CPES Undergraduate Poster Session Results

From the CPES Undergraduate Poster Session Planning Committee:

This past Wednesday, August 6th 2014, we proudly held our annual CPES Undergraduate Poster Session.  The 2014 event marked a new level of increased support and involvement from all of CPES, including the long overdue introduction of summer researchers from the School of Engineering. With 38 participants presenting 30 posters from five degree programs within CPES there was a great wealth of knowledge and research to take in. Our participants consisted of 8 Engineers, 9 Chemistry undergrads, 9 Physics students, 3 from Mathematics and Statistics and 8 Computer Sciences students. Over 30 faculty were also present including Chairs Prof. Leonid Brown and Prof. Paul Rowntree as well as Associate Dean Deborah Stacey who was present to handout awards on behalf of CPES. With nearly 100 other visitors from varying levels of research and education a lot of creative and insightful discussions ensued.

With the high caliber of research it was hard to choose winners, but our team of 14 judges powered through and chose their top picks. Best group presentation was a new category and awarded to the School of Computer Sciences’ Oliver Cook, Rick Knoop, Hugo Possani, and Peter Seymour. Group posters were an awesome way to let the students take charge and present work done interdepartmentally or in large research groups. The School of Engineering’s Lee Priess won Best 2nd or 3rd year poster, while Evan Wright was awarded Best in Engineering. Aalaa Osman picked up Best in Chemistry, while Rebecca Frederick picked up Best in Physics. Luciana Yumiko Daikuara from the School of Engineering was awarded Most Visually Appealing poster. The top prize winners were omitted from the above awards and go as follows: third place was awarded to Physics researcher Molly Labine, Hilary Boucher from Chemistry was awarded second place, and finally Joel Gretton won first place representing the School of Engineering. We congratulate all participants for their hard work and amazing posters.

In past years this event has grown from a small Physics gathering, to a Physics and Chemistry event, ending this year with as a full CPES event. The planning committee consisted of graduate students Melissa Braschel from the Department of Mathematics and Statistics, Monika Kulak from the Department of Chemistry, Eugene Enriquez from the School of Engineering, and Boris Pavlovic from the Department of Physics. This group was adamant in furthering involvement and was able to requisition support from the Dean’s Office. Their funding and support, along with that of the School Of Computer Science, School of Engineering, and Chemistry and Physics Departments was met with a successful event, prompting the Deans office to agree to take part in this event for years to come! We eagerly await next year when we can continue to expand the event and involve all departments earlier and with more support.