UMD News Releases

People of all ages are cordially invited to attend "UMD Techfest 2007" Friday, March 30, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the UMD Kirby Student Center Ballroom.

The popular annual event features UMD faculty, staff, and students demonstrating the latest in cutting-edge technology and current learning and teaching trends in use through out the university. T-shirts and door prizes will be given away, and refreshments provided. Twenty-five booths will be set up around the Kirby Ballroom--presenting interesting and exciting examples of UMD technology systems at work. Some highlights are:

SMARTMUSIC
Kathleen Neff of the UMD School of Fine Arts, Department of Music will demonstrate the innovative SmartMusic--an interactive, computer-based practice system that allows students in band, orchestra, and choir to enjoy practicing with professional accompaniment (with over 30,000 selections to choose from). SmartMusic's wide menu includes a comprehensive list of concert and recital titles, classical pieces, movie themes, musical theater songs, popular bands, string method books--plus jazz, pop, rock, country, religious and holiday favorites. In addition, there are more than 50,000 scale, interval, arpeggio, twister, and rhythm exercises that may be customized to any key, along with multiple accompaniment styles. SmartMusic also displays an on-screen assessment and grading system.

ACCESSING ONLINE CAPTIONING AND TRANSCRIPTS
Professor Tom Bacig of the UMD College of Liberal Arts, Department of Sociology-Anthropology will demonstrate the use of captioning and transcripts which provide access to online materials for hearing impaired students. The presentation will also show how the hearing impaired can access lectures and scenes from feature films.

VIRTUAL MODELING OF UMD THEATRE PRODUCTION
Professors Mark Harvey and Curtis Phillips of the UMD School of Fine Arts, Department of Theatre will demonstrate "What You See is What You Get in 3-D Software"-an amazing demonstration of the variety of scenic and lighting design choices possible for the upcoming April UMD Theatre production of "A Street Car Named Desire".

Other UMD departments presenting unique and exciting demonstrations are: Information Technology Systems and Services, Multi Media Hub, UMD Library, Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, and the Knowledge Management Center.