Rebecca Webb, assistant professor, College of Engineering and Applied Science, will lead a year-long campus initiative to expand opportunities for undergraduate students to be involved in real-world research projects.
To launch the initiative, Webb will host an undergraduate research seminar to promote the work currently underway and to strengthen faculty-student relationships. The seminar will begin at 2 p.m. Aug. 15 in room B215 of the Osborne Science & Engineering Center. All students, faculty, and staff are invited to come to this free event, which will feature the following speakers:
- Kathryn Prescott, a chemistry student, will speak on “Rapid Determination of a Panel of Neurotransmitters in Human Urine Using Capillary Electrophoresis.”
- Michael Wilber, a computer science student, will discuss “Vaulted Verification: Tackling Issues in Biometrics and Authentication Privacy.”
- Todd Linden, a physics student, will present on “Nanoparticle Size Separation and Characterization.”
Webb hopes the undergraduate research initiative will benefit students and faculty. For her, one of the great things about having undergraduate researchers is seeing undergraduates grow and develop their skills through the experience of doing real-world research. Undergraduates involved in research typically do better in the classroom and learn more in the lab, Webb said. Also, students who work in the lab have higher rates of applying for graduate school thanks to the knowledge they gain and the investment of time they receive from the faculty supervising them.
Webb also points out benefits to faculty. Speaking from her own experience, Webb has gained useful information thanks to undergraduate researchers.
–Ali Eickholt
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