Undergraduate students showcased their research Monday at the University’s inaugural Discover Research Day. More than 130 students from the various colleges presented their methodology and findings as part of the University’s Quality Enhancement Plan for reaffirmation of reaccreditation.
Students who attended Discover Research Day talked to fellow peers about the pros and cons of undergraduate research and why it’s an important part of the college experience.
“What comes to your mind when you hear research?” asked Kalliat Valsaraj, vice chancellor of Research and Economic Development. “Grad students, professors running around in white coats. Undergraduate research is often forgotten, and these students have a passion for research.”
There were also live demonstrations of the final products of research.
One presentation showed the collaboration between the College of Engineering and the College of Music and Dramatic Arts. Mark Gibson, physical theatre senior, said he approached civil engineering senior Joshua Brown about bringing engineering aspects to theater. The project, ORIGIN, is an 8-foot in diameter “buckyball” contraption made of aluminum that the physical theatre students performed in, on top of and around. Because of their collaborative efforts, the project received a $3,000 grant from enOvation.
“In physical theater, there is no structure like this,” Brown said.
A brass quintet composed of School of Music students Anthony Ficklin, Brent Gosset, Francis Steib, Phil Shapiro and John LeNoir performed Quintet No. 1 by Victor Ewald to illustrate the positive effects of research in the college.
Two students from the University of Florida also displayed their findings regarding the correlation between music and cancerous cells. Stepfanie Lam, microbiology sophomore, and Ginny Lane, cello performance and chemical engineering sophomore, created a musical composition using the nucleotides present in cancerous DNA compared to that of noncancerous DNA. Using the nucleotides A,G,C, and T as notes, Lam and Lane compared how the two pieces of music sounded when played on the cello.
“We’re telling a musical story about a deleted gene,” Lane said.
Randy Duran, director of undergraduate research said Discover Research Day is a pilot and will eventually expand into a week-long event. Research Day aims to create more collaborations across campus between humanists, engineers, musicians and other students.