Inspired by the art and architecture of France, University of Florida engineering students showcased their artistic sides last week during downtown Gainesville\u2019s Artwalk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The exhibit, \u201cUF in Lille \u2013 Engineering and Arts in France,\u201d is a mixed-media collection of art from dozens of UF engineering students who studied abroad last summer in Lille, France, an area known for its baroque, Dutch-inspired architecture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As part of the city\u2019s monthly Artwalk, dozens of engineering students displayed their works on Friday, Jan. 31, at City Church of Gainesville.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The study-abroad program was hosted at Universit\u00e9 Catholique de Lille, where students took either physics 2 with calculus and the associated lab or materials science with the lab. But the program also required students to take one of the three art classes offered: Engineering Arts Sketchbook \u2013 the French Perspective, Digital Engineering Design, or Honors Summer in the city.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sarena Samuels, a second-year mechanical engineering student, smiled proudly Friday night next to her drawings on the gallery wall as she chatted with her friends who also participated in the trip. Her sketches depict European architecture in rich detail.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She was nervous ahead of the trip, worrying about the heavy course load. After her time in Lille began, she realized she would be just fine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt didn\u2019t feel too heavy,\u201d she confessed. \u201cIt was pretty balanced.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Samuels\u2019 time was balanced between materials science, her sketch class, and the many excursions to places like London and Paris.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Her classmate, Ece Sarioglu, a second-year biomedical engineering student, also enjoyed the trip because of the ability to travel around France and Europe. Lille\u2019s architecture influenced her sketches, which were hung across the exhibit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt was kind of inspired by what I would see around me,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sarioglu has never been into drawing and felt honored to show her work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt meant a lot to me that people seemed to enjoy the gallery and specifically compliment my artwork,\u201d she said. \u201cIt felt inspiring, and I hope that the next class of students will also be able to experience that feeling!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Some engineering students came to the gallery to catch a glimpse of their upcoming summer. The Lille program will take place again this summer with a new cohort of freshman and sophomore students.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Josue Clark, a first-year mechanical engineering student, decided to sign up for the upcoming summer\u2019s trip because he\u2019s always wanted to study abroad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI just want to go to Europe again and be able to pursue my studies,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Clark attended the show with his friend, fellow freshman Charles Denson. Denson studies civil engineering and knew he couldn\u2019t pass up this trip, especially since it lined up perfectly with his schedule.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cSometimes you never know when you\u2019ll get an opportunity back,\u201d he said. \u201cI just wanted to jump on this, and I\u2019m really excited to go to France.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Phillip Jackson, an instructor in the department of engineering education, attended the trip to teach the digital engineering design class.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Over the course of a month, he taught students to use the artist software package Blender to create two-dimensional drawings, three-dimensional models, and video renderings of architecture in Lille. The software enabled students to bring out the \u201ccreative and artistic sides\u201d of engineering models, Jackson said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Students whose artistic ambitions align more with expression through cultural experience had the opportunity to take an honors course centered around the late celebrity chef Julia Child\u2019s biography \u201cMy Life in France.\u201d These students produced articles about their travels and food diaries inspired by Child.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Second-year nuclear engineering student Shanie Sediuo, who\u2019s articles were not displayed at the gallery, but would later be published online, figured it would be more fun to take physics 2 in France instead of in Gainesville, but she ultimately found herself following in Child\u2019s footsteps and becoming enthralled with French cuisine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cShe learned to fall in love with it, and the course was encouraging us to do the same thing,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Inspired by the art and architecture of France, University of Florida engineering students showcased their artistic sides last week during downtown Gainesville\u2019s Artwalk.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2592,"featured_media":36271,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"single-templates\/single-sidebar-none.php","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"featured_post":"","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[25,57],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-36265","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-engineering-education","category-stories"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n