More than 200 undergraduate and graduate students presented research projects at the second annual Cal Poly Pomona Student Research Conference.
Vying to represent the university at the CSU-wide research conference in the spring, students showcased projects from nearly all academic disciplines. They delivered oral presentations to a panel of judges composed of faculty and alumni. This year’s conference, held March 7, also included a poster session.
Ten students were selected to present their research at Cal State East Bay on May 2 & 3 and received a $100 cash prize. The winners were:
Heather Acuff
“Effects of adding a dried food waste product to the diets of finishing pigs on growth, feed intake, and nutrient digestibility”
Faculty mentor: Lee Pettey
Brian Bulaya
“Exploring the Common Core State Standards at Westmont Elementary (Pomona, CA)”
Faculty mentor: Kyle Brown
Cole Frazier
“Establishing Lower Urinary Tract Candidiasis in Swiss Webster Mice”
Faculty mentor: Jill Adler-Moore
Zack Gentry, Andrew Sakamoto, Matthew Corey, Norton Thongchua and Kishan Patel
“Corrosion of Nickel Chromium Alloys in Molten Sodium Sulfate Salt at 900 C”
Faculty mentor: Vilupanur Ravi
Erin Mascho
“An Investigation of Managerial Compensation in the Restaurant Industry”
Faculty mentor: Zhenxing Mao
Blin Richards, Mathew Gan, John Dayton, Jordan Quintana, James Liu and Miguel Enriquez
“Obstacle Avoidance System for UAVs Using Computer Vision”
Faculty mentor: Subodh Bhandari
Maria Servin
“Framing Spaces of Illegality: Undocumented College Graduates and Deferred Action”
Faculty mentor: Anita Jain
Patrick Shushereba
“The Swing Vote and the Attitudinal Model of the Supreme Court”
Faculty mentor: Mario Guerrero
Samantha Willford
“Thermodynamic Measurements May Reveal a New Ion/Substrate Stoichiometry for the Gamma-Aminobutyric Acid Transporter 1”
Faculty mentor: Sepehr Eskandari
Samayyah Williams, Blanca Calderon, Connie Tsui, Han Yang, Daniel Espinoza, Nathan Dominguez, Kenneth Kosovich, Amir Kashifi and Raffi Dermendijan
“The Removal of Nitrate and Perchlorate from RO Concentration Stream”
Faculty mentor: Ali Sharbat
Conferences provide students the opportunity to gain valuable experience in research, presentation and public speaking.
“I enjoyed the opportunity to share my research with the faculty members and other research-oriented students,” says graduate animal nutrition student Heather Acuff, who presented her research on food-waste products and pig diets. “I felt it was exciting to teach others about a new topic they may not have otherwise learned about. It was great practice for preparing for a career in research, where presenting will be a vital part of our careers.”
Brian Bulaya, an urban and regional planning student, enjoyed seeing the work of fellow students. “It was definitely encouraging to be surrounded by so many aspiring student researchers who continue to do outstanding work and are destined for greatness,” he says. Bulaya researched the effectiveness of a Lyle Center outreach program on students at Westmont Elementary School in Pomona.
Alumnae and track and field Olympian Una Morris delivered the conference’s keynote address, stressing the importance of educational experiences like presentations, conferences and studying.
“This is just the beginning of your life,” said Morris, who graduated with a zoology degree in 1970 and competed in the 1964, 1968 and 1972 games. “Education is one of the most important things in your life, because you will always have it.”