Here & Now
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High Energy The Wisconsin Energy Institute’s gradu-
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P H O TO : C O LTO N M A N S AVA G E
Sky Vision For commuters going to and from campus and the UW Hospital and Clinics, the Highland Avenue underpass never beckoned as a place to linger—until now. Planning and Landscape Architecture alumnus Julia Schilling (BS ’15) worked with multiple partners and collaborators for seven years to bring Shift, Madison’s latest major public art project, to fruition. Her goal: to create the opposite of a dark, undesirable tunnel, improving safety and bringing beauty into an unlikely place. In April, the city unveiled two 70-foot panels made from perforated weathered steel, spanning each side of the underpass beneath Campus Drive. Punched-out patterns forming “circle packing” algorithms sparkle when hidden LED lighting comes on, creating a “bright, intricate, sky-like place,” in Schilling’s words. Schilling started the community project as an undergraduate, in Professor Sam Dennis’s class. She is now an employee of Saiki Design.
LETTERS & SCIENCE FALL 2021
P H OTO : CO U R T E S Y O F S U R A J U D E E N O M O L A B A K E
The art installation “Shift,” designed by Julia Schilling, illuminates an underpass near campus.
ate students and postdoctoral researchers play an enormous role in the transition to a sustainable, resilient and affordable energy future centered on social and economic equality. WEI recently profiled one of its research assistants, L&S graduate student Surajudeen Omolabake, from Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria. Omolabake, a PhD candidate in chemistry professor Shannon Stahl’s lab, is studying the conversion of waste woody materials, known as lignin, to useful chemicals via oxidation chemistry. “These chemicals are mostly derived from petroleum sources,” says Omolabake, who grew up in the oil-producing Niger Delta region where pollution is a huge problem. “I have seen some of the negative effects of petrol. It would be cool if we could primarily obtain these compounds from renewable sources like trees, so we can keep our planet pristine.” —condensed from a Q&A by Mary Riker
