Tag: undergraduate research

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Office of Engaged Learning Office of Engaged Learning – Research

Save the Date: Fall Research Symposium!

The Fall Research Symposium 2024 will take place in the Hughes-Trigg Student Center on Wednesday, October 30, 4-7 p.m.

Each fall, students in select research and service programs are invited to give oral presentations in a miniature professional conference. The programs include: Engaged Learning Fellows, Summer Research Fellows, Cooper McElvaney Peace and Justice Fellows, Hamilton Scholars, Maguire Public Service Fellows, Mayer Fellows, McNair Scholars, Richter Fellows, and Tower Scholars.

Register on 360 for reminders

The schedule will be posted soon at smu.edu/fallsymposium

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News Office of Engaged Learning Office of Engaged Learning – Research

Encourage students to apply for an Engaged Learning Fellowship

Since 2012, SMU has awarded 384 undergraduate students with the Engaged Learning Fellowship (ELF), a prestigious program that provides funding and support for capstone-level projects in research and the arts. Over the years, ELF recipients have conducted innovative projects in more than 20 different countries, truly embodying SMU’s motto “World Changers Shaped Here”.

Recent highlights from the ELF program include:

  • Yvonne Yang ’24 (awarded for her senior film Speculo) is directing Egg Drop Soup, an official selection for SMU Film’s Summer Film Production project. Collaborating with fellow film producers Suniti Bhikshesvaran, Tyler Chapman, and Juan Davalos—who also received ELF awards—this team has brought their vision to life. Read more about their project in this Meadows News article.
  • Anna Kelley Zielke ‘25 created a children’s book that inspires the next generation to embrace pluralism. Watch her interview with the George W. Bush Institute where she shares insights about her project.
  • Gabriella Doan ‘25 was selected to present her research, conducted under the mentorship of Dr. J.C. Chiao, at the Biomedical Engineering Society Conference in Baltimore, MD (October 23-26). Her project, Polypropylene Paper-Based Electrodes with a Voltage Response for pH Sensing, will be showcased at the undergraduate poster session.

Each year, we welcome 25-30 students into the Engaged Learning Fellowship program. The deadlines to apply are: September 15, December 15, February 15, and April 15. For seniors graduating in May, September 15th is the final opportunity to apply.

If you know an undergraduate student working on an exciting project or who is ready to start one, encourage them to apply for an ELF! Students can go to smu.edu/elf for more information.

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News Office of Engaged Learning Office of Engaged Learning – Research Student Academic Engagement & Success

OEL launches pilot program First Year Research Experience (FYRE)

The Office of Engaged Learning is excited to launch a new pilot program, the First Year Research Experience (FYRE). Usually students who are interested in research get involved after getting to know professors, generally in their second or third year. FYRE is a unique opportunity for a limited number of students to get involved in research right away in their first year at SMU.
Students in FYRE will be working as Undergraduate Research Assistants all year, and taking a class this fall. They will assist on a variety of faculty research projects, such as: research on antibiotics for tuberculosis and leprosy with Dr. John Buynak (Chemistry); developing a Smart and Reslient Infrastructure toolkit with Dr. Janille Smith-Colin (Civil and Environmental Engineering); creating instruments and performances for a “dinosaur choir” with Dr. Courtney Brown (Creative Computation).
The FYRE faculty mentors include: Matthew Boulanger, Courtney Brown, John Buynak, Kacy Hollenback, Maria Langlois, Monnie McGee, Milica Mormann, Christopher Roos, Janille Smith-Colin, and Jeanna Wieselmann. Thank you to all the faculty involved with this pilot for taking a chance on these promising first-year students!
Read more about the faculty research projects
The FYRE course, taught by Dr. Jennifer Ebinger and Dr. Adam Scott Neal, will deconstruct the research process and environment. Students will work through exercises to understand their faculty mentor’s research, learn to develop research questions, and work on networking and communication skills.
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News Office of Engaged Learning Office of Engaged Learning – Research Pathways to Industry Student Academic Engagement & Success

Pathways to Success: Student Spotlight on Ritney Coleman

Ritney Colment presenting to research team
Ritney presenting weekly updates of human trafficking research to the team during teh Summer Research Intensive.

Ritney Coleman is a rising senior pursuing a B.S. in Economics with Financial Applications. A military veteran, he initially aimed to major in accounting and become a CPA, but decided on a different career path where he felt he could make more of a societal impact. Ritney found the Non-Profit Organization and Concept Primer course (offered through the Economics department) to be “one of the most impactful courses and added to my understanding of non-profits and how they are managed.” This course provided the theoretical concepts needed to thrive in the non-profit sector, while Ritney’s internships and volunteering brought classroom concepts to life.  

Ritney credits SMU’s vast resources with helping him focus on his passion for research and non-profit leadership. During his junior year, Dr. Wendelin Donahue, SMU Director of Community Engagement, helped Ritney gain practical experience by collaborating with local non-profits through community events. Ritney’s goal is to develop a non-profit that serves disadvantaged youth by providing various opportunities through field trips, seminars, sports programs, and college access support.   

Ritney emphasizes the importance of networking and engaged actively with professors to uncover learning opportunities. This summer, he is a research assistant for Dr. Elizabeth Wheaton-Páramo, Research Associate Professor in Economics through the Office of Engaged Learning’s Summer Research Intensive. In his work with Dr. Wheaton-Páramo, Ritney is using the SMU human trafficking data warehouse to gather data on organized crime groups transition between smuggling and human trafficking. Sometimes it’s difficult to relate the theoretical course work to practical experiences, but Ritney noted that the knowledge obtained in his Introductory Econometrics class has helped him “feel confident analyzing data” in his summer research project.  

When asked about his advice for incoming first-year students, Ritney said, “the opportunities are available, but students need to be active, not passive, in their networking pursuits. I was able to get an internship by simply asking my professor.” Ritney recommends first and second year undergraduate students schedule an appointment with the Hegi Family Career Development Center early for resume prep and to build their LinkedIn profile. He also credits his peers in the Economics department for providing him with useful resources.  

For students interested in data analysis and practical skills development, Ritney suggests exploring the Bloomberg Terminals in the Business Library, where he is currently pursuing the Bloomberg Market Concepts Certificate. 

To find out more information about the SMU Pathways to Business and Industry, please contact pbi@smu.edu.  

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Office of Engaged Learning Office of Engaged Learning – Research Student Academic Engagement & Success

2024 Summer Research with Engaged Learning

Student an professor in white lab coats looking at beaker

Summer undergraduate research is off and running with the Office of Engaged Learning!

37 SMU students will be participating in the fourth annual Summer Research Intensive, working alongside 25 faculty members in the Cox School of Business, Dedman College, Dedman School of Law, Lyle School of Engineering, and Simmons School of Education and Human Development. In the SRI, students will work on faculty research projects and attend professional development workshops throughout the summer. The program also creates a community and cohort experience for student researchers to interact and collaborate.

As part of the Summer Research Intensive, OEL sponsors the Summer Research Symposium, a weekly speaker series highlighting research and innovation by SMU faculty and invited guests. The symposium series will take place Wednesdays from 12-1pm in the Hughes-Trigg Chamber with lunch provided. These events are open to the public!

2024 Summer Research Symposium Speakers
6/12: Dr. Beth Wheaton-Páramo, Economics
6/19: Dr. Peng Tao, Chemistry
6/26: Dr. Alexander Chase, Earth Sciences
7/10: Faculty Panel: How do I get a Grant?
7/17: Dr. Jeanna Wieselmann, Teaching & Learning
7/24: Faculty panel: Resilience in Research

Starting June 3, OEL and the Department of Statistics and Data Science will host the third annual Data Science for Social Good Research Experience for Undergraduates. 12 undergraduate students from across the country will attend the 8-week program to learn how to use data science tools to find solutions to economic and environmental problems affecting the Dallas community. The students will work in teams under the guidance of SMU faculty mentors Dr. Cullum Clark (Bush Institute/Economics), Dr. Anthony Petrosino (Teaching & Learning), Dr. Beth Wheaton-Páramo (Economics), and Dr. Mary Spector (Law). Stay tuned for more about the participants and their projects.

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Office of Engaged Learning Office of Engaged Learning – Research Student Academic Engagement & Success

NCUR 2024: Let’s Hear from the Participants!

Congrats to (L-R in group picture) Anish Senthilkumar, Karen Lin, Elisabeth Hood, Anna Su, Sadikshya Sitaula, Kevin Nguyen, Jonathan Thomas, Vivian Thai on presenting at NCUR 2024!

These eight SMU students had the incredible opportunity to present their research and creative work at the National Conference for Undergraduate Research 2024. They traveled to California State University, where they were able to interact with students and faculty from universities across the country for an exciting conference.

Here is more from a few of the students about their thoughts on the experience:

Preparing for the Conference:

Ellie Hood ’24: The best way I found to prepare for the conference was to attend the Undergraduate Poster Session! Being able to practice poster presentations on a smaller scale gave me confidence in myself and my research going into a much bigger poster session like NCUR!

Kevin Nguyen ’24: I prepared for the conference by making my poster. I made it early because I had the American Chemical Society conference a few weeks before. Thus, I had enough practice presenting my poster after that initial conference.

Vivian Thai ’25: I have been working on my project for almost 2 years prior to the conference, but to prepare specifically for NCUR, I scheduled a meeting with my PI and went over the data that I wanted to present. After that, I submitted an abstract and continued collecting leftover data until I was ready to make my poster. I had several meetings with my professor to draft my poster and I also presented at SMU’s Research & Innovation Week to prepare.

The NCUR Experience:

Ellie: To put it simply, NCUR was an intellectual feast. Not only was it fun and encouraging to share my own research, I also had the best time hearing about everyone else’s research! Every single poster and presentation that I came across was so interesting, and it’s so inspiring to me that so many undergraduates are dedicated to academia.

Kevin: My experience with the conference was incredibly rewarding. I only presented on one day, but for the other days, I went to see other SMU students’ presentations. Even then, I visited fellow chemistry undergraduates and saw their work. When I had time, I enjoyed the beach, hung out with friends, and relaxed in the hotel.

Vivian: My experience at the conference was amazing! I had the opportunity to do a poster presentation, but attendees were also able to watch other poster presentations and oral presentations. One of my favorite things about NCUR is that it’s a huge conference, so there is a large variety of topics. I listened to presentations with focuses ranging from Formula One to programming robots in agriculture. In addition, there was plenty of free time to explore the city. NCUR 2024 was hosted in Long Beach, CA and it was so much fun exploring the area and going to the beach.

Advice for Future NCUR Presenters:

Ellie: For future NCUR presenters, I say have fun with it! Don’t get in your head about whether or not your research is good enough to be at NCUR. If you’re at NCUR, you have something great to offer! Take time to see as many posters and presentations as you can, spend time with the other SMU presenters, and really soak it all in. Also, there are lots of grad schools tabling at NCUR. If you’re unsure about your post-grad plans but know that you want to pursue graduate education, definitely take the time to talk to the schools!

Kevin: For future presenters of NCUR, I recommend “selling” your presentations well. For poster presentations specifically, eye-catching titles and enthusiastic demeanors help to grab people’s attention and allow you to network with them. Also, please take some time to see other people’s work, as they could enlighten you on where you might go next in your research!

Vivian: Try to start your presentation in advance in case anything comes up. If you’re doing a poster, practice your spiel in the days leading up so you feel confident on the day of your presentation. Also, NCUR is a great opportunity for students who have never presented their research before. The environment is very welcoming and everyone is eager to hear about your research, so don’t stress too much about it!

 

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Office of Engaged Learning Office of Engaged Learning – Research Student Academic Engagement & Success

Encourage undergraduate students to present at Research & Innovation Week

Woman talking to group in front of research poster

Research & Innovation Week is two weeks away and we’re looking for students to present at the Undergraduate Poster Session. The deadline for students to register is Monday, March 18.

Please encourage your students to participate! This is a great opportunity for undergraduates to share their research with the SMU community, and to compete for cash prizes.

The Undergraduate Poster Session will be held Tuesday, April 2 from 2-5pm in the Moody Hall Atrium. For more information about the poster session and other events, visit smu.edu/riw.

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Office of Engaged Learning Office of Engaged Learning – Research

Engaged Learning hosts 3rd annual Summer Research Intensive!

Summer Research Intensive banner

The Office of Engaged Learning looks forward to a productive summer of research! Summer Research Intensive provides funding to chosen faculty to hire Undergraduate Research Assistants and provides these students with specialized training in research methods, oral and written presentation techniques, and other professional development skills.

This summer 30 undergraduate students will support the research of 19 faculty members in Dedman College, Dedman School of Law, Lyle School of Engineering, and Simmons School of Education and Human Development. Students are expected to research alongside faculty, participate in workshops and a present their work in a 3-Minute Thesis competition.

SRI workshop
SRI workshop

Throughout the summer students have an opportunity to interact with faculty across disciplines through the Summer Symposium, a speaker series on research and innovation.

Symposium speakers include Candace Walkington (Associate Professor, Teaching & Learning), Mary Spector (Professor, Dedman School of Law), Anindita Das (Assistant Professor, Chemistry), Ernest Jouriles (Professor, Psychology), and Eli Olinick (Associate Professor, Operations Research & Engineering Management).

Previous students who’ve participated in SRI said, “This project has reaffirmed my desires to pursue an MD/PhD. . . [and] has helped me to become more confident in my love for research.”

This summer SMU will also host students from other universities as part of the National Science Foundation program “Research Experiences for Undergraduates” with programs in Data Science, Chemistry, and Mathematics.

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Office of Engaged Learning Office of Engaged Learning – Research Student Academic Engagement & Success

Catch up on NCUR and Research Week

SMU group shot poster session

The last few weeks have been busy in the world of Undergraduate Research! Read recent posts from the Office of Engaged Learning about:

Our trip to NCUR with eight undergraduate researchers and creative artists

Reactions and tips from the winners of this year’s Undergraduate Poster Session

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Office of Engaged Learning Office of Engaged Learning – Research

Our trip to NCUR

I had the pleasure of taking eight students to present their research and creative work at the National Conference for Undergraduate Research 2023. We traveled to the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, where we joined about 3500 students, faculty, and staff (along with UWEC’s 1000 volunteers!) for an exciting conference.

I asked our students for their thoughts on the experience:

The NCUR experience

Shriya Siddhartha with her poster
Shriya Siddhartha with her poster

Shriya Siddhartha ’26: Attending NCUR was a wonderful opportunity and the experience of a lifetime. It was such a pleasure to present the results of my research to a wider audience. I enjoyed connecting with student researchers from around the world and learning about the incredible work being conducted at their respective institutes.

Vivian Thai with her poster
Vivian Thai with her poster

Vivian Thai ’25: NCUR was an incredible opportunity to network with undergraduates and professors and I’m so glad I attended NCUR for my first poster presentation. My favorite aspect was connecting with other passionate students and observing the most talented presentations I have ever seen.

Regina Nguyen ’24: When my abstract was accepted to NCUR 2023, I knew I had been given the opportunity to present the project that made me passionate about research. Indeed, I was able to share my work in a low-pressure, supportive environment.

Jonathan Thomas with his poster
Jonathan Thomas with his poster

Jonathan Thomas ’25: NCUR was such an enriching experience for me as an undergraduate researcher. Not only did I get the chance to meet with exceptional researchers from a variety of disciplines from different parts of the globe, but I also got a glimpse into the future of my own field (Civil Engineering) through the groundbreaking work being presented.

Alexandra Savu introducing her film
Alexandra Savu introducing her film

Alexandra Savu ’23: What I loved the most about NCUR is the environment I got immersed in: being surrounded by ambitious people of my age in whose you can see a burning passion for the topics they are presenting and have researched on brought me more joy and thirst for life.

Making connections

Regina Nguyen and Odran Fitzgerald after their presentation
Regina Nguyen and Odran Fitzgerald after their presentation

Odran Fitzgerald ’24: My favorite part about going out to NCUR was meeting different people from around the country that had similar interests as my specific research but approached similar problems from different angles. It was really nice also to see environmental research, and people who were passionate about environmental research in other areas than environmental science and environmental engineering such as social science and biology.

Sandhya Srinivasa with her poster
Sandhya Srinivasa with her poster

Sandhya Srinivasa ’23: One of my favorite aspects of NCUR is learning about other individuals’ unique research areas and being able to share mine with them. In particular, in the poster sessions, you can create that 1-to-1 connection with the presenter and learn not only about their topic but about them as well. NCUR is a great first conference to go to because it fosters a community where everyone listens out of curiosity and genuinely wants to uplift each other!

Alexandra: I loved meeting people who care about the details of their work, and who also cared about other people’s projects. I felt heard and important during my presentation as I felt that everyone in the room had a good reason to be there: to fully engage in the movie in front of them. And I am sure all other presenters felt the same.

Mace Cowart presenting an excerpt of his play LINO

Jonathan: One of my favorite projects was from a researcher from the American University in Cairo, who was looking into pavements that could generate electricity through the kinetic energy of people walking on it. Talking with her over how she got into research and her research methodology gave me insight into how other engineers performed research and gave me a chance to “nerd out” with someone who was also deeply interested in novel construction methods.

Regina: I didn’t expect that I would make so many fast friendships formed from mutual excitement for each other’s work regardless of discipline and how rich those would make my experience in Eau Claire. Undeniably. my NCUR connections have made me more excited for a research career and I couldn’t recommend it more.

Any advice for future NCUR presenters?

Vivian: For other undergraduates attending their first conference, I would give the advice to work hard and prepare accordingly, but don’t stress out too much about it. Everyone at the conference is there to learn more about your work and you’re going to have so much fun.

Alexandra: Some advice I would give to new presenters is to have a clear schedule of what presentations they want to attend and to let themselves speak freely during their big moment, without too much “mirror readings”.

Jonathan: My biggest piece of advice to researchers who are planning to go to a large conference like NCUR is that they should try and connect with as many people as possible. It’s such a rare occurrence to be in a room with so many of the brightest undergrads in the world, and it would be a shame to leave without really getting to know anyone. Your network is your net worth as they say, and that’s no different in research.

SMU group on a UWEC deck

Group picture at the airport
Going home!