More than 200 undergraduate and graduate students presented their research projects at the third annual Cal Poly Pomona Student Research Conference.
Students from nearly all academic disciplines presented projects in hopes of going on to a CSU-wide research conference in the spring. They delivered oral presentations to a panel of judges composed of faculty and alumni. This year’s conference, held March 6, also featured a poster session.
Ten students were selected to present their research at Cal State San Bernardino May 1 & 2 and received a cash prize. The winners were:
Tabitha Lindsay
(Biological Sciences, Graduate)
“North Pacific Opisthobranchs”
Faculty Mentor: Ángel Valdés
Jonathan Tringali
(Biological Sciences, Graduate)
“Cross Protection of a Synthetic MPL (SMPL) Adjuvant Incorporated into a Liposomal M2E Influenza A Virus Vaccine in BALB/C Mide infected with H1N1 or H3N2”
Faculty Mentors: Jill Adler-Moore and Nancy Buckley
Haley Smolinski, Megan Telebrico, Jaynie Tao, Lisa Mai, Spencer Jones, Ali Hasan, Giselle Hernandez and Ashley Stowells
(Food Science and Technology, Undergraduate)
“Development of a fortified rice product using edible insect flours for developing countries”
Faculty Mentors: Yao Olive Li and Shuhong Ye
David Vega
(Physics, Undergraduate)
“Computational Microscopy on a Cellphone”
Faculty Mentor: Ertan Salik
Sofia Pedroza
(Sociology, Undergraduate)
“May the Odds Be Ever in Your Favor: Olympics and the IOC”
Faculty Mentor: Faye Wachs
Parmeet Kohli
(Engineering Management, Graduate)
“Application of Lean Six Sigma in Business Functions”
Faculty Mentor: Kamran Abedini
Daniel Jesus Grajeda
(Gender, Ethnic, and Multicultural Studies, Undergraduate)
“What are internal and external factors that contribute to Chican/o EOPS student persistence in transferring to a four year university?”
Faculty Mentor: Jose Aguilar-Hernandez
Lindsay Hetric
(Biochemistry, Undergraduate)
“Investigation of Bmi1 phosphorylation in breast cancer cells”
Faculty Mentor: Junjun Liu
Brian Martin, Andrew Blancarte, Ketton James, Abraham Paucar, and Ben Saletta
(Mechanical Engineering, Undergraduate)
“Design of an innovative, Highly Maneuverable, Stealthy Unmanned Underwater Vehicle with ISR Capabilities”
Faculty Mentor: Todd Coburn
Natalie La, Michael Lepore, Yao Bourdon, Tiffany Lai, Wesley Harijanto, Terrence Gaines, Deana Lestina, Chrstine Zheng, Lucas Townsend, Michael Kim, and Kalvin Lam
(Civil Engineering, Undergraduate)
“Renewable Energy Desalination: Development of Photvoltaic Electrodialysis Desalination System”
Faculty Mentor: Ali Sharbat
Several students were also recognized for outstanding poster presentations. The winners were:
Conor Roland and Martin Sanchez
(Physics, Undergraduate)
“Highly Sensitive Label-Free Biosensors based on Biconically Tapered Fibers”
Faculty Mentor: Ertan Salik
Yee Teng Moo, Stephanie Romero, and Michelle Ecarma
(Food Science and Technology, Undergraduate)
“Effects of pH and Temperature on the Vibrance of Red Cabbage Anthocyanin”
Faculty Mentor: Harmit Singh
Marvin Paredes, Dorian Martinez, Evgeny Melman, Shelby Schneider, Bryan Lemaster, Ramelya Amirkhanian, and Armen Boghozian
(Chemical Engineering, Undergraduate)
“Simultaneous Milling and Coating and Characterization of Pharmaceutical Powders”
Faculty Mentor: Laila Jallo
This year also marked the conference’s first Distinguished Staff Award. Victoria Pantoja, an Institutional Review Board staff member, was recognized for her outstanding contributions to research, scholarly and creative activities at the university.
A university-wide conference gives students the presentation skills they need to excel in their disciplines post-graduation. Third-year sociology student Sofia Pedroza analyzed media coverage for the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics, and discovered bigger patterns in the discussion of social issues. She says that her success at the conference motivates her to continue her research.
“This conference was an opportunity for me to focus on making sociology accessible and relevant to someone who has never studied it,” Pedroza says. “I want to pursue a career in research, so I loved having an opportunity to learn about how others have refined our understanding of the world and to contribute in my own way.”
The Undergraduate Research Faculty Advisory Committee, a team of faculty from each college, helps with the planning and organization of the student research conference. Approximately 480 students, faculty, alumni and guests attended the event, an increase from last year’s estimated 350.