During spring 2023, students enrolled in Honors 1320 with Professor Joyce Kinkead conducted a research study that has just been published in Young Scholars in Writing, a nationally-recognized journal for undergraduates that seeks articles that make an intellectual contribution to the field. While focusing on the history of writing, the students found that through the ages writing implements have been enormously important. What about tools for writing now? Their IRB-approved study involved developing a Qualtrics survey, coding essays, and analyzing data, culminating in presenting a poster at the 2023 Spring Student Research Symposium.  

In YSW, they report on their empirical study of the writing tools preferred by so-called “digital natives.” Spoiler alert! They found that while preference for digital or analog tools depends on the context, many of the college-aged participants reported a preference for tools such as gel pens, ballpoint pens, or mechanical pencils and that their writing tool preferences were often connected to their writing identities. Their study contributes to an increasing interest in the material culture of writing.

Avery Truman, Environmental Studies and Geography major and member of The Statesman staff, took the lead on submitting the article and working through its publication with the journal editors over the past year. In addition to Avery, authors included Dylan Ash, Mason Bodell, Jane Harvey, Clarissa Lloyd, Ellie Miller, Lauren Myers, Hannah Potter, William Spence, Anna Tuite, Isabelle Vasquez, Nevaeh Villastrigo, and Undergraduate Teaching Fellow (UTF) Landon Corbett, who was named Honors UTF of the Year in 2023. Joyce was invited to author a preface to the essay as it is unusual to have so many authors collaborating on one essay. 

Young Scholars in Writing is an annual publication founded in 2003. The essay, “Is the Pen Mightier than the Laptop? Digital Natives and Their Preferred Writing Tools” can be accessed here. 

Written by: Utah State University; used with permission. Find the original article here

Last fall, Rose-Hulman launched Rose Research Fellows, a unique program designed to give students the opportunity to conduct research and make meaningful connections with faculty during their first and second years on campus. Fifteen Rose students were selected to be among the inaugural cohort out of more than 100 applications received. The students will celebrate their success with a symposium poster session on May 15 at 12 p.m. in the Kahn Room of the Mussallem Student Union. 

Rose Research Fellows provides face-to-face classes, paid research experience and opportunities to develop a network with faculty and fellow students. Incoming and current first-year students may apply to the program.

“It’s been great to work with all the students and see their excitement about research at the start of their academic careers,” said Associate Professor of Chemical Engineering Irene Reizman, PhD. Reizman is also the Alfred R. Schmidt Endowed Chair for Excellence in Teaching and created the Rose Research Fellows program. “They really want to be engaged with these topics and be a part of the research community.” 

The first cohort of Rose Research Fellows spent the fall evaluating research ideas and identifying faculty mentors, while actively working on their research in the winter and spring quarters. The cohort also had opportunities to attend virtual speaker events with Rose alumni. The first event featured Erin Gawron-Hyla (chemistry, 1999), a research chemist at the U.S. Army Research Laboratory and a workforce development lead for the Department of Defense Microelectronics Commons. Fellows also heard from Andrew Milluzzi (software and computer engineering, 2012), an imaginer at Walt Disney World who works in ride control systems.

Rose Research Fellow Taylor Donen, a first-year biomedical engineering major, worked in the biomaterials lab and focused her research on the synthesis and characterization of bioglass-based bone cement, which can be used as an alternative to plates and screws for bone fractures. The cement is a safer alternative for patients and can decrease recovery time. She worked on determining the mechanical, chemical and physical properties of the cement, which are all important to understand for its future application in the medical field. 

Donen was interested in pursuing research early in her undergraduate career to help her determine if it was something she wanted to pursue long-term as a career.

“I knew I was interested in research, even though I was majoring in engineering, because I wanted to discover new things and contribute in a way no one else has before. … I wanted to create my own path,” said Donen. “It was really cool to work on projects that have a meaningful impact.”

She describes being part of the inaugural cohort of Rose Research Fellows as “trailblazing” and hopes her experience will benefit students in the future. 

Jeremy Bergman, a first-year student majoring in engineering design, applied to be a Rose Research Fellow to dig deeper into topics of interest that his coursework may not explore. Specifically, he is interested in bio-inspired design and looking for ways to combine knowledge from nature and engineering. His research project examined whether there was a difference in grippers with beetle-derived geometries compared to industrial geometries, such as those used in robotic arms, and how successful each was in picking up a variety of objects.

Through the program, Bergman learned the specifics of how to conduct research and the importance of research in expanding scientific knowledge.

“The classes [I took as a Rose Research Fellow] were helpful in getting my research started in an organized way … and the individual research project gave me a lot of flexibility to explore my personal interests,” said Bergman. 

Reizman believes the Rose Research Fellows program illustrates the unique advantages that Rose-Hulman offers students.

“With Rose-Hulman’s focus on undergraduate education and the smaller size of our campus, it allows students to have an opportunity to work directly with faculty on research. That’s not always possible with other schools,” said Reizman. 

The following is a list of Rose Research Fellows, their research topic and faculty advisor.

• Catherine Arrandale — “The Effect of Antibiotic on the Mechanical Properties of PMMA Bone Cement” (faculty: Renee Rogge, biomedical engineering)
• Jeremy Bergman — “Mechanical Applications of Anterior Appendages in Beetles in Grasping and Controlling Objects” (faculty: Patsy Brackin, engineering design)
• Jacob Cross — “Predictive Modeling with Kalman Filter for Enhanced Drone Tracking” (industry project: Pierce Aerospace)
• Helena Donaldson — “Software Requirement Engineering: Perspective Changes Over Education and Career Path” (faculty: Ben Jelen, computer science and software engineering)
• Taylor Donen — “Synthesis and Characterization of Bioglass-based Cement used for Orthopedic Applications” (faculty: Adel Alhalawani, biomedical engineering)
• Hank Helmers — Data surveying tool (faculty: Robert Williamson, biomedical engineering and computer science)
• Luis Antonio Hernandez Aguirre — “Heterogeneous Robot Collaboration” (faculty: Carlotta Berry, electrical and computer engineering)
• Medhansh Khattar — “Use of Self-Organized Criticality in Mitigating Systemic Risk” (faculty: Wayne Tarrant, mathematics)
• Daniel Leverett — “Challenges of Informational Asymmetry: Solving Games Marked by Both Incomplete and Imperfect Information” (faculty: Ian Ludden, computer science and software engineering)
• Benjamin Myers — “Atomistic Modeling of Lithium-ion Batteries and Beyond” (faculty: Daniel Hashemi, physics and optical engineering)
• Cesar Osornio — “Development of an Indirect Pendulum Thrust Stand for Electric Propulsion Engine Testing” (faculty: Ben Mertz, mechanical engineering)
• Alexa Renner — “Braids on the Stranded Cellular Automata Model” (faculty: Josh Holden, mathematics)
• Preksha Sarda — “Design of Photonic Crystals for Early Cancer Detection” (faculty: Hossein Alisafaee, physics and optical engineering)
• Hayden Simmons — “Ground-based Follow up of Exoplanet Candidates via Photometric Detection of Transits” (faculty: Elizabeth Melton, physics and optical engineering)
• Chong-Yi (Charlie) Su — “Lumerical INTERCONNECT Simulation of Non-Hermitian Ring Laser Gyroscope at Exceptional Points” (faculty: Azad Siahmakoun, physics and optical engineering) 

Written by: Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology; used with permission. Find the original article here

Danny Davis is on a quest to crossbreed the most nutritional, tastiest corn possible. The senior plant sciences major from Shakopee, Minnesota, came to the University of Missouri eager to combine her interest in DNA with research that improves the lives of both farmers and consumers.  

Davis’ involvement in Mizzou’s Maximizing Access to Research Careers (MARC) and Initiative for Maximizing Student Development (IMSD) programs helped her discover an on-campus corn genetics lab run by Sherry Flint-Garcia, a research geneticist with the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Davis said the research skills she’s gained under Flint-Garcia’s mentorship have been the highlight of her Mizzou experience.   

“I have learned so much from Sherry. One of the main goals of our research lab is to crossbreed two types of very good corn to make the resulting offspring even better,” Davis said. “By analyzing the DNA of different types of corn, we can learn what the genotypes say about how it will grow, how much water to use, how it will smell, look, taste, and what it can be used for. Our ultimate goal is to help small farmers by offering them a tastier and more nutritious product to sell to businesses and consumers so that they can increase their profits without having to expand their land or compete against major corporations.” 

Davis’ efforts in Flint-Garcia’s lab ultimately will help small businesses in the Midwest, including Yoli Tortilleria, a corn tortilla factory in Kansas City, Missouri, and Wood Hat Spirits, a distillery in New Florence, Missouri.  

“On the corn tortilla side, many of the existing products on the market are made from commercial yellow dent corn and aren’t very tasty, so there is a lot of room for improvement,” Davis said. “And on the whiskey side, there is only so much you can do to tweak the aging process or oak of the barrel. At some point you’ve got to go back to basics and change what you are making the whiskey out of in the first place. Increasing the quality of the corn can be the difference between whiskey that goes down harder with more of a burn compared to whiskey that goes down smoother with a more complex melody.” 

Davis and her lab mates recently hosted a corn tortilla taste-testing event at Mizzou to get feedback from people on which types of corn make the tastiest tortillas. The feedback may eventually help farmers in Missouri plant new varieties of more flavorful corn that can withstand Missouri’s weather conditions and climate.  

Flint-Garcia refers to Davis as the lab’s ‘social butterfly,’ noting her persistence, assertiveness and ability to collaborate well with others as attributes that will help her succeed as her career progresses.  

“Danny is never afraid to introduce herself, ask questions, show her personality and communicate her goals and vision,” said Flint-Garcia. “Sometimes scientists tend to be more introverted, and her ability to learn new things and work well with others makes her a valuable team member wherever she ends up.” 

During her time working in Flint-Garcia’s lab, Davis was involved in analyzing and crossbreeding heirloom corn primarily from South America and southern Missouri. While Davis is set to graduate from Mizzou’s College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources this spring, Flint-Garcia’s lab recently earned grant funding from the USDA that will allow the lab to access and study 1,000 heirloom corn varieties originating from across the United States. 

“Now that the lab has corn from across the United States to work with, the sky is the limit,” Davis said. “It warms my heart to know that our research has been meaningful, and positively impacting the people that our data affects is a rewarding experience.” 

Davis, who will soon go to graduate school and pursue a doctoral degree in plant sciences, credits the support and mentorship she has received at Mizzou for all the opportunities she’s been able to take advantage of.  

“Being a part of MARC and IMSD helped me find paid research opportunities, support and mentorship, and hands-on lab work that is geared toward helping ordinary people out in the community,” Davis said. “All of the people in the Office of Undergraduate Research, especially Brian Booton, Sarah Humfeld and Linda Blockus, and my lab mentor, Sherry Flint-Garcia, have been so welcoming and encouraging to me throughout my collegiate journey. Mizzou has supported me, and I feel lucky I get to support farmers in return.”  

Written by: Brian Consiglio for The University of Missouri; used with permission. Find the original article here