How to Light Up Your Costumes: USITT "Wearable Technology" WorkshopThis summer's USITT Costume Symposium is all about marrying the disciplines of costume design and electrical engineering to produce clothing that shines, glows, winks, blinks, or even lights up in response to sound. "Wearable Technology," a three-day, hands-on workshop on electronically-enhancing fabric, runs June 13-15 at Rochester Institute of Technology, 60 Lomb Memorial Drive, Rochester, New York. RIT professors Marla Schweppe, costume design, and Jeanne Christman, engineering technology, team up to show how to incorporate lights, sensors, motors, and el-wire into fabric with electrifying effects. "We simplify the process down to basics to make getting started less intimidating," Schweppe says. "Once they see how easy it is, participants can expand their knowledge and become more proficient at incorporating electronics into clothing." The workshop is one of many training options offered by the United States Institute for Theatre Technology, the national association for performing arts and entertainment professionals. USITT offers networking, education, information and resources to some 4,000 student and professional members of the backstage fields. One of the Institute's missions is to provide training opportunities, through its Annual Conference & Stage Expo, Elite Training weekend, and workshops around the country. The "Wearable Technology" class combines Schweppe's field of costume design and Christman's expertise in electronics and computer engineering. Schweppe began working with wearable technology as a costume designer who made a battery-powered wind-up key for the back of a Ringling Brothers Barnum & Bailey Circus clown costume. "When a mutual friend realized that Jeanne was an engineer who liked to sew and that I had designed costumes and was interested in electronics, she introduced us and the rest is history," Schweppe said. Christman describes herself as "an educator passionate about outreach and recruitment to computer engineering" who is always seeking ways to ignite that interest across other disciplines. "Wearable Technology provides the perfect platform for introducing concepts in an exciting manner," she says. "Who doesn't want to design a shirt that turns on when they walk into a dark room?" The symposium will supply the tools needed to gain a working knowledge of wearable technology. Participants may also bring clothing they want to enhance if they wish. Additional electronics will be available for a fee. Breakfast, lunch, and snacks will be provided daily. The symposium costs $395 for USITT members and $500 for non-members who register by May 1. After May 1, the cost is $450 for members and $575 for non-members. 
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