(Posted April 25, 2005)

HUNTINGDON, Pa. -- While there will be no elephants or clowns, Juniata College's Department of Information Technology is using a circus theme to show visitors its latest projects and educational programs at its "Cirque du Tech" technology night at 5:30 p.m., Wednesday, April 27 in the von Liebig Center for Science on the Juniata campus.

The event is free and open to the public. The tech night events will be held in the foyer of the science center as well as in the Sill Boardroom and Pheasant Lounge on the building's second floor. For further information, please go to the Web site: http://projects.juniata.edu/cirque/.

"This year's focus is on digital media" says Neil Pelkey, assistant professor of environmental science and information technology. "Many aspects of the arts have gone very high tech such as stage lighting, video presentations and we thought the public would like to see all the different applications that out students are working with."

Visitors will be able to see demonstrations of computer-controlled theatrical lighting, as well as a demonstration of audio production for theatrical productions. In keeping with the "circus" theme, there will be jugglers as well as popcorn and cotton candy as refreshments. In addition, the college's Information Technology department will provide child care for visitors.

Other departmental projects will be showcased, such as the IT projects for area businesses completed as part of the Innovations for Industry course, where IT students work in teams to provide IT project solutions for area businesses.

Other IT students will demonstrate several Geographic Information Systems (GIS) projects and there will be a booth that demonstrates three-dimensional imaging for visitors. The group also will bring in a green-screen background to show visitors how special effects are created.

The IT department will offer $50 prizes in four categories for student projects: best work of digital visual art; best original digital music composition; best original program or computer script; and best application of IT for science.

The top 10 submissions for these awards will be collected on a DVD and distributed free to all visitors

Contact April Feagley at feaglea@juniata.edu or (814) 641-3131 for more information.