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Since its completion in 2006, the Roser ATLAS Center’s light tower has cast a multi-hued glow over the ���ӽ紫ý campus nightly.

A few years ago, Sergio Laureano Rivera completed a light tower project as part of his Creative Technology & Design (CTD) master's degree. He’s been working in theater technology at CU’s Macky Auditorium and other Boulder venues for decades, and conceived of a way to enable ATLAS visitors to change the lighting on the tower with a��touch-sensitive control panel.��

Luckily, CU computer science major and ATLAS CTD minor Slaton Spangler had already��developed a web-based user interface for people to hack the lights.

With all of this in play, Wayne Seltzer, an assistant and adjunct professor at the ATLAS Institute, thought it was time the light tower got a serious update. Since the institute’s CTD students are known for applying their engineering prowess in unexpected ways, Seltzer decided to run an experimental class this spring called “ATLAS Light Tower as Theater,” hoping��to turn the tower into an interactive performance space.��

“I sought out students with complementary backgrounds in stage lighting, audio, user interaction and computer graphics,” said Seltzer, who is also a retired Sun Microsystems/Oracle engineer. Over the course of 15 weeks, eight students worked with Seltzer to design and build an upgraded lighting system.��

An eclectic team

One of those students is Erin Fels, a sophomore double-majoring in Computer Science and CTD with a business minor. For Fels, the diversity of backgrounds in the class was what made it memorable.

“This class isn’t just CTD majors or even people who have done lighting design before,” Fels said. “We all come from very different academic backgrounds but we shared one thing in common: wanting to create a memorable experience for others to gather around and enjoy together. The people I get to work with in this class are fantastic in every way, hardworking creatives whose passion shines through the light tower and our work.”

Seltzer curated a mix of bachelor’s and master’s students, including undergraduate Cam Mead (Integrated Design Engineering ’27), who has run a live visual production and lighting design company since high school, and currently operates lighting and camera systems for local venues, including Red Rocks. CTD graduate student and multi-media artist��Cambria Klinger brought eclectic experience in stage design, fabrication and production, having worked professionally with Longmont-based company Dark Moon Designs, but she had also completed an architectural lighting intensive in Sweden in the fall of 2025.��

Fels put her experience in creative coding and physical computing to work during the upgrade, but the light tower project presented a “learning curve” she was excited to tackle.��

“We did some UI/UX and software development to help with our overall vision to give people the ‘light tower powers,’" Fels said of building the new interactive system. “It was a bit different than working with an Arduino, but being someone who is curious to learn new skills comes in handy, especially when working in an unconventional environment like the light tower.”

A new, interactive system

Lighting technology has come a long way since the Roser ATLAS Center’s grand opening 20 years ago. Today’s LEDs are brighter, cheaper, and more easily installed and controlled. And compatible software now supports the design of integrated audio and lighting effects. Contemporary high-power video with projection mapping also enables images to be cast on surfaces inside the tower.��

, a professional architectural lighting designer, consulted with the class. She connected Seltzer with CU alumnus Dixon Stein (Environmental Design ’18), a sales manager at architectural lighting company Color Kinetics, which installed the original lighting system in 2006. For the light tower update, the company loaned updated, brighter fixtures.����

The class then met with��, an architect who worked on the original lighting system. “During our design process [20 years ago], we envisioned the tower as a unique and distinctive element during the evening hours to symbolize the [ATLAS Institute’s] integration of technology and the arts for both the campus and the community at large,” Doyle said.��

With that goal in mind, the student team wanted to make the tower interactive so that members of the CU community could conduct light shows from a simple web interface.

What’s next?

The renovated light tower will debut at 8 p.m. Friday, April 24, after ATLAS EXPO, the institute’s annual showcase of senior capstone projects and other student works. Attendees can gather outside the Roser ATLAS Center to experiment with the system—and they may catch a performance by a local dance team.

For the students who worked to upgrade the lighting system, the project has opened doors beyond the classroom.

“This class has helped me learn so many new skills that led me to apply for and accept a design and programming internship this summer focused on similar experiences,” said Fels. “I’m thankful to Wayne and the faculty and students who helped get our final project up and running.”

While the class is wrapping up for the semester, Seltzer hopes to continue moving toward Doyle’s vision of the light tower as a window “into the vast creativity of the students of the ATLAS program.” Future additions could include an advanced video projector, allowing images to be cast onto the tower’s surfaces.

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