Science Symposium Highlights Student Research
“This is their first taste of what it’s like to be on a research team and to be with other people who are just doing research,” said Deborah Zies, associate professor of biology and co-director of the Summer Science Institute. “It’s a great opportunity for faculty and students to get started on a project and work.”
The daylong event is one of the few to bring together biology, chemistry, earth and environmental science, math, computer science and physics students to present their original research projects to faculty, families and peers.
Students presented on a wide-range of research, from chemical signals in crayfish interactions to astrophotography to the downfall of antibiotics.
“It’s a high-impact learning experience,” said Nicole Crowder, assistant professor of chemistry and co-director of the Summer Science Institute. “I hope that this program exposes students to what it’s really like to be a scientist. Students take the knowledge that they’ve been gaining in the classroom and really apply it.”
At the end of the symposium, the following students received awards for their research presentations:
First-place Oral Presentation: Jerome Mueller, “Developing a Tetra Interpreter,” Faculty Advisor: Ian Finlayson, assistant professor, computer science
Second-place Oral Presentation: Amy Jayas, “The Best Dam Project Ever,” Faculty Advisor: Alan B. Griffith, associate professor, biology
First-place Poster Presentation: Kevin Speray, “Qualifying the Efficacy of Aeschynomene virginica as an Indicator Species for Sea-Level Rise,” Faculty Advisor: Alan B. Griffith, associate professor, biology
Second-place Poster Presentation: Shehan Rajapakse, “Designing the Tetra IDE,” Faculty Advisor: Ian Finlayson, assistant professor, computer scienceUMW to Host STEM Events, March 29
Science, technology, engineering and mathematics will be in full swing at the University of Mary Washington on Saturday, March 29 with the following events:
SeaPerch Competition
Local high school and middle school students come together to compete with SeaPerch robots or underwater remotely operated vehicles at the Anderson Center pool from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Check out www.seaperch.org for more information.
STEM Summit 16
UMW will host the third annual FredTech STEM 16 Summit showcasing the achievements of the region’s students, educators and businesses in science, technology, engineering and mathematics at the Anderson Center from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. More information available at http://members.fredericksburgchamber.org/events/details/3rd-annual-stem-summit-3205
Calculus Tournament
Six teams from regional high schools come together to compete in a tournament sponsored by the Department of Mathematics in Monroe Hall from 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Call or email (540) 654-1332
(540) 654-1332 or llehman@umw.edu for more information.
UMW to Host STEM Summit, March 29
Missy Cummings, director of the Humans and Autonomy Lab and associate professor of mechanical engineering and materials science at Duke University, will deliver the keynote address at noon. She is a leading authority on drone technologies and human-machine collaboration and is one of the U.S. Navy’s first female fighter pilots.
Featuring more than 40 local secondary schools, UMW, Germanna Community College and the Naval Surface Warfare Center in Dahlgren, the event will include STEM-related booths and technology demonstrations throughout the day.
This event is free and open to the public. For more information or to register, visit http://members.fredericksburgchamber.org/events/details/3rd-annual-stem-summit-3205.Symposium Showcases Student Research
Kimberly Hildebrand shares her poster presentation during the Summer Science Institute Symposium.
University of Mary Washington students and faculty gathered in Jepson Hall on Wednesday, July 24 for a day dedicated to original STEM-related research. The Summer Science Institute Symposium was the culmination of 10 weeks of research for more than 20 undergraduate students and their faculty mentors.
During the symposium’s awards ceremony, Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences Richard Finkelstein, applauded the dedication of the faculty mentors and the innovation of the students’ projects. The importance of research, he asserted, is how it fosters in students the ability to think through abstract concepts with an eye toward practical applications.
Brooke Andrews (left) and Professor Nicole Crowder
Ngoc Quyen Huynh (right) and Professor Hai Nguyen
The following students received awards for their research:
- First Place Poster Presentation: Brooke Andrews, “Synthesis and Purification of 4,4′-di(n-alkyl)-2,2’bipyridine” Adviser: Nicole Crowder
- Second Place Poster Presentation: Ngoc Quyen Huynh, “Fabry-Perot Interferometer” Adviser: Hai Nguyen
- First Place Oral Presentation: Patrick Mullen, “Absorption Spectroscopy of Rubidium” Adviser: Hai Nguyen
- Second Place Oral Presentation: Kathie Belrose-Ramey, “Locating the Binding Site of RAI1 within the CLOCK Regulatory Region” Adviser: Deborah Zies
Kathie Belrose-Ramey (right) and Professor Deborah Zies
A list of all student research projects is available in the symposium’s program.
STEM Summit Showcases Area Technology
UMW computer science student David Peworchik was honored with the “SWIFT Scholarship in Computer Science” Award for the 2013-2014 academic year, which provides a merit scholarship to a top computer science major in the region. The scholarship is funded by the Society for World Interbank Financial Telecommunications, Inc (SWIFT).
In addition, UMW students, Alex Gilley, Zach Goodwin, Jerome Mueller and Russell Ruud , were named as SWIFT Student Research Fellows for the 2013-2014 year. They received funding from SWIFT and UMW to attend the Extreme Science and Engineering Discovery Environment (XSEDE) conference in San Diego in July. The students will present their part of an interdisciplinary research project in the area of pharmaceutical discovery. Their work with supercomputers and data analysis may lead to new treatments for diseases such as HIV and Tuberculosis, according to Associate Professor Karen Anewalt, chair of the Department of Computer Science.
In conjunction with the summit, UMW held a titration competition and its seventh annual calculus tournament. In the team competition of the calculus tournament, the team from Paul VI High School in Fairfax came in first place and the team from the Commonwealth Governor’s School came in second place. In the individual competition, Jack Sweeney of Paul VI High School won first place and Lina Hong of Paul VI High School won second place.
In the titration tournament, members of UMW’s honors general chemistry class won first place, followed by senior chemistry majors in second place.
The summit culminated with a keynote lecture by David Kerr, a program lead in the Federal Aviation Administration’s Office of Communications.