Andrew Danielson

No Cape, No Problem: ‘Rave Guardian’ App Watches Over PFW Campus

By Andrew Danielson

“Rave Guardian.” The name sounds like something straight out of a superhero movie. But this isn’t a reboot of the Marvel Universe – it’s a smartphone app and it’s freely available to all members of the Purdue University Fort Wayne campus community.

Even though “Rave Guardian” may not wear a cape and fly to the rescue of civilians in distress, the free app is a tool that can help keep members of the PFW campus community safe through a variety of services and utilities.

“Everybody on campus should know about it – your faculty, staff, students,” said sergeant Rick Wiegmann of the PFW police.

Wiegmann is no stranger to either police work or the PFW campus. July first will mark his sixteenth year as a member of the PFW police department. In charge of field training for PFW’s police officers, Wiegmann also leads one of the day shifts on campus.

Wiegmann explained that “Rave Guardian” is actually a combination of two separate services that have been combined into one app.

On the one hand, the “Rave” portion of the app allows campus authorities, including the PFW police department, to issue warnings and alerts to members of the campus community.

Say for instance that a traffic accident has occurred on Coliseum Boulevard, blocking access to the Coliseum entrance to campus. The PFW police can issue a warning through “Rave Guardian” telling students, faculty, and staff not to come to campus via the Coliseum entrance.

Yet another use for these emergency warnings could be severe weather impacting the campus, such as the campus closing down due to severe cold.

But that’s only one portion of the app.

Wiegmann detailed how the “Guardian” portion of the app allows the user to contact the PFW police either via phone call or text message. Such contacts could be for any number of reasons.

One use of the “Guardian” feature is when a student has to walk to their car or to their dorm room alone. Perhaps classes went late and it’s dark out. In that case, the student can turn on Rave Guardian and actually ask the PFW police to monitor their progress as they walk to their destination. Based on the geolocation data coming from the student’s phone, the police are able to watch their physical progress and direction as they walk from their classroom to their car or home destination.

From Campus Police to Mom: ‘Rave Guardian’ Lets Loved Ones Keep Watch at PFW

But it’s not just the PFW police that can be asked to be “Guardians.”

Mom, dad, a sibling, or a close friend can also be added by a “Rave Guardian” user as a “guardian.” In that case, a student will contact their “guardian” and ask them to watch their progress as they head home.

“Mom can watch you walk,” Wiegmann explained.

For those students concerned about their privacy, rest assured that Rave Guardian isn’t always on.

“There’s an on and off switch,” Wiegmann said.

This means that a student can turn on Rave Guardian when they feel the need to have someone with them virtually, then shut off the app when they arrive at their destination.

‘Rave Guardian’ App Enhances Campus Safety at PFW

Rave Guardian does have some other unique features in addition to the “guardian” option. For example, the app allows users to report suspicious activity on campus. Since that report can be done via text message within the app, users can quietly and quickly notify PFW police of a developing situation, giving the officers valuable time and information to respond.

One of the most prominent features of the app is that it provides a “911” call option on the app’s home page. If there is a true emergency that requires immediate response from emergency services, users have the ability to quickly dial 911 right from the app without needing to pull up their normal cellphone calling/dialing screen.

Rave Guardian provides the PFW community a quick way to connect with PFW police and emergency services, but monitoring “Rave Guardian” requests and messages is only one of the services the PFW police department offers.

Sergeant Wiegmann explained that the PFW police are available to assist students, staff or faculty who have locked themselves out of their car. The officers can also help jump-start a car with a dead battery or they can provide guidance in changing a flat tire.

In addition to their virtual “walk alongside” via the Rave Guardian app, PFW police are also available to escort students to their cars or dorms if the student is feeling a bit nervous about traveling to their destination alone.

“If you have a student who says, ‘Hey, I’m kinda scared,’ we can give them an escort,” Wiegmann said.

But there’s a challenge with offering these services – getting campus users to actually download the app and take advantage of all it has to offer.

“That’s one of the issues – getting everybody to sign up,” Wiegmann said.

To help increase awareness of the app, especially for new incoming students to PFW, the PFW police will provide convenient handouts of information at orientation. Those handouts include QR codes that link to a variety of PFW campus websites and resources, including where to download Rave Guardian.

For more information about Rave Guardian and where to download the app, visit the campus safety and security website. The PFW police department can be contacted via their non-emergency number at 260-481-6827. For any emergency, you should call 911 immediately.

July 7, 2025By Andrew Danielson Features, News Campus Safety, PFW Police, Rave Guardian appLeave a Comment

Start Light, Star Bright, PFW’s Observatory I see tonight

By Andrew Danielson

The end of a busy day at Purdue University Fort Wayne usually sees a varying scene of homeward bound students, professors, and staff members.

An endless row of cars pours out of the exits of the campus. Buildings that resonated with the hum of scholars’ voices gradually fall silent as the twinkle of lights shine out in the gathering dusk. Night has wrapped the campus in a dark, comforting blanket as the day’s academic life comes to an end.

Or does it?

For at least some students and one professor on campus, dusk is the herald of a night’s work to begin, because it’s only at night that an earth-based telescope can begin traversing the heavens in its constant quest for knowledge. And PFW’s department of physics will soon begin their voyage of astronomical discovery with the “UFO Observatory.”

Many people would assume that “UFO” stands for “unidentified flying object.” But for PFW’s astronomers and astrophysicists, UFO actually means something closer to home – the “Undergraduate Fun Observatory.”

The story of the UFO observatory actually began almost a decade ago. In 2016, then-professor of physics Stephen Gillam had helped spearhead a project to create and deploy an observatory on the IPFW campus, according to a report from WANE15.

WANE15 reported that the total project came at a price tag of $27,000, but what the observatory had to offer was well worth the price.

The observatory consists of a large white dome that can slide open, revealing the 8-inch reflector telescope inside. Telescopes include a variety of designs and types, including reflector and refractor ones.

Installation of the observatory on campus

According to NASA, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, reflector telescopes use mirrors to help gather and focus star light that an astronomer can then see. This is a different process of light gathering versus a refractor telescope, which utilizes lenses, not mirrors, to gather and focus light.

PFW’s telescope is not large, but it provides students, staff, and the Fort Wayne public with a great opportunity to survey the cosmos.

Professor Eugenio Ursino, assistant professor of physics at PFW, explained that PFW’s observatory really serves two purposes: one for students, and one for the greater Fort Wayne community.

“It just makes sense that they learn how to use a telescope,” Ursino said about PFW physics students using the observatory. He explained that physics students who want to pursue their masters’ degrees in astronomy will be expected to know how to use a telescope.

Such knowledge could include something as simple as knowing where to point the telescope to see something in the cosmos or something as advanced as using a computer program to electronically control and “steer” a telescope.

But Ursino’s goals with the PFW observatory go beyond the classroom, as the telescope provides an integral part of the “Friday Night at the Observatory” program held on the PFW campus.

According to the PFW Department of Physics’ webpage, the third Friday of every month during the academic year sees the department of physics offer a program called “Friday Night at the Observatory.” During these events, which are open to anyone from the public, professors at PFW provide a lecture on a selected topic. Following the lecture, assuming the weather is amenable, attendees to the lecture are welcome to spend some time stargazing at the UFO Observatory.

At least, that was the idea.

Ursino mentioned that the original location of the UFO Observatory was not ideal for stargazing, for a couple of reasons. For one thing, the observatory was located outdoors across St. Joe Road, behind the PFW Surplus Center store on the eastern side of campus. That location, next to a parking lot in a grassy field, was susceptible to mud, making a trek to the observatory an uncomfortable and wet experience for stargazing lovers.

Yet another issue was that of temperature. Since the observatory is an outdoor affair, using the telescope during the colder months of the year was not the most pleasant experience.

But those issues are set to become problems of the past.

Just this year, the observatory has moved to a new location on top of Parking Garage 3. That’s a major improvement, because it means visitors to the observatory can now simply park their cars in the garage and walk on solid, non-muddy concrete to the telescope.

But wait, there’s more.

One of the features of the observatory since its inception has been the ability of users to control the telescope via a computer. Ursino described how the idea was that users could remotely control the movements of the telescope and observe galactic phenomena without needing to be physically present. Unfortunately, over time, the various pieces of equipment broke down or needed replacing.

Thankfully, a new computer has been added to the observatory’s technical arsenal, and Ursino is working towards making the observatory remotely controllable. This is a big achievement for the Friday Night at the Observatory program, because it means attendees to the program get a chance to stargaze from the comforts of the indoor lecture hall.

Professor Ursino mentioned that there are several other future astronomy projects and updates in the works for the UFO observatory and the department. Work is still being completed on making sure all the electronics and power systems are operational for the observatory.

For Ursino, the goal of the observatory for PFW’s students is simple:

“Student[s] engaged in simple research,” he said when asked about the impact of the observatory.

That simple research is just the tip of the iceberg for the UFO observatory, as it helps students and Fort Wayne reach for the stars and beyond.

July 4, 2025By Andrew Danielson Features Department of Physics, PFW, UFOLeave a Comment

Music Meets Technology, Camp Style

By Andrew Danielson

A top notch facility. Collegiate level instruction. And the chance to get your hands on professional-level audio equipment and produce original recordings.

That’s what is being offered, and more, at the Music Technology Camp, coming up July 14-17 at the PFW Sweetwater Music Center. Located just a stone’s throw away from the renown Sweetwater company headquarters, the PFW Sweetwater Music Center will be hosting a group of young students interested in the ins and outs of music technology.

“I see it as an outreach to what students know about career paths that they might never have heard about before,” professor John Buteyn said.

He’s the man for the job when it comes to all things music and technology related. Buteyn is currently clinical assistant professor of music at PFW’s School of Music and the director of the Music Technology Camp. In addition to his classroom teaching, he also helps lead PFW’s very own music recording label, Gold Top Music Group.

For Buteyn, the Music Technology Camp is a way to expose pre-college students to what careers and opportunities exist in the music field. He explained that high school students may not know the variety and depth of career opportunities available to musicians today.

However, when Buteyn first came to PFW in 2020, there was no Music Technology Camp to offer.

At the time Buteyn was settling in as a professor at PFW, folks at Fort Wayne Community Schools were looking for new opportunities for summer camps they could offer to students who were part of the GEAR UP program.

According to Buteyn, GEAR UP is a program for high school students in the Fort Wayne Community Schools system that helps students navigate their time through high school. That assistance can include such things as mentorship, scholarship programs, and visits to various prospective colleges at which the students may decide to enroll after graduating from high school.

When the Community Arts Academy learned of the interest the GEAR UP program had in a new music summer camp, they approached Buteyn about possibly creating a camp to meet that need. Buteyn jumped at the opportunity and the Music Technology Camp was born.

“I saw a need for it and offered it,” Buteyn said.

Now in its fourth year, the camp offers students diverse opportunities to use technology in the professional music technology field. And those experiences begin on day one of the camp.

Buteyn explained that on the first day, he spends time getting to know the students, their interests, and what they hope to learn or accomplish.

“When they first walk in the door, we’ll just spend a little bit of time getting to know one another,” Buteyn said. “You want people to feel comfortable when they’re in a creative space.”

From that first meeting, Buteyn learns about the students’ music experiences and what music they may have played or even written.

At the end of their first full day, students will have created a plan for what they want to do. It could be doing a recorded performance of a song that a commercial band has already recorded. Alternatively, the students may want to give free reign to their creative abilities and write their own unique song.

Whichever route the students decide to go, by the end of their first day they have become familiar with their surroundings, they know what they would like to record, and they’re ready to begin the whirlwind process of performing, recording, editing, and mixing an actual song.

Days two and three see Buteyn, his college helpers from the PFW School of Music, and the student campers busy at work making their creative vision a reality. The PFW Sweetwater Music Center is fully equipped for any recording situation, including musical instruments, professional recording studios, and capable computers that can record, edit, and mix the final music product.

Recording a piece of music takes a lot of work and effort, including figuring out how to properly mic the instruments so the end result is a pleasing composition to the ear. Sometimes, the students have to record a piece of music or even a section of a song multiple times to get just the right “take.”

But the students’ job isn’t finished with the completion of the recording. Once the recording is done, the students learn how to edit the recording until it meets their musical expectations.

To get that editing done, Buteyn introduces the camp attendees to different software packages used for computer editing of recordings. These software packages, called “Digital Audio Workstations” or DAWs for short, are standard pieces of software used in the industry. Programs like Logic Pro, Pro Tools, Ableton Live, and other DAWs are all possible software options that students can use and learn during their time at camp.

By the end of the camp on day four, the students have written, recorded, edited, mixed, and completed their very own recording of a song that they can then show their friends and family. To help celebrate that achievement, camp finishes on a high note with students having lunch at Sweetwater’s Downbeat Diner.

Buteyn said that the camp is open to any students in grades 9-12. Typically, students come from area high schools like Snider, Northrop, or Homestead. Student campers are allowed to bring their own instruments with them if they like, but the camp has many instruments available for use by the campers.

July 14-17 will be a whirlwind of activity for Buteyn, his collegiate student helpers, and the student attendees. The camp gives them a great opportunity to experience so much of what music professionals in the industry do as a career. With professional tools, coaching, and a learning environment centered on meeting students’ interests and goals, the Music Technology Camp will open the music doors of the future to the student musicians of today.

For more information about the Music Technology Camp, contact Professor John Buteyn at jbuteyn@pfw.edu. For more information about all the various camps offered by the Community Arts Academy or scholarship opportunities for these camps, contact Molly Papier, Director of the Community Arts Academy, at mpapier@pfw.edu.

July 2, 2025By Andrew Danielson Features Music Technology Camp, PFW, School of MusicLeave a Comment