A group of undergraduate researchers from N.C. State and across the globe gathered at the McKimmon Center Wednesday to share their work with the public as part of the University’s 12th annual Summer Undergraduate Research Symposium.
All undergraduate students attending N.C. State, or those who conducted research with a University faculty member, were eligible to participate in the event.
A total of 265 student researchers and their faculty mentors participated this year. Of that number, 116 came from N.C. State, 136 came from 45 schools in the United States, and 13 came from nine institutions in China, Puerto Rico and Taiwan.
As part of the event, students from other institutions spent the summer doing research with N.C. State faculty.
Two poster sessions, one at 1:15 p.m. and the other at 2:30 p.m., were held, followed by a reception and awards ceremony at 4 p.m. when student researchers received certificates and awards for their work.
Student researchers’ presentations were judged based on the nature of their hypothesis, the quality of their research and the their responses to the judges’ questions.
Dr. Christopher M. Ashwell, director of the Undergraduate Research Division of Academic & Student Affairs, said presenting at the symposium is one of the best ways students can take advantage of being part of the large and complex research community at the University.
“N.C. State has emerged as a leader among land-grant Research One institutions in providing opportunities to undergraduates to work beside some of the world’s best faculty researchers,” Ashwell said. “Our university provides unparalleled opportunities to engage in cutting-edge developments in a host of disciplines.”
Most of N.C. State’s colleges were represented.
Spencer Rhodes, a junior in meteorology, worked with Sandra Yuter, a professor of marine earth and atmospheric sciences, for his research of a type of snow pellet called graupel, which causes models to over-estimate snowfall.
“What we wanted to find was a better relationship between the vertical structure of storms that are producing graupel,” Rhodes said.
Rhodes said a better understanding of how graupel forms would help meteorologists make better predictions in future snowstorms.
Randy Avent, interim associate vice chancellor for the Research Development Office of Research and Innovation, said research was one of N.C. State’s three main missions.
“We have a tendency to do more applied types of research that have greater impact on economic development and creating jobs,” Avent said. “In addition to the more applied research development where we try to make an impact on the economy, we also do a lot of basic research. We have some very exciting programs that are going on across the colleges, bringing colleges together [and] working on hard problems and grand challenges in a very interdisciplinary way.”
Travis Morton, a junior in physics, began research more than two years ago aimed at solving the problem of excessive nuclear waste.
“Nuclear waste is a growing problem,” Morton said. “There is a lot more being produced, and it’s really hard to deal with because of its long half life.”
Morton said he hopes his research will allow him to better understand the bonding of molecules in nuclear waste and identify innovative ways to reduce it.
“Participation in research … gives every student the opportunity to gain an edge in admissions to graduate school, to find a first job, to build a career, and—perhaps most important—to become first-hand participants in the process of discovery,” Ashwell said.