The winners of the 2016 Student Research and Creative Works Expo at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock were announced during an awards ceremony April 18 in the Student Services Center.

Students presented their work April 11 in the Donaghey Student Center. Student projects were judged on the novelty and clarity of their research, the soundness of their methodology, the potential application of their findings, and the student’s ability to explain their project to an expert and lay audience.

More than 90 unique entries were submitted to the expo, an increase over last year that Dr. Jeremy Ecke, chair of the expo committee, attributes to a rise in interest in research on campus.

“It was more vibrant this year. There were times on the floor when there was a roar in activity,” Ecke said.

The expo is a great opportunity for students to learn how to conduct themselves in a professional manner.  

“It is definitely a moment of professionalism for students. This is a time for students to learn to present themselves and their work to their peers and judges,” he said. “And it’s also important for other students to see this expo. Students often don’t realize that there are opportunities to conduct and present research and creative works on campus.”

A complete list of winners and their projects include:

Undergraduate Winners

Art: Jana Miller, “War Through Goya’s Gaze”

Humanities: Ryan Gleason, “Americanum Maleficarum: Witchcraft in the Eastern United States”

Technology: Connor Young, “Eye Tracking Using Simple Techniques for Improved Speed”

Engineering/Technology

First Place: Jeffrey Jones, “Experimental simulation and optimization of a small-scale solar updraft power plant”

Second Place: Amanda Axelson, Bret Ward, Ben Morin, and Silas Duke, “Deployable Rooftop Cargo Management System”

Third Place: Cassidy McMahon, Seth Hawkins, Adrian Wethington, Ali Al Faraj, and Tony Peterman, “Medical Breath Analyzer”

Life/Physical Science

First Place: Maryevalyn Wren, “Chasing The Plume: Environmental Impact of the Gold King Mine Spill”

Second Place: Andersen Lafont, “Identifying Conditions for Growth of Nanostructures on Graphene Decorated with Metal Nanoparticles”

Third Place: Anna Lee Clark, “Identification of Chemical Lead Series for the Inhibition of ERCC1/XPA Complex”

Honorable Mention: Zachary Hicks, “Novel Phosphorus and Nitrogen Co-Doped Carbons for Utilization in Supercapacitors”

Honorable Mention: Kevin Gardner, “Petrographic Examination of the Bennett Pegmatite, Oxford County, Maine”

Social Sciences

First Place: Laura Fuentes, “Using 3D mapping technology to interpret and define the landscape of the Al Baleed archaeological site”

Second Place: Jennifer Bean, Trevor Dye, Michel Godfrey, Matthew Hutson, Jeffery Morris, and Leandro Tafoya, “Homeless Disparities Between Whites and Non-Whites”

Graduate Winners

Education

First Place: Kayla Sapkota, “Social Media Acceptance and Usage by Business Communications Faculty”

Honorable Mention: Nathalie Massanelli, “Teaching Elementary Students Wisdom Through Scaffolding in Collaborative Reasoning Groups”

Engineering/Technology

First Place: Muntaha Yousef, “Thermal Decomposition Study and Thermodynamic Model of HTPB in the Presence of Energetic Material”

Second Place: Syed Akailvi, “Photochromic Thermochromic Nanocomposite”

Third Place: Doga Demirel, “Virtual Airway Skills Trainer (VAST) Simulator”

Honorable Mention: Wei Dai, “Data Profiling Technology of Data Governance Regarding Big Data: Review and Rethinking”

Health Sciences

First Place: Tia McDonald, “Amplitude Modulation Detection With and Without Concurrent Frequency Modulation”

Second Place: Yan Wang, “Mixed Model Testing, Association of Age at Menarche with Composition and Diversity of Gut Microbiomes of Women in UK”

Humanities Winner: Alecia Walls-Barton, “Street Art: For Your Consideration”

Life/Physical Science

First Place: Mahbuba Begum, “SAD-GLAD Pt-Ni @Ni nanorods as Highly Active Oxygen Reduction Reaction Electrocatalysts”

Second Place: Brendon Tucker, “The Nature of Rare Earth Elements in Weathered Coal Combustion Products”

Third Place: Fatma Yurtsever, Mahbuba Begum, and Mesut Yurukcu, “Stacked Core-Shell Nanorod Array Electrocatalyst by a HIPS-GLAD method for Enhanced ORR in PEMFCs”

Honorable Mention: Andrew Cornell, “Integration of a Spectral Viewer for Data Stored in an Open Source Electronic Laboratory Notebook”

Honorable Mention: Betul Bogrek, “Superconvergence of a Modified Weak Galerkin Approximation”

Professional Studies

First Place: Rocio Roles and Hyounggon Kwak, “The Relationship Between Low Self-control, Risky Lifestyles, and Victimization: An Analysis of South Korean Youth”

Second Place: Kristen Sobba and Brenda Branham, “Maternal Incarceration Penalty: An Examination of the Effect of Maternal Conviction and Incarceration on Childhood Delinquency”

Social Sciences

First Place: Erin Pavioni, “Identity Crisis: An Analysis of Conflict Management Among Prison Inmates Using Face Negotiation Theory”

First Place: Heather Pullam and Aaron Fletcher, “The Relationships Between Clergy, the Big 5 Personality Factors, Job Satisfaction, and Burnout”

The graduate student winners of the 2016  Student Research and Creative Works Expo were honored at an awards ceremony April 18 in the Student Services Center.

In the upper right photo, the graduate student winners of the 2016 Student Research and Creative Works Expo were honored at an awards ceremony April 18 in the Student Services Center.