As the incoming freshman class of Rice University prepares to begin their college education, many of them are unaware of the significance that OWL-Space will play in their next four years. In fact, though OWL-Space will swiftly become one of the most visited pages on their browser, most freshmen have little idea of what it is before they begin classes.

Owl-Space is Rice’s online platform for coursework and assignment management. An administrator or professor is able to create a site on OWL-Space, add members to it via their Net IDs, and then post messages and resources for all of the site’s members to access. In this way, professors are able to communicate with their entire group of students.

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Pauline Chen, a sophomore majoring in Architecture, in Spring 2015 took Arch 202, Principles of Architecture II, a course that explores technology as the principal driver of form. “It is a semester devoted to discovering the ability of technology to bolster the architecture concept and design. Studying structural form in detail, we learn so much of its long history of defining public space and in this case the transit center. Making physical models of structural components becomes useful as it gives us an understanding of connection and construction details as we build it,” said Chen. From structural truss systems, to tree columns, to diagrid structures, modeling by hand these extremely complex geometries can be a little tricky. A certain piece of technology is handy to ensure the accuracy and efficiency of the process.

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Student Tech Tip Videos

Watch our series of video tips designed for undergraduates. The Student Tech Tips playlist lasts a total of four minutes and is full of useful information about how to get help, print to a lab from your computer, backing up, and more.

Accounts End with Graduation

Seniors, if you haven’t already, set up your alumni account and begin using it on your applications, resume, and RiceLink profile. Your NetID email account is deactivated several months after you graduate.

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Need computing help?

Contact the OIT Help Desk, 713.348.HELP(4357) or help@rice.edu. You can also stop by Mudd 103, 9 a.m. – 5 p.m., Monday – Friday.

Rice NetID email accounts for all degree recipients will be terminated a few months after graduation. Graduating students are encouraged to stay connected with Rice and each other by creating a personal alumni account at alumni.rice.edu, where you can also sign up for the following email options:

1. Upon accessing your alumni account, update your profile with your preferred personal email address to receive timely news, invitations and updates from Rice and your fellow alumni.
2. You may also sign up for a Rice forwarding email address: yourname@alumni.rice.edu. All the prestige associated with a rice.edu email address, with the ease of forwarding to an existing email account.
3. If you do not wish to activate your personal alumni account, please take a moment to submit your existing personal email address at alumni.rice.edu/expressupdate.

Contact Alumni Relations at 713-348-4057 or arahelp@rice.edu for more information.

Alvi runs planar area analysis using CPCeV4.1, which outlines the live coral and calculates the percent live coral cover.

Fatima Alvi, a senior majoring in Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, recently took EBIO 372, Coral Reef Ecosystems, a course that explores the complex ecology of coral reefs. “We cover both biotic and abiotic components of coral reefs, the factors that contribute to reef construction and decline over time, and various ways in which reef organisms interact with their environment,” said Alvi. But how does one begin to explore these complex reefs? Technology may be the answer.

For her project to analyze sections of coral reefs from photographs taken at the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary, Alvi used the program CPCeV4.1 (Coral Point Count with Excel extensions). She described how the class “assessed percent live coral cover in the images using both point overlay analysis and planar area analysis, which involve classifying the benthos at 100 randomly assigned points and outlining the areas of live coral cover, respectively.” Sound complicated? While she hadn’t expected using this technology in the course, coral reef ecologists typically use this software in a similar capacity.

“This course not only involves classroom learning, but also teaches methods that coral reef ecologists use when studying coral reefs. To that end, it was instructive to have exposure to the actual software used in the field, especially for those interested in further exploring research in coral reefs.”

While Alvi says she doesn’t plan on working with coral reefs in the future, she believes that this class has given her a much deeper appreciation for how unique and complex coral reefs are and emphasized the importance of conserving these ecosystems as they face rapid decline in the near future.

From vintage 16 mm animation stands to futuristic video editing software, students in Rice’s Film & Photography Department apply a wide range of techniques and technologies to create modern day masterpieces.

Students in Rice’s Film & Photography Department rely on a vast array of photo and video-making technology everyday to complete their assignments. Addison Verger, a senior double majoring in Kinesiology and Film Studies, has been involved with the department since his freshman year. “I don’t own my own video camera or have access to Adobe Premiere, a video editing software, on my personal computer, so utilizing the department’s equipment is a necessity.” Students taking courses in the Film & Photography department have access to a number of computer labs in the Rice Media Center. Each of these labs contains specific computing software, such as photo editing software, like Adobe Photoshop, and sound editing software, like Adobe Audition, that allow the students taking these courses to have all the tools they need right at their fingertips.

Students utilize a variety of old and new technologies to create a finished product. Verger took FILM 428, Filmmaking II, last semester where students utilized “Do-It-Yourself” and modern film techniques to create 16 mm art films. “For one of our projects we took vintage, stock reels of film from old anthropology documentaries and children’s cartoons, cut them up, and bleached, scratched, and hand painted them, to make a new piece of art.” While this process of making a film may seem old fashioned, the students still utilized current editing software to create their final product. “Once our cut up bits of film were assembled, we had to put them on a reel and then run them through a projector that transferred them onto a tape. With the tape, we were able to import the footage into Adobe Premiere and edit the film as we would any other, to overlay our audio recordings and alter color, etc. It was an interesting experience to take such a ‘hands-on’ approach to filmmaking, rather than just sitting at a computer.”

For an animation assignment in the same course, Verger said the class had to use an Oxberry Animation stand: a vintage looking piece of equipment that allowed the class to make stop motion animations. “It was really eye opening to participate in the very slow process that is animation. When you’re watching an animated film, you hardly ever think about how the animators created this finished product. My group’s film came out to two and a half minutes but it took us about 12 hours just to film it.”

For security reasons, IT deactivates all inactive student Rice NetID accounts a few months after the May graduation ceremonies. Alumni cannot access or forward their Ricemail and/or Rice Gmail messages when accounts are deactivated.  The only system in which NetIDs remain active is the Center for Career Development’s job matching service, RiceLink.

Juniors and Seniors

To keep “Rice” in your email address, set up and begin using your alumni address on all your documents and correspondence, including resumes and your RICElink profile with the Center for Career Development.