Nerd Nite Philly

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Hello friends! We’re back on Wednesday, November 3rd at Frankford Hall with a brand new Nerd Nite for you. Here’s what you can expect:

“Intelligent Transportation Engineering and Philly’s Future for Mobility and Access”

Everyone has gotten stuck at a red light that ruins the continuity of traffic flow down a corridor. Many of us have waited on the corner for a bus to come – only for three to show up. Why are there seven potholes on my block? Who designs this inefficient garbage?

This presentation aims to elucidate the reasons for these phenomena – the complex systems that transportation engineers study, the data that’s changing our decisions, what information we hope for in the future, and how urban mobility and our streetscape will change in the next few decades.

Come and join in a candid discussion of the trade, our perceived shortcomings and the real pitfalls that shape our transportation policy and overall mobility outcomes. Transportation is truly a shared experience – everyone has questions and anecdotes and we’ll welcome all of them.

BIO: Justin Ferri is an intelligent transportation consultant from South Philly that works for both public and private sector clients up and down the east coast. He cut his teeth a decade ago doing (surprisingly dangerous) 11-hour traffic counts on the mainline and doing (surprisingly wholesome) ADA curb ramp inspections outside of trap houses in Kenzo. He’s now mostly doing boring things like writing policy for intersection control evaluation for the feds, working with big data, cursing map conflation, and considering far-fetched implications for autonomous vehicles. His napkin math estimates that he’s walked about 65% of Philly’s 2,500 street miles on foot.

“The 10 Greatest Philly Local Ads Ever Made”

Do you have a passion for fashion? Have you ever seen what people who believe in the power of each other can do? What Philadelphia museum claimed that you can feel the fun? All of these confusing questions will be answered when Chris presents an audio/video overview of his picks for the ten greatest Philly commercials of all time in a presentation that will be certain to spawn debate…and leave you with endless jingles stuck in your head.

BIO: Along with being a Nerd Nite Philly co-boss, Chris Cummins is a writer for Den of Geek and the producer/host of Sci-Fi Explosion. You can follow all of his nonsense on Twitter @bionicbigfoot and tune into his free 24 hour live Halloween Spooptacular from 8pm 10/29 to 8pm 10/30 (bringing you hilarious vintage clips, short films and features, music videos, cartoons, comedy and so much more at twitch.tv/scifiexplosion)

It Came from Below: Spooky Science Stories from (Down)stream

From scurvy on the seven seas to dynamite and cannons meant to control the rains, water plays a starring role in some of our strangest and most compelling true stories. But what about the myths, legends, and superstitions that bring us dangerous creatures and angry waves? Is that winding river really full of secrets? Is the salty ocean truly as mysterious as it seems?

Join Distillations podcast cohosts Lisa Berry Drago and Alexis Pedrick as they spin a few yarns, talk about the weird water stories they can’t get out of their heads, and why this shared resource is such a big part of our folklore.

BIOS:

Alexis Pedrick is one of the cohosts of the Distillations podcast and the Director of Public Engagement at the Science History Institute. She is a D&D-playing, science-loving, history nerd.

Elisabeth (Lisa) Berry Drago is the other cohost of the Distillations podcast. She is also a research curator and museum experience strategist at the Science History Institute and a huge, self-professed nerd.

Wed 11/3. 7:30pm.
Frankford Hall,
1210 Frankford Avenue.
$10. (There’s an ATM on site, a Wells Fargo up the street and we also accept Venmo).

BE THERE AND BE SQUARE!