Showcase of Undergraduate Research Excellence

To say that the projects presented at the 2007 Showcase of Undergraduate Research Excellence were “eclectic” would be an understatement. For instance, Jennifer Goodin compared and contrasted the effects of alienation overseas for the main characters in the story “Going to Naples” by Eudora Welty and in the novel Daisy Miller by Henry James, while Kamran Siddiqui developed a way to provide three-dimensional visualization of medical data that provides features which do not currently exist. Ariel Baruch sought to qualify why gift giving has such large effects on the strengthening or deterioration of romantic relationships, while Michael Roumanos analyzed Aurora kinase protein expression in benign and malignant prostate cancer cells. In all, 151 projects by 168 UCF students were presented at the fourth annual Showcase. The Showcase, sponsored by the Office of Undergraduate Studies, celebrates the achievements of UCF students and highlights the importance to the curriculum of undergraduate research. The event is a poster- or display-based forum for UCF undergraduates to present current and recently completed research and creative projects to the entire university community and to field questions about their research. Undergraduates from all disciplines who are or who have been engaged in significant research and creative projects are encouraged to participate each year.

President John Hitt welcomed students, faculty, and families of presenters by observing that his own career as a professor and academic administrator began when, as an undergraduate, a faculty mentor introduced him to the world of research. He encouraged the students to explore several other opportunities for them to continue promoting and presenting their work, such as through the UCF Undergraduate Research Journal and undergraduate research travel awards. During the Showcase, substantial scholarships are awarded to students whose projects are judged exemplary by faculty review panels. This year, over $10,000 was awarded to 26 students. Scholarships for first and second places and two honorable mentions were presented in each of six categories. The winners, their project titles, and faculty mentors are:

Arts and Humanities

1st Place: William H. Boles, “A Study in Scenic Design: Fish Eyes”
Mentor: Kristina Tollefson (Theatre)
2nd Place: Stephanie Gonzalez and Indiana de la Cruz, “Making a Place for Latino/a Writers”
Mentor: Cecilia Rodriguez Milanés (English)
Honorable Mention: Andres Citeli, “Design and Production Innovations in Experiential Media for Entertainment”
Mentor: Christopher Stapleton (Institute for Simulation and Training)
Honorable Mention: Stephanie E. Colombo, “Do You Realize Who You /r/ Differently As You Age? An Acoustic Analysis of the Realization of American /r/”
Mentor: David Bowie (English)

Engineering, Computer Science, and Optics

1st Place: Denitsa M. Milanova, “Heat Transfer Enhancement in Single-Walled-Carbon Nanotube (SWNTs) Nanofluids”
Mentor: Ranganathan Kumar (Mechanical, Materials, and Aerospace Engineering)
2nd Place: Enrique G. Ortiz and Anna Koufakou, “Experimental Comparison of Strategies for Detecting Outliers in Categorical Data”
Mentor: Michael Georgiopoulos (Electrical Engineering and Computer Science)
Honorable Mention: Catherine N. Bewerse, “In Situ Neutron Diffraction Measurements at Stress and Temperature in NiTiPd Shape Memory Alloys”
Mentor: Raj Vaidyanathan (Mechanical, Materials, and Aerospace Engineering)
Honorable Mention: Benjamin A. Corbin, “Laminar Flame Speed Measurements in a New Constant-Volume Vessel”
Mentor: Eric Petersen (Mechanical, Materials, and Aerospace Engineering)

Life and Health Sciences

1st Place: Emad M. Abdalla, “The Role of Norepinephrine and Epinephrine in the Early Development of Embryonic Hearts”
Mentor: Steven N. Ebert (Burnett College of Biomedical Sciences)
2nd Place: Raquel L. Lyn, “A New Player in the Molecular Process Determining the Life or Death of Mammalian Cells”
Mentor: Antonis S. Zervos (Biomolecular Research Annex)
Honorable Mention: Angelica M. Barrero-Tobon, “Characterizing the Unusual Protein Trafficking Pathways of Plasmodium falciparum”
Mentor: Debopam Chakrabarti and Lawrence Ayong (Molecular Biology and Microbiology)
Honorable Mention: Andrew W. Myers, “Inhibition of Clostridium difficile: Growth by Proline Derivatives and Gold Compounds”
Mentor: William T. Self (Molecular Biology and Microbiology)

Physical Sciences and Mathematics

1st Place: Simon Mostafa, “Effect of the Catalyst Support on Methanol Decomposition Over Size-Selected Platinum Nanoparticles”
Mentor: Beatriz Roldán Cuenya (Physics)
2nd Place: Juan C. Gonzalez, “Ferromagnetic Resonance on Ultra-Thin Films”
Mentor: Enrique del Barco (Physics)
Honorable Mention: Hanoy Estrada, “Synthesis of Size Selected Gold Nanoprisms by Nanosphere Lithography”
Mentor: Beatriz Rolánd Cuenya (Physics)
Honorable Mention: Jonathan D. Fraine, “Magnetic Body Force Enhanced Thermal Gradient in a Magnetic Nanocolloid”
Mentor: Weili Luo (Physics)

Social Sciences I

1st Place: Charles S. DaPra, “Action Video Game Skill Level Predicts Performance on Target Detection and Identification”
Mentor: Valerie K. Sims (Psychology)
2nd Place: Heather L. Heffernan, “Parents’ Use of Language Facilitation Strategies During Interactions with Their Child with Autism”
Mentor: Jamie Schwartz (Communication Sciences and Disorders)
Honorable Mention: Wendi B. Kane, “Social Class Justifications: The Capitalist Conspiracy?”
Mentor: Anna Campbell (Sociology)
Honorable Mention: Emilio J. Lobato, “Prevalence of Traumatic Brain Injury in Post-Secondary Schools”
Mentor: Kenyatta O. Rivers (Communication Sciences and Disorders)

Social Sciences II

1st Place: Claudia Nunez, “Communication Disorders Professionals’ Perceptions about Death and Dying”
Mentor: Kenyatta O. Rivers (Communication Sciences and Disorders)
2nd Place: Roberta J. Murphy, “Headstone Iconography: Documentation and Interpretation of Fraternal Emblems at Greenwood Cemetery, Orlando”
Mentor: John J. Schultz (Anthropology)
Honorable Mention: Kirk S. Robinson, “Latino Political Party Identification: Democrat or Republican?”
Mentor: Annabelle Conroy (Political Science)
Honorable Mention: Shari Schwartz, “Premigration Expectations and Postmigration Experiences of Hispanic Immigrants to the United States”
Mentor: Charles Negy (Psychology)

Benefactors contributing to the Showcase scholarships included: Randolph E. Berridge and the Florida High Tech Corridor Council; Steven David and WELBRO Building Corporation; Mark Engwall and A. Duda & Sons, Inc.; Richard H. Harrison II in memory of Dr. Howard B. Altman; Leslie Sue Lieberman and the UCF Women’s Research Center; Alison Morrison-Shetlar and Robert Shetlar; Sandra Saft and Window Interiors, Inc.; UCF Chapter of Sigma XI: The Scientific Research Society; UCF Federal Credit Union; UCF Institute for Social and Behavioral Sciences, Department of Sociology; UCF Office of Research and Commercialization; UCF Office of Undergraduate Studies; UCF Office of Undergraduate Research; and UCF Student Government Association.

For more information about the Showcase, please visit showcase.ucf.edu.