The energy of the university is on full display in the work and accomplishments of former Lady Vol and academic all-American Candace Parker and current Governor’s Chair for Power Electronics Yilu Liu. This energy is brought to light in UT’s new TV commercial. The spot will air during most televised Tennessee sporting events. Broadcast networks allot thirty seconds of free promotion time for each school during games.
Created by UT’s Department of Video and Photography, the spot highlights the energy in Parker and Liu’s work and uses various time-lapse techniques and special effects to pull together the final look. Some members of the campus community with a sharp eye may catch themselves in the blur of movement inside the Haslam Business Building.
Staff from the Department of Video and Photography traveled to Los Angeles in July to capture footage of Parker playing with her WNBA team, the LA Sparks. Parker was drafted to the Sparks as the first pick of the 2008 WNBA Draft, after leading the Lady Vols to two consecutive NCAA National Championships. She became the first WNBA player to be named both the Rookie of the Year and the Most Valuable Player of the Year. She also has won two gold Olympic medals as part of the 2008 and 2012 US Olympic Women’s Basketball teams.
Governor’s Chair Liu is a professor of electrical engineering and computer science. An expert in the technologies used to monitor power grids, she researches ways to create the next generation “smart grid.” Her work positioned UT to be chosen to head a prestigious Engineering Research Center funded by the National Science Foundation to study the transfer of electrical energy. The five-year, $18 million joint NSF and Department of Energy award has UT at the forefront of President Barack Obama’s plan to overhaul the nation’s energy grid.