For three days each year, visitors to the Learning Innovation Center can see the dedication and effort of honors students all around them through the annual Honors College Thesis Fair. Honors students completing the thesis within the past year display their work through posters hung in the LINC halls, showcasing years of study culminating in their thesis defense and graduation. Most posters are from students defending and graduating in spring term, and posters from other students who weren’t able to present in person are displayed on screens throughout the LINC.
The posters displayed show the wide range of interests and disciplines represented in the Honors College. One floor highlighted student work on dissolved organic carbon in forests, the math of ecology, and the politics of rock climbing. Another group of posters showcased work in zinc and arsenic in pancreatic beta cells, analysis of public discourse on e-cigarette use, and a study on human cat-relationships. Still another represented work in studying the doctor-patient relationship, the microbiome of homemade ginger beer, and an interdisciplinary analysis of the retrofuturistic cartoon series The Jetsons. And, of course, these represent only a small fraction of the innovative, creative works completed this year by honors students.
Students presenting their poster have their work judged by a panel of faculty. In addition to having their posters evaluated, students may also choose to give a lightning talk – a competition where each student presents their thesis in three minutes or less. This year’s winners for both thesis posters and the lightning talk competition are listed below.
Congratulations to all honors students completing their thesis!
Thesis Poster winners are:
In the Engineering category, Muriel Hayden was recognized as honorable mention, and the winner was Robyn Wells for her poster, “A Field Study on Marching Band Members’ Workload Assessment”, mentored by Dr. Xinhui Zhu within Mechanical, Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering.
In the Science category, Molly Herinckx was recognized as honorable mention, and Sushumna Canakapalli was the winner for her display “The Microbiome of Homebrewed Ginger Beer”, mentored by Dr. Si Hong Park in Food Science and Technology.
In the Humanities, Social Science and Business category, Vy Nguyen was recognized as an honorable mention. Jane Myrick and Emily Baranski tied as winners for their displays. Jane’s poster was titled “Imagining the Future into Reality: An Interdisciplinary Exploration of The Jetsons”. She was mentored by Eric Hill in the Honors College. Emily’s poster, “Empowerment or Exploitation? Analyzing survey responses of unpaid community health workers in Amhara, Ethiopia”, was mentored by Kenneth Maes in Anthropology.
Lightning Talk winners are:
In the Engineering category, Tim Slama was recognized for his talk on “Digital Co-Creation: An Early Stage Product Personalization Methodology to Bridge the User-Designer Void”, mentored by Dr. Onan Demirel within the School of Mechanical, Industrial, and Manufacturing Engineering.
In the Science category, Emma Tornberg was recognized for her talk on “Physiological characterization of the mixotrophic dinoflagellate Amphidinium carterae”, mentored by Dr. Kimberly Halsey within Microbiology.
In the Humanities, Social Science and Business category, Miriam Wojtas was recognized for “Histories of Trauma, Futures of Identity, As Told by the Kitchens of the Polish Diaspora”, mentored by Dr. Bradley Boovy within the School of Language, Culture and Society.
Photos from this year’s thesis fair can be viewed here.
By Christopher McCracken: Student Media Writer, Honors College
CATEGORIES: All Stories Community Features Students