Discussion will launch the grand opening celebration of the Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute will launch the Grand Opening Celebration of the Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center (EMPAC) with a discussion among global leaders in the media, technology and the arts, focusing on the intersection of technology, science, the arts, and culture. 

Rensselaer President Shirley Ann Jackson will moderate the discussion. Participants will include: A.P. (Preetham) Parigi, managing director and CEO, Entertainment Network (India) Ltd.— Radio Marchi and CEO of Times Infotainment Media Ltd, Walter F. Parkes, film producer and executive producer of more than 30 films and former co-head of DreamWorks Pictures, and Peter Schwartz ’68, acclaimed futurist, entrepreneur, and founder and chairman of Global Business Network. 

The Presidential Colloquy, titled “Photons, Sound Waves, and Data Bytes: Creativity at the Nexus of Science, Technology, Media and the Arts,” will be held on Friday, October 3, 2008, from 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m., in the Darrin Communications Center, Room 308, on the Rensselaer campus.

“EMPAC is the embodiment of high ambition, meant to create unique opportunities for creative and smart people to work together, imagine together, discover together, and innovate together at the intersection of the arts, science, and technology,” President Jackson said. “It is fitting then to begin our celebration with a conversation that will engage our minds and inspire our imaginations. In inviting global leaders from the media, technology, and the arts, we have the opportunity to discuss the global impact of EMPAC as it reflects culture today and acts as an instrument for cultural change in the future.”

Contact: Jason Gorss
Phone: (518) 276-6098
E-mail: gorssj@rpi.edu