Spectrum - Volume 20 Issue 31 May 21, 1998 - Grad symposium goes virtual

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Grad symposium goes virtual

By Susan Trulove

Spectrum Volume 20 Issue 31 - May 21, 1998

Two years ago, the Graduate Student Assembly (GSA) added an undergraduate category to their annual research symposium. This year, a "virtual" category was added for electronic submissions from graduate and undergraduate students in all disciplines. Thus graduate students in psychology won two categories, and received a second and two thirds. Veterinary students swept the life-sciences category. Almost 50 posters were judged in the five categories.
Winners of the 14th Annual Research Symposium included Sharla Flohr, undergraduate student in animal and poultry science, for her research on "Development of a Transcervical Embryo Recovery Procedure for Sheep"; and Julien Guillaumot, psychology, in the humanities and social sciences category, for his research "Examining the Relationship between Self-Esteem and Alcohol Consumption in College Students."
Two Veterinary Medicine students tied for first place in the life-sciences category. Michele Allyn won for her research on "The Gastroduodenal Effects of Buffered Aspirin, Carprofen, and Etodolac in the Dog," and Dorinda Smith won for her "Development of a Hemolytic Plaque Forming Cell Assay (PFC) in Tilapia ( Oreochromis niloticus ) for Immunotoxicity Risk Assessment of Environmental Contaminants."
Joel Grasmeyer, aerospace and ocean engineering, won the physical-science-and engineering category, for his research on "Design Optimization of a Strut-Braced Wing Aircraft with Tip-Mounted Engines.
Bobby Carlsen, psychology, won the virtual category for research on "Effects of Augmented Prenatal Vestibular Stimulation on Postnatal Perception of Bobwhite Quail Chicks" ( www.vt.edu:10021/C/carlsenb/poster ).
Second and third place winners in each category follow:
Undergraduate--second, Joe Edwards, psychology, for research on "Creation and Validation of Neutral and Emotionally Valenced Forms of the Stroop Task," and third, Jennifer Smartchan, animal and poultry science, for research on "Feeding Value of Barley With or Without Enzyme Supplementation for Weanling Pigs."
Humanities and social sciences, second, Elda Silva, urban affairs and planning, for her research on "Women's Empowerment in Informal Settlements of the Peruvian Amazon Frontier," and tied for third place, two psychology students--Pia Strunk for research on "Content and Prosody of Maternal Speech Across the First Postnatal Year" and Jamie Cooper for research on "The Role of Rate in Directing Attention," also concerning infants response to speech--in this case infants' preferences for rates of auditory stimulation.
Life sciences, third place, Arati Kamath, veterinary medicine, for research that showed that "Fas-Fas Ligan Interactions May Regulate 2,3,7,8--Tetrachlorodibenzo-P-Dioxin (TCDD) Induced Apoptosis in Thymocytes."
Physical sciences and engineering, second, Anil Prabhu, chemical engineering, for "Catalytic Transformation of Greenhouse Gases in a Membrane Reactor," and third, James Begole, computer science, for "Flexible Collaboration Transparency." Begole's research also tied for third in the virtual category.
Virtual, second, William George Paul, environmental design and planning, for "Incorporating Online and Traditional Planning Tools and Processes: A Grassroots Community Master Plan for Jackson Ward and Richmond, Va. ( www.lar.arch.vt.edu/program/JWEC/TIIAP.HTML ), and tied with Begole for third, Zhou Yu, urban affairs and planning, for a study of the "Environmental Impacts of the Three Gorges Project," a large dam being built in China ( www.vt.edu:10021/Y/yzhou/enctg.html ). Begole's research is at http://simon.cs.vt.edu/jamm/publications/VaTechResearchSymposium98/.
The symposium chair was Anurag Maheshwary. In addition to the GSA, support was provided by the Graduate School, Black Graduate Student Organization, and the Waste Policy Institute. The GSA awarded more money for its research symposium this year. First place winners received $200 each; second place winners received $125; third place winners received $75.