UC Berkeley

FIAT LUX – Fusion in Art, Technology and Life - University of California, Berkeley

FIAT LUX is a new research project exploring the intersection of art and technology which was launched by Steve Beck in 2006. Operating within the CITRIS organization at UC Berkeley, FIAT LUX seeks to help improve the quality of human life by application of media aesthetics and engineering methods.

FIAT LUX is the motto of the University of California: “Let There Be Light.”

FIAT LUX is also the acronym for Fusion in Art, Technology and Life

The NOOR project is the first component research element in FIAT LUX.

FIAT LUX – NOOR Project Directors and Faculty Collaborators (to date):

In 2005 Steve Beck was appointed a Visiting Fellow and Technology Artist in Residence at the College of Engineering, University of California, Berkeley, by the late Dean A. Richard Newton.

Mr. Beck primarily teaches in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, and is also affiliated with the CITRIS Project – Center for Innovative Technology Research in Service to Society.

In addition to guest lecturing on topics ranging from Nanotechnology and Self Assembly, and the Art, Technology and Culture Colloquium to Vector Quantization Mathematics and Algorithms, Mr. Beck teaches and mentors undergraduate and graduate students in various cross disciplinary fields of study including EE, CS, ME, Art Practices, Center for Middle Eastern Studies, and the Center for Entrepreneurship and Technology. He is also resident in Professor Paul Wright’s “Cybercut Labs – Ford Manufacturing Center and Rapid Prototype Laboratory” in mechanical engineering.

Most recently, Beck has launched FIAT LUX – Fusion in Art, Technology and Light – an art and technology research project within CITRIS. One of the first components of the FIAT LUX research is the NOOR Project, with Professor Carlo Sequin as Beck’s principle investigator.

In 2003 Beck was honored with the Outstanding Alumnus of the Year Award by the Department of Electrical Engineering, from which Beck graduated with his degree in EECS in 1971 at Berkeley.

In 2006 Beck was reappointed to an additional position as Executive in Residence at The Center for Entrepreneurship and Technology (CET) at UC Berkeley as well his Visiting Fellow and Technology Artist in Residence appointments.

Student and Staff Collaborators on the NOOR Project include:

 

Collaborator Prof. Carlo Sequin (L) with Chancellor Robert Birgeneau and Steve Beck at the BEARS 07 Research Symposium presenting the NOOR project on a 20 foot wide mobile LED video display powered by Bio Diesel Fuel. February 16, 2007, Berkeley campus.

Steve Beck with Chancellor Robert Birgeneau and Collaborator Carlo Sequin   NOOR LED light Sculpture

Art Technology Culture Colloquium 2006

"Alive and Analog: Pre-Digital to Post-Digital Media Aesthetics"
Lecture and Presentation by Steve Beck, March, 2006

University of California, Berkeley
ATC Abstract ( pdf )

 

In 2008, students at the Knight Digital Media Center (KDMC) Graduate School of Journalism, University of California, Berkeley, created a site detailing Beck's Life of Invention.