Boonshoft School of Medicine | Graphic by Bethany Althauser | The Wright State Guardian
Oct. 26 was the 11th Celebration of Undergraduate and Graduate Research, Scholarship and Creative Activities event. Students of many different disciplines gathered to show off their research and professional strides.
The event
The day started with a speech from Amy Thompson, provost and senior vice president of Academic Affairs, welcoming everyone to the event. After a few more members of the faculty and event sponsors spoke, many students began to present their research.
“We believe this event is important because it allows our students a chance to show off their research and prepares them to do so in their professional lives,” Madhavi Kadakia, vice provost for research and innovation, said.
After a quick recess for lunch, students then had the chance to further showcase their research on posters. Some students even presented more than one board, like biomedical engineering major Cody Clark, who presented research on the investigation of thermoplastics for prosthetic legs and processes to improve postnatal care.
Diversity of research
From the Boonshoft School of Medicine to the College of Liberal Arts, every school was thoroughly represented at the celebration. Students gave several different types of presentations.
“I like the diversity of this event,” Jessica Porter, a professional psychology major, said. “I enjoy how it allows inter-discipline research. It allows all these different fields to overlap and shows how they collaborate.”
Porter is not the only student who feels this way. Amber Prater is a public health major who was very excited about the mixing disciplines at the event.
“Most of the time I go to these events, they are mainly medical or scientific. It is interesting to go to a research symposium and see what other departments are doing and how they mix,” Prater stated on the topic.
A day of discovery
Students who showed off their research got hands-on experience presenting their information in-person.
“Most of these students are used to showing off their research on paper,” Michael Kemp, a faculty member at the event, said. “This event was created with the idea that it’d teach these kids how to better present their research in a professional setting.”
This was a sentiment felt throughout the entire event. The celebration was created to honor knowledge, and everyone who came did just that.
