Masthead image of bridge panels with superimposed Illuminate text.

Illuminate: Randy Pausch Bridge Light-Up Night 2021

A campus community event featuring the Pausch Bridge.
Presented by the School of Computer Science in collaboration with ScottyLabs.

This event took place on Monday, April 5, 2021, 7:00PM to 9:00PM (SCS Calendar)

In honor of Randy’s memory we will join together virtually to create short new shows for the bridge. As darkness falls, we’ll light up the night with new works contributed by the community.

This event is open to all members of the Carnegie Mellon University community from anywhere in the world, regardless of background or skill level. We will meet on Zoom, work collaboratively to animate the lights using an easy-to-use online system, and live stream the physical bridge playing the results.

Event Schedule for Monday, April 5

7:00 PM the event begins on Zoom
7:55 PM live streaming of the bridge begins with early submissions
8:35 PM voting opens for crowd favorites
8:45 PM reprise of the most popular results
9:00 PM Zoom event ends

Please come on time so we can show you the tools and match up teams. We understand you may need to take a break, but please be sure to come back for the voting and show.

Pandemic Protocols

The physical light show will be streamed live over video. If you are on campus and wish to see it in person, we require that you observe the following pandemic protocols:

  • Everyone present should follow the Tartan’s Responsibility guidelines, including being up to date on Tartan Testing asymptomatic testing requirements.
  • No more than three or four persons should be on the bridge walkway at a time.
  • The best viewing locations are on the Doherty side; please spread yourselves around the valley and observe distancing guidelines.
  • Please do not cluster in Gates-Hillman windows.

Illuminate Designer

Screenshot of Illuminate Designer.

The ScottyLabs team has put together an easy-to-use bridge animation tool called Illuminate Designer which we’ll introduce for designing and submitting new works.

This volunteer project has been an essential part of re-developing the infrastructure to support the mini-course Interaction & Expression using the Pausch Bridge Lighting, currently running again for Spring 2021. Students who enjoy this event are encouraged to come explore creative lighting in more depth in the next iteration of the course in Spring 2022.

The Bridge

Carnegie Mellon alumnus and professor Randy Pausch inspired millions through his Last Lecture. The Randy Pausch Memorial Bridge connects the Purnell Center with the Gates & Hillman Centers, physically and symbolically linking the homes for the School of Drama and the School of Computer Science. The Pausch Bridge assures the entire campus community is able to remember Randy’s impact on Carnegie Mellon—and the world—every time they walk through campus. Randy’s enduring vision was to bring the arts and technology together and we hope to honor his legacy through this event.

Acknowledgments

This event would not be possible without the tireless work and patience of the ScottyLabs event team and additional volunteers. We would especially like to thank Richard Guo, Gram Liu, and Olivia Corrodi for their hard work and careful listening.

Full Event Credits

Garth Zeglin SCS Pausch Bridge Coordinator
Richard Guo Head Organizer
Gram Liu Tech Lead
Olivia Corrodi Camera Lead
Anushka Saxena Publicity Lead
Anuda Weerasinghe Tech
Akshath Jain Camera
Sanjana Meduri Publicity
Shreeya Khurana Publicity
Keiffer Acoba Discord
Nick Diamant Creative Consultant