7 minute read
A NEW PLATEAU FOR PVAMU ARCHITECTURE
A NEW PLATEAU
for PVAMU Architecture…
Team of architects complete digital restoration blueprint of historic Hindu temple in Nepal
Three Prairie View A&M University professors recently took the College of Architecture’s status to new heights.
WILLIAM BATSON, STEPHON SONG AND PANKAJ CHHETRI
are helping to restore the Keshav Hindu Temple in Kathmandu, Nepal. In December, the three professors visited the temple and used 3D laser scanners to measure the damage done to the building by a 2015 earthquake. The use of laser scanners in such work is called digital restoration and serves as a blueprint for when the actual physical restoration of a building is launched.
“We scan in three dimension, using a point cloud,” Batson says. “The laser scanner recreates the building using a point dot matrix. We take the point cloud information and we insert it into a program called AutoCAD. Then, we reconstruct the building by drawing it on the computer.
“It’s almost like connect the dots. We reconstruct the drawing of the building,” says Batson. “The advantage is, we don’t have to go on the roof, we don’t have to walk on dangerous or unstable construction sites and we don’t have to use a tape measure.”
STATE-OF-THE-ART LASER SCANNER
– WILLIAM BATSON
The origin of the work began when the College of Architecture secured a Title III grant to purchase the state-of-the-art 3D laser equipment worth about $650,000. “In 2015, we wrote a grant for this equipment for use in historic preservation,” Batson says. As required by the Title III grant, the College of Architecture team began attending conferences where they met people who had projects suitable for laser-scanning research. One of the first restoration projects the team conducted took place in Independence, Texas.
“We contacted the pastor there, and I asked if we could look at the church,” Stephon Song says. “He told us that there was a Baylor University regional women’s dormitory. “We wanted to see if we could restore the entire women’s dormitory. The male dormitory was totally collapsed.”
The work in Nepal is the brainchild of PVAMU Professor Pankaj Chhetri. A native of Nepal, Chhetri suggested the architecture team travel to Nepal to digitally measure some of its historic buildings. Batson made the trip and met with representatives of various schools of architecture, engineering and with UNESCO Nepal. The Nepal trip was funded by the PVAMU School of Architecture CURES (Community Urban and Rural Enhancement Services) program.
“They offered us this building called the Keshav Hindu Temple,” Batson says. “If you look at the 2015 earthquake (in Nepal), the buildings just collapsed into dust and they had no record,” says Batson. “We have the as-built and existing drawings whereby they can reconstruct the building as it actually was.”
In essence, if another earthquake occurs and destroys another historic building in Nepal — and earthquakes are fairly common in that nation — the digital reconstruction work will be a blueprint for rebuilding the structure. “The laser scanner is used to recreate the building as it is,” Batson says. “We do the reconstructive drawings from the point cloud so that they have a record of the building.”
Song, Batson and Chhetri are well aware of the prestige resulting from the College of Architecture’s restoration efforts in Nepal. “This is our finest hour,” Batson says.
Completion of the point cloud work in December was followed by the start of a new course for the 2018 spring semester — Architecture 4983: Historical Preservation and 3D Laser-Scanning Technology.
The pre-requisite is that students must already know how to use AutoCAD, the drawing software used in the digital restoration work. “We’re going to give them the point cloud and they will retrace those points,” Batson says. “They will reconstruct this temple using lines instead of dots.”
During spring break of 2018, the three professors will return to Nepal with a group of architecture students and Batson expresses supreme confidence about what the students will bring with them.
“The students will present the pre-final drawings of the temple to UNESCO,” Batson says. “I have promised UNESCO that the Prairie View A&M School of Architecture students will present the finest drawing they have ever seen.”
Batson says the spring break visit also will present a chance for faculty and students to interact with Nepalese faculty and students and discuss the possibility of a future exchange program between PVAMU and various Nepalese universities. o
STUDENT SPOTLIGHT
Derek Irvin
GRAD STUDENT takes in-depth look at role of HBCUs in correctional education
Many of us still think of prison solely as a place of punishment for wrongdoing. For many inmates, however, prison can be an opportunity to educate themselves and prepare for a productive and crime-free way of life.
This is the focus of research being conducted by Derek Irvin, a graduate student of Prairie View A&M University.
“Inmates who take advantage of correctional education opportunities had 43 percent lower odds of recidivating, and those who participated in high school/GED programs had 30 percent lower odds of recidivating than those who had not,” Irvin says, adding that individuals who participated in vocational training programs had odds of obtaining post-release employment that were 28 percent higher than individuals who had not participated. Moreover, he states that every $1 spent on correctional education could reduce incarceration in the state of Texas as much as $4-5.
The vast majority of people in U.S. prisons do not have a high school diploma, and for years, numerous studies have revealed a high correlation between the level of education attained by an incarcerated person and his or her recidivism rate. Local, state and federal governments in the U.S. spend a total of about $80 billion annually to maintain correctional facilities. Irvin’s research indicates many inmates, particularly non-violent offenders, can be rehabilitated through education and a chance to secure gainful employment.
Some of the questions raised in Irvin’s research are: 1) Why should we provide education to African-American offenders, particularly at an HBCU? 2) What are the experiences, beliefs and philosophies of those who direct and educate in a correctional education program at an HBCU? And, 3) In what ways are components of correctional education at an HBCU designed to enable full rehabilitation for former inmates?
“These are important questions in light of the fact that we’re looking at up to 700,000 people cycling in and out of prison and, disproportionately, these are minorities whose two main issues are finding jobs and housing after their release,” Irvin says. Key successes of the criminal justice reform movement include implementation of “Ban the Box” in several U.S. states — including Texas, Irvin says. “Ban the Box” prevents private employers from requiring job applicants to place a check in a box to answer whether they have a felony record. The question is generally seen as a way to screen out former inmates reaching the interview stage of applying for a job. o
STUDENT SPOTLIGHT
Ervin A. Bryant
2017 HBCU ALL-STAR encourages other students to see career-building benefits of research skills
Prairie View A&M University’s Ervin A. Bryant is taking on a nationwide mission. Bryant, a junior history major from Spring, Texas, recently became a 2017 HBCU All-Star for the White House Initiative on Historically Black Colleges and Universities.
Students selected as HBCU All-Stars serve for one year as ambassadors for the White House Initiative by establishing outreach to other college students about the overall importance of education and the value of the White House Initiative as a networking resource. Bryant is one of 62 HBCU All-Stars and the only student representing PVAMU. He credits his developing skills as a researcher as having been a key factor in his winning All-Star status. As a member of the PVAMU Honors Program, Bryant completed a six-week stay in China studying the Chinese language and culture. “My initial role will be an apprenticeship program involving the grant-writing process and the need to get seniors familiar with that process,” says Bryant. “I hope to provide other undergraduate students a better understanding about research skills and how they can open doors for you. It’s a benefit to show that you can do research.”
HBCU All-Stars are able to take part in regional and national events. They also participate in web chats with White House Initiative staff and other professionals from many fields to foster professional and personal development.
Along with his China research, Bryant says his majoring in history strengthened his appreciation for being inquisitive. “The study of history can be dark and dismal, but can also be uplifting,” he says. “My natural approach is to try to learn from the past.”
Currently, Bryant is interested in pursuing an educational administration career and plans to build his knowledge of grant-writing extensively within the next year. o
