Penny Ann Dolin receives 2016 Education Award of Excellence
Above: Penny Ann Dolin (right) teaching students in the Graphic Information Technology photo studio. Photographer: Kahn Van Toor/ASU
Penny Ann Dolin, an associate professor of practice in the Graphic Information Technology program in the Polytechnic School and the director of the Technical Imaging Lab, was honored by the Printing Industries of America with the 2016 Education Award of Excellence.
The award is given annually for leadership that has directly resulted in a distinguished education service, program, project or other accomplishment in graphic communications. She will be presented with the award in March at the Technical Association of the Graphic Arts Annual Technical Conference in Houston, Texas.
“What I love most about the GIT program is the project-based nature of our classes,” Dolin says. “These projects allow for our students to be creative and use problem solving skills to come up with the best solution.”
Penny Ann Dolin is the founder and manager of the GIT Commercial Photography Studio and the Technical Imaging Lab on the Polytechnic campus. Photographer: Kahn Van Toor/ASU.
In a field of continual updates in technology, Dolin says that the biggest one was the dawn of the digital era.
“The biggest seismic changes, of course, happened for me in photography when we went from film to digital,” Dolin says. “Beyond that, the automation of certain activities and the increasing sophistication of the software have allowed me to continually refine my method of teaching our creative technologies. In addition, advancements in the equipment we use, such as cameras, lighting, presses and computers, keep the field interesting. Right now, in photography, we are diving into 360 degree VR and augmented reality.”
She is very proud of all the great work done by her students in the Technical Imaging Lab and the GIT Commercial Photo Studio.
“The work we have done in in conjunction with some of the engineering students, utilizing high speed video and thermal imaging technologies, have been rewarding,” Dolin says. “On the commercial photography side, I am proud of the work that was done for the photos that are up on the walls in SanTan Hall and Peralta Hall on the Polytechnic campus and the beautiful work the students do on our annual study abroad program, Paris: Photography and Architecture in the City of Light.”
Dolin utilizes photography as a stealth method of delivering science and technology to students in ways they may not expect.
“I especially love working on STEM projects with middle school and high school students,” says Dolin. “They start out taking photographs of each other and come away with an understanding of the photo electric effect, Kelvin temperature, reciprocity between variables and optics.”
