IDeATe › IDeATe News › 2026 › May 2026 › “Meet Me @” Exhibition Photo Gallery: Spring 2026

Two students, one wearing and one holding headphones, look at each other in front of a brightly lit screen

May 15, 2026

“Meet Me @” Exhibition Photo Gallery: Spring 2026

By Riona Duncan

On April 29, the Integrative Design, Arts, and Technology (IDeATe) network’s students displayed their innovative projects and research they developed throughout the semester in an exhibition staged in the Cohon University Center’s Studio Theater. From virtual reality experiences to inflatables, “Meet Me @” showcases work at the intersection of technology and creativity.

This semester’s “Meet Me @” had a variety of projects that showed the possibilities that come from interdisciplinary collaboration. Spring 2026 included projects that were created for the Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh to help children express their emotions, quilting and textiles, and even a wizard basketball video game.

IDeATe classes are open to undergraduates from any discipline at CMU. IDeATe offers opportunities to explore 10 areas which can be taken as minors: Game Design, Animation & Special Effects, Media Design, Sonic Arts, Design for Learning, Innovation & Entrepreneurship, Intelligent Environments, Physical Computing, Soft Technologies, and Immersive Technologies in Arts & Culture.

An overhead shot of the dark studio theater. The center is lit by a giant inflatable sea monster with an open mouth and tentacles. Students stand at tables showcasing other projects around the edges of the room.

“Meet Me @” showcased many IDeATe students’ projects.

A student with a light brown shirt and dark brown pants stands inside the inflatable sea monster's mouth, hugging one side.

Leaf Zixin Ye hugs an inflatable sculpture. This sea monster was created by masters student in Architecture Siyu Ou, senior in Electrical & Computer Engineering Ella Sanfilippo, fourth year architecture student Hua Tong, senior in Design Mason Wang, and masters student in Drama Leaf Zixin Ye in 53-330 IDeATe: Inflatables.

A tan, blue, and red quilt featuring a tiger is framed by the backs of two visitors' heads.

Alexander Peppas points out intricate work on his quilted banner made in 62-150 A IDeATe Portal: Intro to Textile Media.

A student with curly hair and a patterned vest and skirt stands beside another student wearing a VR headset

Martin Baker, a senior in music, demonstrates their senior capstone project “At Some Point I Am No Longer Speaking,” an audio-reactive audiovisual piece in VR.

Two visitors mirror each other on opposite sides of an upright maze, with the sea monster in the background.

Attendees play “Meet Me at My POV,” a collaborative maze made by junior Cassie May and sophomore Rita Xiao for 05-292 IDeATe: Learning in Museums. In the photo IDeATe Technical Specialist Cody Soska and mechanical engineering junior Maya Beach are attempting the collaborative maze

Three students use wooden controllers on a table to play a game on a monitor screen.

Attendees play a game together on a Split Mario Kart Controller. This was created as an independent project by Maya Beach, a junior in mechanical engineering, for 88-230 Human Intelligence and Human Stupidity.

A table covered with a black tablecloth featuring four pairs of white headphones and an iPad with audio options.

IDeATe students created “Hidden Frequencies,” a playlist of student audio storytelling. This audio was collected by junior in Mathematical Sciences Aubrey Esper, Architecture student Mikayla Gee, freshman in Business Administration Nannette Kankam, junior in Business Administration and Arts & Entertainment Management Neira Nate, senior in Design Beatriz Pimenta Medas, freshman in English Liberty Pope, sophomore in Architecture Ellie Seong, sophomore in Design Andreas Wieslander, and sophomore in Architecture Miaoci Yuan for 82-187 Audio Storytelling: Documentary, Found Sound, and Hidden Frequencies.

On a table with a black tablecloth, two monitors, a laptop, and several rectangular comic panels showcase a project.

Students display their research on interactive museum exhibitions. This project was called “What Happens Next” and was worked on by Humanities and Arts senior Kayley Ji, senior in Electrical & Computer Engineering Kaitlyn Ng, and senior in Business Administration Jasmine Zeng for 05-292 IDeATe: Learning in Museums.

A light-colored 3-D maze with Peter Rabbit graphics

Senior in Psychology Shinjini Chakrabarti, sophomore in Design Selina Lee, and senior studying Computational Biology and Computer Science and Arts Monica Wan created “Peter Rabbit’s Garden Maze” for children to interact with in 05-292 IDeATe: Learning in Museums.

A hand, lit by pink lighting, reaches down in a cage to touch an interactive mouse project.

Stella In, senior in Electrical & Computer Engineering, created “A Mouse in a Cage” that attendees could pet for 16-480 IDeATe: Creative Soft Robotics.

Two students with long dark hair look at the sleeve of a dark patterned quilted cape.

Students admire a quilted cape made by Violet Pronko, sophomore in History and Languages, Cultures & Applied Linguistics, for 62-150 A IDeATe Portal: Intro to Textile Media.

Riona Duncan is a student writer covering the University Libraries, the ETC, IDeATe, and the CMU Press. She is a junior studying Literature & Culture, with an additional major in Environmental and Sustainability Studies. This past summer, she worked as a newsroom intern at 90.5 WESA, Pittsburgh’s NPR news station, and she is also the Public Affairs Director at Carnegie Mellon’s college radio station WRCT.