Research Week Shows Off Student Projects
By: Arie Kirk in The USU Statesman
As part of this year's Research Week, 70 students participated in USU's annual Student Showcase - displaying research projects and giving oral presentations. Awards for undergraduate research mentors and undergraduate researchers of the year were also given.
"It's a wonderful opportunity for undergraduate students at USU to showcase what they are doing in their research. It's a hands-on learning experience for undergraduate students," said Brent Miller, vice president of the Research Office. "They benefit from actually doing research projects, not just reading about them."
All of USU's colleges were represented in the showcase.
Throughout the day, 13 students gave oral presentation regarding their projects. Fifty-seven had poster board displays.
Anthony Thomas, a senior majoring in physics, displayed his research regarding the effect of voltage ramp rates on the dielectric breakdown of thin film polymers. He also wrote a program to read the values of voltage and current when breaking through polymers.
The benefit of the Student Showcase, Thomas said, is the opportunity to teach and speak with others about his research.
"In learning, it has always been known that the best way to learn is to teach. To present research gives students the opportunity to teach. It requires you to think differently to explain your research to someone who doesn't understand," he said.
Angel Cicero, a senior majoring in physics, also had a display in the showcase.
In his research, Cicero challenged the idea of nothing being faster than the speed of light. While the idea may never be proved, he said his findings offer a greater understanding of the basic laws of nature.
Cicero said he enjoyed being part of the showcase. He also said there are many advantages to participating in a showcase.
"The benefits for students that participate is that one, you get exposure. Two, from this project or any project a student made you acquire knowledge. Through the process, you learn a lot and three, you also learn how to explain what you think, you learn how people are interested in things," he said.
During the showcase, an awards ceremony was held to name the outstanding undergraduate research mentor and undergraduate researcher of the year from each college.
The undergraduate research mentors of the year were Ken White of the College of Agriculture; Kenneth Bartkus of the College of Business; Brian Higginbotham, the College of Education and Human Services; Anhong Zhou, College of Engineering; Michael Nicholls of the College of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences; Wayne Wurtsbaugh, College of Natural Resources and Joseph Li of the College of Science. David Law was named the undergraduate research mentor of the year from the regional campus.
The undergraduate researchers were John Brinkerhoff of the College of Agriculture; Jeanette Blackham from the College of Business; Aaron Anderson, College of Education and Human Services; Gerald (Dusti) McEwen of the College of Engineering; Lenaye Howard, College of HASS; Kelly Sivy from the College of Natural Resources and Jan Marie Andersen from the College of Science. Sean Haggarty and Shanna Wheeler were named the undergraduate researches of the year from the regional campus.
-ariek@cc.usu.edu
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