Tag / Sima Rouholamin

by shannonchance

Birthday Surprises

Who ordered the rain?

Who ordered this weather?

Wow!  What a day!

It’s my birthday; the 43rd one of my life.  Besides the weather, great things happened!

#1) I awoke to great news: I’d been invited to review a manuscript for a special edition of JEE (a different edition than the one we’ve written for).  I’m hoping this is a good sign.  Apparently the editors though I was sufficiently competent to be part of their rigorous peer-review process.

#2) My aunt Kitty Lee and her friend Patty Asplund arrived fresh off the plane. This is the first day Kitty has ever spent outside North America!!!

Shannon, Kitty Lee, and Patty.

Shannon, Kitty Lee, and Patty.

#3) Mom woke up in the middle of the night (Pennsylvania time) to call and wish me a happy day.

#4) I put Kitty Lee and Patty on the hop-on hop-off bus and headed for sushi with my colleagues. Little did I know they’d planned a birthday lunch. Sima *baked* a gluten-free cake using truffles, chestnut flour, butter, and cream. Amazing!!!!  The sushi was awesome too.

#5) My replacement bank card finally arrived. YAY!!!!

#6) I visited the former House of Parliament (now owned by the Bank of Ireland, a long story that I’ll save for another day).

Sima, Brian, Gavin, and Shannon.
Birthday cake alla Sima!
Blowing out my (4)3 candles!

I got a fabulous tour of the most historic room by Phillip and Jeremy.  I’ll return again to learn more from John and Sean. And Jeremy will copy some information for me to pick up. While I was there, I met a group from Northern Ireland. They’d all been police (some representing loyalists and some representing nationalists — in other words, on both sides). In any case, they’d have been the ones “keeping the peace” while the men I met in the Cobblestone were out in the past *not* “keeping the peace.”

William of Orange

William of Orange

Phillip told me the stories depicted on the tapestries hanging in the hall.  The victor of the story was William of Orange. Three years after the event depicted, King William and his wife (Queen Mary) chartered the College of William and Mary in Virginia. Where I earned my PhD!  Philip said that Mary was much more important in all that than William. I said that’s why we have t-shirts that say, “Mary and William.”

#7) The bus was right there when I stepped out of the Bank, ready to whisk me back to my apartment.

#8) The post had safely delivered birthday cards and a package from each of parents (my Mom, and my Dad and Step-Mom).  It’s wonderful to be remembered.

#9) I got word that our photo show is on!  The title is

Inter-changes: Interpretations of Ireland by Three Virginians
Photographs by US Fulbright Scholar Shannon Chance, Dave Chance & Glen McClure

#10) Kitty and Patty have sweet-talked the hop-on bus driver into delivering them to my doorstep.  I am telling you: Patty is a charmer!!!!  She’s a seasoned traveller — and a former missionary — who has a way of touching people’s souls.  I’m glad she’s here to help Kitty Lee learn the traveling ropes!

We’ll be out for #11 soon!  I’ll let you know how it goes (they are likely to crash soon…).

A model of the Bank of Ireland building.
Shannon Chance in the Bank of Ireland.
Bank of Ireland’s former Parliament chamber.
by shannonchance

Sushi Christmas

Jack Nealons Pub. (Photo from Jack Nealons website.)

Jack Nealons Pub. (Photo from Jack Nealons website.)

Christmas dinner with my colleagues Gavin and Sima was a blast!  We met at Jack Nealon’s pub and then went for sushi. We talked about all sorts of things–including our research projects. Today, we’re putting forth our work plans for the spring.

Gavin Duffy, Sima Rouholamin, and Shannon Chance.

Gavin Duffy, Sima Rouholamin, and Shannon Chance.

I had such an exciting day yesterday, which I’ll have to wait to tell you about until after get some research accomplished today….

 

by shannonchance

Sima’s Emerging Manifesto

Sima's emerging vision.

Sima’s teaching philosophy, drawn from the Bauhaus.

Sima Rouholamin delivered an energetic, thoughtful, and inspirational lecture at the DIT School of Architecture last night.  One of the culminating speakers for this semester’s Schools of Thought lecture series, Sima discussed her dissertation work. A facet of her literature review involves the Bauhaus — a natal fit with the theme of the lecture series (Schools of Thought).

Sima brings such energy and vibrancy to everything she does. She’s so very engaged and engaging.

Alongside her dissertation, she’s developing a vision for what DIT’s School of Architecture is and what it can become. Last night’s event provided a way for her to get some feedback on that vision from the community here, and that community replied with keen interest and resounding support.

Regarding the Bauhaus, Sima discussed the emphasis on making and craft — and the connection between play and design. She’ll soon be conducting phenomenographical interview designed to identify the various different ways architects conceptualize design. I hope to help her collect data for the study this spring.

A little about the Bauhaus.
Sima’s emerging manifesto.
by shannonchance

My Partners in Crime

Sima with work by fourth year Architectural Technology students.

It was a fabulous first day of school!  I’m off to yoga momentarily, but I thought I’d post some pics of my collaborators.  Meet architecture lecturer (i.e., professor) Sima Rouholamin and engineering lecturer Gavin Duffy.

The photo of Sima is from the March 2011, when I visited her studio as a guest critic.

The photo of the students, Gavin and I was taken March 2012.  The students had built robotic cars and were racing against each other at mid-terms during their spring semester.  They were placing for seeds in the end-of-semester competition.  I’ll get to watch the entire competition unfold this time around….

Electrical engineering students with Shannon and Gavin.