Day 11, Thursday, 7/20/23

Thursday was our last day of working on essays at the library. We started the day with an alumni panel featuring previous COSMOS attendees before walking to Geisel and settling down to work on the first floor. After lunch, Cluster 9 took a trip to The Wind Garden, a forest grove with sensors and speakers that emit sound, driven by wind and light conditions. The composition, by John Luther Adams, features a Day and Night Choir, which is why during the day, the sounds are brighter and higher, but at night, they are lower. When we got back to the classroom, we were able to video call and chat with Jason Ponce, who helped build and maintain the Wind Garden, and view the “behind the scenes” Max patch. We learned that nothing in this exhibit was pre-recorded and got to understand more about the technical system and components that allowed this composition to function. 

Day 12, Friday, 7/21/23: 

On this much anticipated day, Cluster 9 got to visit the EnVision Arts and Engineering Maker Studio first thing in the morning. We went on a tour around the lab and explored the various features it provided, ranging from 3D-printers, laser cutters, heat pressers, soldering stations, craft and sewing materials, and much more! We even got to learn how to solder in the EnVision classroom, and the professors taught different types of techniques we could use to solder wires together in preparation for making our contact microphones. Before lunch, everybody had finished soldering and testing their contact mics. When we came back, we used Arduino and Max (MSP) to create a theremin, which had an optical sensor that allowed the instrument to change pitch based on how much light it received. Cluster 9 got to experiment with adding a second sensor to the breadboard before class ended. 

Day 13, Saturday, 7/25/23: 

On Saturday, we woke up bright and early for our weekend excursion to the San Diego Zoo. Cluster 9 saw tigers, penguins, turtles, red pandas, elephants, koalas, capybaras, and tons of other wildlife. We also explored the gift shops and restaurants that the zoo had to offer. After our bus ride back to campus, we got some much needed rest time in our rooms before dinner and programs. 

Day 14, Sunday, 7/23/23: 

After breakfast, COSMOS walked to Sixth College for a college admissions presentation on tips and tricks for applying to UCSD and other UCs. Some students took a quick trip to Price Center or Target before heading to lunch. Because of the light rain, there was inside time for most of the afternoon. We took this time to chill with our friends, take a nap, and prepare for the upcoming Casino Night later in the evening. Casino night was a blast! We drank mocktails (cocktails without alcohol), played blackjack, poker, and other card games throughout the night. Some of us lost money, some of us won money, and some of us managed to break even. The night ended with a much anticipated raffle for special prizes including a polaroid camera, lego set, record player, and sewing machine. 

Day 15-17, Mon-Wed, 7/24-26/23: 

After a fun weekend, Cluster 9 returned to class to start our final projects. On Monday, we split into small groups and discussed project ideas, before selecting a direction to begin working towards. In the afternoon, after briefly presenting our ideas to the class, we officially started project work. Cluster 9’s ideas involved topics ranging from voice synthesis to visualizations of sound to facial tracking and much more. Cluster 9 attended a zoom lecture about robotics, artificial intelligence, and automation by Dr. Henrik I. Christensen on Tuesday morning. We learned about the history of robotics, autonomous vehicles, how robots evolved, and many more concepts in a discussion based session. Throughout Tuesday and Wednesday, everyone made a lot of progress. We cannot wait to see how all these projects turn out!