The Grant is valued at $50,000 and consists of a variety of Martin fixtures and control products including the Martin ShowDesigner virtual software design system and Martin Lighting Director tracking system. The Grant does not stop with the giving of technology products however. Martin Professional Inc. will also provide technical training and support for the winning college or university, as well as quarterly seminar’s on emerging technologies and application discussions.
For the year 2001 the Grant recipient is Carnegie Mellon University’s School of Drama. The Carnegie Mellon University School of Drama offers undergraduate and graduate degrees in lighting design.
Dean Martin Prekop, Dean of the College of Fine Arts, comments: "Carnegie Mellon University’s School of Drama is honored to be the first recipient of Martin’s Intelligent Lighting Technology Grant. Martin’s generosity will indeed impact the future of student lighting designers for years to come."
Carnegie Lighting Designer Chris Popowich accepted the Grant on behalf of the school. He stated: "The study of automated lighting from designer to programming will be incorporated into the intermediate and the advanced lighting courses. Students will then get hands-on experience using the Martin moving lights in a variety of classroom projects. They will then have an opportunity to design a production using the Martin fixtures along with utilizing MSD in the preplanning stages and MLD when it applies. All shows produced in the Helen Wayne Rauh Theatre will utilize a repertory plot consisting of the MAC 500s, MAC 600s and the Martin 918 units that were so generously donated to us via the Martin Grant."
Grant applications will be accepted from colleges and universities throughout the year, with the selection of the winning school to be chosen by the Martin Management Team and Board of Directors at the LDI exhibition each year.
