditional, static art and can create a different visual experience for the artist and the audience.

Shivanand Peri
BCSA 2023, Computer Science and Art
SlicedBread

SlicedBread is a browser-based CAD software that allows users to design and manipulate 3D models without the need for expensive desktop software. It offers an intuitive interface and powerful tools for creating and exporting designs.

John James Quinlan
BCSA 2023, Computer Science and Music Performance
Nodes & Notes: A Graph Theory-Informed Approach to Chord Progressions

This project provides a framework for musicians to generate chord progressions with chosen characteristics, to inspire improvisation, composition and more. Along with the functionality is a writeup explaining the project from a theoretical point of view and an animated visualizer reflecting the chord progressions being generated.

Audrey Jeanne Renouf
BHA 2023, Humanities Analytics and Art with an additional major in Human-Computer Interaction
In Canon

An interactive digital performance of four translations of Euripedes’s Tragedy of Medea, this project explores how socio-political factors influence and change the language and emotion expressed in different translations of the play throughout the 19th and 21st century.

William Rinkoff
BCSA 2023, Computer Science and Music Technology
tidalvim_lua

A neovim plugin to interface with the livecoding language Tidalcycles.

Annalise Rodgers
BHA 2023, Environmental & Sustainability Studies and Music Performance
Arbitrary Boundaries

This project is a series of opinion editorial articles written to explore both the environmental and sustainability field and the music industry through the research questions: Why do arbitrary limitations and boundaries exist and are they useful or should we break them? If U.S. society should adopt more habits that serve us and the ecosystem we thrive in, can we expand what that looks like by pushing boundaries and exploring new perspectives?

Justin Seungchan Ryu
BS 2023, Materials Science and Engineering with an additional major in Engineering and Music, a minor in Animation and Special Effects, and a minor in Global Systems and Management
History of Materials for Instrument Construction

Materials have drastically changed how instruments are made and this paper analyzes how different properties of materials and historical technological developments show a large correlation to instrument construction.

Julie Rebecca Scharf
BHA 2023, Creative Writing and Drama
The Slipping Nymph

The Slipping Nymph is an original illustrated fairy tale about a young nymph exploring their identity by shapeshifting into different river creatures. The story was based on a series of costumes accepted into the Prague Quadrennial of Performance Design and Space on view in the Emerging Designer exhibition this summer.

Karina Harshavardhan Shethia
BS 2023, Mechanical Engineering with an additional major in Engineering and Architecture
Calm Within Chaos, Chaos Within Calm

A series of frosted acrylic stones that light up when stepped on, depict different visualizations of chaos. The interactive installation seeks to create a place for people to reflect on their own internal chaos and get some introspective relief from how overwhelming turbulence can sometimes feel.

Abigail Kucinski Stewart
BHA 2023, Anthropology and Music Performance
Community Music in the Digital Age: How Technological Advancements are Impacting Communal and Individual Identity Within the Digital Youth

Community resists categorization because it is shaped by the participants it serves and music is a consistent community builder around world. This project explores how technology has changed the way communities surrounding music interact.

Xin Ran (Mia) Tang
BCSA 2023, Computer Science and Design
Art AI-pprentice

Art AI-pprentice is an experiment probing at how to integrate visual generative models into the natural workflow of artists, and inspire meaningful, useful interactions that benefit the creative.

Allyson M. Tayao
BHA 2023, Global Studies and Art
A Computer is a Loom: Historical, Material and Embodied Entanglements Between Digital Technologies & Handweaving

This qualitative research project combines frameworks from digital humanities, feminist historiographies and pluriversal design to illustrate the many entanglements between weaving and computational technologies. It argues that the kind of embodied, tactile knowledge-building inherent in handweaving also provides a means of structuring and recuperating our attentional agency in today’s digital sphere.

Ajunie Virk
BHA 2023, Film & Visual Media and Art with a minor in Animation and Special Effects
Acedia

Acedia uses projection mapping and slow-motion animation to create the visual illusion of a stained glass window come to life.

Shuyu S. Zhang
BCSA 2023, Computer Science and Art
Growing Pains

Growing Pains is a 3D installation questioning the relationship between sensation, nature and our place in it all. It’s a combination of soft sculpture and computational embroidery.

Yunyi Zhang
BCSA 2023, Computer Science and Art
Studying Walking Behaviors in Virtual Versus Real Environments

Do people behave similarly in Virtual Reality (VR) as in the real world? This project compares walking behavior and subjective experience in VR versus real environments.

Gillian Bartholomew
BSA 2022, Physics and Music Performance
Catharsis: A Senior Recital

This recital encapsulates four years of hard work, in spite of mental and physical hardship. While the performance itself may be ephemeral, the emotional release and dispersion, and subsequent memory, lends music its permanence.

Rouan Chen
BHA 2022, Global Systems & Management and Art with a minor in Business Administration
RECOLLECTION

This project is a series of sculptural works reflecting upon personal experience as a consumer and existing problems within the market by exploring relationships and interactions between consumers and commodities.

James Crews
BS 2022, Chemical Engineering with an additional major in Engineering and Music
Quantifying Methane Emissions from Landfills

This project is focused on using publicly available satellite data and imagery to determine methane emission rates from landfills.

Olivia Cunnally
BHA 2022, Film & Visual Media and Art with a minor in Game Design
The Unfinished Business of Marty Melnick

The Unfinished Business of Marty Melnick is a prototype for an interactive, point-and-click 15-minute children’s TV pilot that centers on mature morals and LGBTQ representation.

Nikolas Diamant
BCSA 2022, Computer Science and Art
Wizards

A solo gallery show of sculptures, paintings and interactive digital work at The Frame Gallery.

Evelyn DiSalvo
BHA 2022, Ethics, History, & Public Policy and Design
Mapping Cultural Regeneration: Museums, Public Space and Community in Barcelona

Urban renewal is a constant and controversial factor in the design of our cities. Cultural regeneration initiatives such as the construction of museums and arts programming offer new and less violent methods of revitalization. This project visualizes the impact of cultural regeneration in Barcelona and offers suggestions for a more equitable implementation of urban redevelopment.

Alexander Kampas
BCSA 2022, Computer Science and Music Performance
Autobach

Music composition has long been considered a purely artistic act. Autobach ventures to explore how music can be written algorithmically with the use of computers, independent of humans.

Lily Kincannon
BHA 2022, Social & Political History and Drama with a minor in Gender Studies
Indigenous Americans, Disease and the U.S. Federal Government

A historical research paper attempting to understand the experiences and relationship of certain Indigenous American communities with the U.S. Federal Government, health and disease.

Eileen Lee
BHA 2021, Psychology and Art with an additional major in Human-Computer Interaction
Grow a Garden: An Exhibition about Plants and Nature

Grow a Garden is an interdisciplinary exhibition about plants and nature. The exhibition contemplates our unique pasts and perspectives in the care and coexistence of plants, to re-imagine a future with a celebration of nature.

Sanna Legan
BHA 2022, Global Systems & Management and Art with a minor in Gender Studies
The Venus Project: Reclaiming and Redefining the Epitome of Beauty

The Venus Project is a series of large-scale collages that recreate iconic paintings of the goddesses of beauty. Through the combination of reclaiming classical male-gaze interpretations of goddesses, a community coming together to embrace their naked bodies, and mundane everyday activities, this art project has the potential to begin a vital conversation on what it means to be beautiful.

Cindy Liu
BHA 2022, Decision Science and Art with an additional major in Human-Computer Interaction
MoodCup

MoodCup is a drinking cup that live-monitors and visualizes users’ emotions. When encountering a negative emotion, users can choose to “dissolve” it in the cup and thus receive emotional relief.

Zofia Majewski
BHA 2022, Politics & Public Policy and Music Performance
Transgenerational Trauma in Polish Classical Music

This capstone is a recording of an opera aria that shows transgenerational trauma in the Polish community through an auditory lens. Its larger effort is to highlight those themes in polish folk stories, the one in particular being told in Moniuszco’s “Halka,” a Polish Opera written in the mid-1800s.

Shambhavi Mishra
BHA 2022, Humanities Analytics and Music Composition with a minor in Sonic Arts
Beautiful Utopias: A Visual Album

Beautiful Utopias: A Visual Album analyzes social and cultural biases of Western beauty trends influenced by social media and on-screen entertainment. This visual album features a diverse group of musicians expressing their unique relationship with beauty.

Thomas Moore
BSA 2022, Mathematical Sciences and Art
MEMESTRANSPRO

The artist’s investigation of surveillance, memes and the psychology of the networked user through studio artworks, archival and critical inquiry, and automated digital interventions.

Perry Naseck
BESA 2022, Engineering Studies and Art
Hidden Touch: Open Source Sensors for New Interaction

This project develops and tests inexpensive capacitive touch sensors for artists and makers. These are physical computing circuit boards that may be completely embedded and hidden in objects to create new and discoverable forms of interaction. They detect human presence, touch and proximity in localized areas, around sculptures and installations.

Liam O’Connell
BHA 2022, Social & Political History and Architecture
Intersections

This project documents the experience of navigating Pittsburgh as a pedestrian, and the ramifications of policy choices that have, over decades, deprioritized and pushed to the sidelines those getting around without a car.

Sophia Paul
BS 2022, Materials Science and Engineering with an additional major in Engineering and Art and a minor in Soft Technologies
Origarments: 3D Printed Pop-up Textiles in Modular Fashion

Origarments are interlocking 3D printed tiles that can be arranged into environment-responsive garments.

Claire Peck
BESA 2022, Engineering Studies and Music Technology
Songs for Spirits: Creating Soundtracks for Interactive Media

The project investigates the processes and challenges involved with scoring a piece of media.

Cleo Perez
BCSA 2022, Computer Science and Drama
Canopy: Safe Spaces in Queer Party Production

This project explores design and production considerations in queer party planning in order to ensure the emotional and physical safety of its audience. Through a survey of current research, interviews with industry professionals and a few small parties, this project invites venues and planners to consider safer space policies.

Sanjay Salem
BCSA 2022, Computer Science and Art with a minor in Animation and Special Effects and a minor in Game Design
Heart In the Code

A visual novel, choose-your-own-adventure-style game centered around personifications of courses and well-known assignments from CMU, with a dating simulation element.

Miles Scharff
BHA 2017, Ethics, History & Public Policy and Art with a minor in Architecture
Spatial Audio Installation Through Wave Field Synthesis

An originally designed and constructed wave field synthesis system, which allows for the fluid reconstruction and placement of spatial sound sources. This system is meant for site-specific audio installations and will be installed in Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens for their summer show on Impressionism.

Annalyn Smith
BHA 2022, Social & Political History and Art with a minor in Anthropology
Walnuts, Rings and Bears: Oh My! Variations of “Allerleirauh”

This project explores through illustration the iterations and variations of the fairy tale “Allerleirauh,” or “All-Kinds-of-Fur.” Illustrations for different versions and tellings encourage the viewer to consider the content and tonal shifts between versions.

Katherine Stargiotti
BHA 2022, Decision Science and Music Technology
Love Songs

This capstone project is an EP of music that explores love from two different perspectives. The tracks are written, recorded and engineered entirely by student musicians.

Emily Stark
BHA 2022, Professional Writing and Drama
Are We in Balance?

A creative nonfiction essay on the School of Drama student experience and how students balance their personal lives, workload and goals…or don’t.

Song Tang
BHA 2022, Decision Science and Art with an additional major in Human-Computer Interaction and a minor in Media Design
Trace

Trace is an interactive installation examining the relationship between people’s movement and their surrounding environment while walking.

Justin Villalon
BESA 2022, Engineering Studies and Art
Flesh to Earth

Flesh to Earth is a reflection upon notions of home and rebirth. This sculpture is carefully cultivated, embedding archival photographs, domestic artifacts and performance documentation in raw material as a means of complicating their physicality and the narratives they construct.

Calvin Wamser
BHA 2022, Global Studies and Music Composition with a minor in Conducting and a minor in Gender Studies
Decameron: Operatic Selections

A concert-style reading of selections of an original opera based on the 1353 novel “The Decameron” by Giovanni Boccaccio. The story follows ten young people as they quarantine together in the outskirts of Florence for ten days, telling stories and singing songs to pass the time and to hold onto a sense of community.

Winfred Wang
BCSA 2022, Computer Science and Music Performance
Music In My Soul

A collection of projects created in an effort to reconnect with his passion for piano performance and the people in the music community. It contains music as well as interdisciplinary projects including a piano recital, generating music based off of personal Spotify playlists and a music education application.

Lena Banchero
BHA 2021, Global Studies and Drama with a minor in Art
In My Dreams

In My Dreams is a livestreamed theater piece in which Lena Banchero designed the set and worked with the creative team to devise the material.

Anna Sophia Boyd
BHA 2021, German Studies and Music Performance
Translating Belonging: German-Jewish Poetry in Classical Art Song

This capstone consists of an online performance, analysis and program notes that examines the works of two German-Jewish poets and their interpretation in classical art song.

Christian Broms
BHA 2021, Cognitive Science and Art with an additional major in Human-Computer Interaction
Pith

Pith is a branching discussion system that builds on an electronic direct democracy and aims to provide a way for many people to have a conversation, make decisions, explore a topic space and summarize their progress.

Maggie Caballero
BHA 2021, Economics and Music Performance with a minor in Business Administration
Forecasting the Future of the Arts

This project is a projection of the future financial growth of the arts industry by observing both microeconomic and macroeconomic data about the sector.

Sebastian Carpenter
BCSA 2021, Computer Science and Design
Zobits

Zobits is a creative toy that simulates biomes. Players can select four from a set of sixteen organisms to assemble onto a pad and watch their chosen ecosystem develop over the course of a week.

Haine Cho
BCSA 2020, Computer Science and Art
Procedural Symmetry

In general, repetitive behaviors and rituals can be very effective in increasing focus and reducing stress. This project aims to explore symmetry and repetition as a source of therapy.

Emma Cordray
BHA 2021, Hispanic Studies and Drama
Esperanza Rising: The Musical

Esperanza Rising: The Musical is a bilingual Mexican musical adapted from Pam Muñoz Ryan's iconic novel by Jimena Caballero and Emma Cordray.

Oscar Dadfar
BCSA 2020, Computer Science and Art with a minor in Computer Graphics, a minor in Machine Learning and a minor in Physics
3A2A: 3D-Assisted 2D Animation

Researching a 2D hand-drawn animation pipeline that allows anyone, regardless of drawing ability, to create hand-drawn animations. Stick figure drawings from the user are parsed and used to animate a 3D model backend that is cel-shaded to produce 2D reference images for hand-drawn animation.

Yumeng Du
BCSA 2021, Computer Science and Art
Lumiland

This capstone is a 3D block-pushing puzzle game about light and shadow. It was released on Steam in February 2021.

Kaitlyn Fong
BSA 2021, Physics and Art
Breathing Space

This capstone is the video documentation of a kinetic installation involving four blooming paper cut stories. As we live in a virtual space this piece acknowledges the act of living within a COVID context from 2020 to 2021.

Milana Heifetz
BHA 2021, Global Systems & Management and Music Performance
Music in the German Language

This capstone examines how the German language and culture affect the music that was written by German-speaking composers. How do those composers create their own language by utilizing elements of the German language and culture?

Fengyi Hu
BHA 2021, Japanese Studies and Art
Yamanote Line Walking

By walking along the most essential train line in Tokyo, this photography project explores the history and urban culture of Japan.

Aerin Kim
BHA 2021, Decision Science and Musicology with a minor in Business Administration
Wellness at CMU

The project focuses on studying general wellness of CMU students based on varying levels of sleep, stress, happiness and social activities.

Catherine Kim
BSA 2021, Physics and Art
Diary's Arrow

Diary's Arrow is a mixture of a scavenger hunt and escape room throughout the CMU campus. It is a celebration of the past, remedy of the present and start for the future.

Kate Ko
BHA 2020, Decision Science and Art with a minor in Media Design and a minor in Neural Computation
Metacognition of Photography

Metacognition of Photography investigates the extent to which humans were aware of whether the individual camera functions were contributing, thereby measuring the difference between the actual and the human expectation of the contribution.

Rosa Kurtz
BSA 2021, Physics and Art
Red Wolf Hunter

This capstone is an animation pipeline project exploring the process of 3D animation. Rosa Kurtz developed characters, scenery and assets along with a Little Red Riding Hood inspired narrative through the design, development, rigging and modeling stages and partially through the animation stage.

Alyssa Lee
BCSA 2021, Computer Science and Art with a minor in Animation and Special Effects
Zobits

Zobits is a generative building toy that translates tangible interactions to virtual outcomes. By mixing and matching figurines on a play pad, players can see how their creative choices affect an ecosystem that exists on their mobile device.

Erin Lim
BHA 2021, Global Systems & Management and Music Performance with a minor in Business Administration
Through My Eyes

Through My Eyes is a collection of photographs and interviews exploring cross-cultural living and identities of Japanese/Japanese-American students living in the United States.

Liz Maday
BHA 2021, Decision Science and Music Performance
Guyliner: The Transgressive Masculinity of My Chemical Romance vs. Music Critics in the 2000s

My Chemical Romance, a rock band known for popularizing emo music in the early 2000s, constantly played with gender and sexuality in their music, performance and image. This project explores the ways in which MCR challenged mainstream masculinity, and how critical responses to the band reflected heteronormative culture.

Adrian Mester
BCSA 2021, Computer Science and Music Technology
ConcealMent

This project explores the sociological influences of gun carrying through a narrative story game. The game follows the story of a father and his family as he acquires and carries a firearm.

Ian Moore
BSA 2021, Mathematical Sciences and Art
Mohrs Sphinx Project

This project is a proof of concept for an art-based role-playing game designed to foster storytelling and personal artistic growth within a community.

Jacob Paul
BHA 2021, Professional Writing and Design with a minor in Creative Writing and a minor in Photography
We Can't Hide the Way it Makes Us Glow

This portraiture project works to develop a sense of belonging that is deeply rooted in Pittsburgh. It observes how people relate to spaces and pays attention to how notions of masculinity are at play in this city.

Rebecca Polanzke
BHA 2021, Global Studies and Art
The Post-BFA Climb

This project assesses the three main challenges BFA students face when becoming a working artist post-graduation. These include skills that are typically gained through experiences outside of an academic environment.

Rani Randell
BHA 2021, Decision Science and Art
Stop-Motion Medicine

This project is a stop-motion animation that explains medical phenomena in an artistic way.

Laura Riviere
BHA 2021, Social & Political History and Drama
Esperanza Rising: The Musical

Esperanza Rising: The Musical is a bilingual Mexican musical adapted from Pam Muñoz Ryan's novel. The costume design in this project seeks to shed light on the harm of stereotypes and seeks to celebrate Mexican culture.

Max Robbins
BHA 2021, Psychology and Music Performance
The Interactions of Harmony

This project studies jazz arranging, writing jazz arrangements for an assortment of standards and recording the arrangements with a mixture of professionals and CMU peers.

Sommer Schneller
BHA 2021, Environmental & Sustainability Studies and Architecture
Eco Grinds

Eco Grinds is a novel repurposing of spent coffee grounds to produce eco-conscious products, such as fire starters and body scrubs.

Shaelin Spahle
BHA 2021, Ethics, History, & Public Policy and Architecture
From Cockpits to Congregationals: The History of the American Home Kitchen through the First Half of the 20th Century

This capstone explores how the American home kitchen evolved from a hostile workspace into the most welcoming room in the house. It investigates a large gap in the recorded and preserved history of the black American domestic narrative that is almost entirely missing from history books.

Anna Telmer
BHA 2021, Anthropology and Art
Weaving Through Place

This piece visually encourages viewers to question their judgements of non-traditional methods of traditional practices, especially when it comes to weaving. The installation challenges typical associations between different materials and their relationship to gender and space.

Jessa Westheimer
BSA 2021, Neurobiology and Art
Moments: An Exploration of the Grieving Process

This project explores my personal grieving process after the loss of my mother. Through engaging with her photography as a curator and my emotions as an artist, I have been able to cope and grieve.

Connie Ye
BCSA 2021, Computer Science and Art with an additional major in Human-Computer Interaction
Cozy Companion

Cozy Companion is an interactive physical prototype and design concept of a device that helps an individual build a personalized before-bed routine by providing daily activities for relaxation.

Kathy Zhang
BHA 2021, Environmental & Sustainability Studies and Art
Entropy+ Catalog

Sustainability and waste management are often approached within a framework of individualized responsibility. Entropy+ Catalog attempts to address this issue by documenting the sustainability of products offered to students in Carnegie Mellon’s on-campus convenience store.