College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics Hosts Student Research Symposium
The 17th Annual College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics Student Research Symposium was held on April 22 in the McCastlain Ballroom. The symposium highlights undergraduate and graduate student research projects completed under the guidance of faculty in the College and their collaborators. Submissions included 33 posters from Biology, 17 from Chemistry, 8 from Computer Science, 11 from Mathematics, 10 from Physics and Astronomy, and 2 interdisciplinary posters. Presenting the 81 posters were 115 student authors with 37 faculty and 9 external mentors. To review the abstracts of this year’s symposium or those of previous years visit https://uca.edu/cnsm/student-research/cnsm-annual-symposium/.
Students who used their undergraduate research as the basis of outstanding departmental honors thesis were recognized during the opening of this year’s symposium. Jason Barns in Computer Science and Asami Nishikawa in Physics and Astronomy were presented “Outstanding Honors Thesis” awards. These awards are funded through an endowment started by to UCA alumni Drs. Micah Abrams (B.S. Chemistry 01) and William Slaton (B.S. Physics 96) who know the added value that student research brings to the undergraduate programs at UCA. For more information about this opportunity to support our outstanding student researchers, please visit http://www.aursfund.org/.
Besel Receives Jerald Manion Outstanding Chemistry Student Award
Brian Besel, a senior chemistry major from Rogers, was presented the first Jerald Manion Outstanding Chemistry Student Award. Under the direction of Dr. Patrick Desrochers of the UCA Chemistry Department, Brian’s research efforts contributed to two peer-reviewed publications in the internationally-read journal, Inorganic Chemistry (in 2009 and 2011). Also, he was twice recognized with cash awards for outstanding oral presentations of his research.Throughout his time at UCA Brian has worked as a teaching assistant for general chemistry, organic chemistry, and quantitative analysis. He has also served as the primary supervisor of tutors for the department’s tutoring service.
The award was made possible when Dr. Slaton Fry of Batesville, a 1980 UCA graduate of the Chemistry Department and Beebe, Arkansas native, and his wife, Diann, established the endowment in honor of his former professor.
Department of Computer Science Hosts “CS Roadshow”
The Department of Computer Science organized “CS Roadshow” at Benton Junior High School and Hope High School on April 26. Computer Science undergraduates Jason Barnes, Luke Irvin, and Rema Taneja participated in the road shows conducted under the leadership of Dr. Vamsi Paruchuri, an assistant professor in computer science.
Computer-related technology is increasingly driving the U.S. economy. According to The National Association of Colleges and Employers, computer science ranks as one of the top five highest-paying career paths. This field is projected to further expand within the next decade. However, the number of computer science majors in the United States is declining. One of the primary reasons is the absence of exposure to computer science and computational thinking in the high school experience. A majority of high school students have no concept of what a major in Computer Science entails and lack awareness of multiple career opportunities for CS majors. To help resolve this problem, the Department of Computer Science is organizing these road trips aimed at piquing students’ interests in CS.
Chemistry Students and Faculty Attend National Meeting of the American Chemical Society
Nineteen undergraduate students and six faculty members from UCA’s Chemistry Department attended the 241st National Meeting of the American Chemical Society in Anaheim, Calif. The meeting included symposia on topics as diverse as energy & the environment, nanotechnology, biological & medicinal chemistry, and chemical education. The students took advantage of the programming to attend symposia about how to operate a successful student affiliate chapter and listen to lectures by preeminent scientists including Nobel Laureate Akira Suzuki.
The students presented research that they had conducted as part of independent study projects in collaboration with UCA chemistry faculty members Drs. Patrick Desrochers, Lori Isom, Melissa Kelley, Karen Steelman, William Taylor, Richard Tarkka, Donald Perry, and Lance Bridges. Brian Besel, who works with Drs. Desrochers and Tarkka, was invited to present his research at Sci-Mix. The best posters from the meeting are highlighted during Sci-Mix. Also presented at Sci-Mix was the UCA ACS Chapter poster highlighting the promotion of chemistry in Arkansas.
Arkansas Science Fair Association Recieves $75,000 to Support Science Fairs
The Arkansas Science Fair Association (ASFA) secured annual funding from the Arkansas Legislature in support of the Arkansas science fairs. This funding was approved during the 2011 legislative session. This funding, along with the generous support of SWN, will help to “raise the bar”for the State Fair competition The ASFA executive board will also be able to help support the regional science fairs. Act 1075 appropriates $75,000 to AFSA to support the state and regional science fairs.State Representative Linda Tyler was instrumental in securing the funds.
Faculty Presentations and Publications
Dr. Yu Sun, an associate professor in the Department of Computer Science, published a journal paper in IEEE Transactions on Circuits and System II, a leading journal in the field of hardware and architecture. Dr. Yimin Zhou, co-author and a visiting scholar in the Computer Science Department at UCA from December 2007 to May 2009, conducted advanced research in the areas of multimedia computing with Dr. Sun.
Jeremy A. Lusk and Dr. Debra L. Burris, an assistant professor in the Department of Physic and Astronomy, published the paper “Error Analysis of Light n-Capture Element Abundances in the Metal-Poor Halo Star HD74462”, in the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, Vol. 123, pp. 253-258, No. 901, March 2011.
Priyatham Anisetty presented a paper he co-authored with Dr. Paul Young, an assistant professor in the Department of Computer Science, titled “Collaboration Problems in Group Projects” at the ninth annual Consortium for Computing Sciences in Colleges Mid-South Conference held in Conway April 1-2. The paper stems from experience gained while directing the members of Dr. Young’s Software Engineering Class in a class-wide, semester-long software development project.