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Thirty-three students and faculty from both the Commonwealth Honors Program and STEM programs attended the 30th Annual UMass Amherst Undergraduate Research Conference on April 19, 2024. The day-long event included student poster presentations, community building and exploring the beautiful UMASS campus. Over 1,300 people attended the conference and 700 presentations were given by 25 schools from around the Commonwealth.
“Attending the UMass Amherst Undergraduate Research Conference is a unique opportunity for our QCC students to view the research conducted by their peers and fully understand and appreciate their own level of achievement," Jean Kennedy, Commonwealth Honors program coordinator and professor of Human Services, Rehabilitation and Social Work.
The following research projects were presented:
- Amadou Aissatou and James Espaillat - Optimizing Cleaning Robot's Navigation through Ray Casting Algorithms for Efficient Path Planning. Faculty Sponsor: Hao Loi
- Caden Ashmore - Control System for an Autonomous Sailboat. Faculty Sponsor: Andria Schwortz
- Caroline Elizabeth Menzie -"Well, Where Does That Leave Me?": Race, Identity, and Racial Hierarchy. Faculty Sponsor: Amy Beaudry
- Daniel Brandao Araujo and Tien Luc Nauven - Exploring Grid Spiral Pathing for Room Coverage. Faculty Sponsor: Hao Loi
- David Restrepo and David Osei-Amoah - Examining the Effectiveness and Application of Weighted Random Algorithms: A Research Study on Computational Diversity and Performance Improvement. Faculty Sponsor: Hao Loi
- Erick S. Ropi and Robert Pellegrino - Wall Following and JPS+. Faculty Sponsor: Hao Loi
- Hlaing Htoo and Jeremy Vargas - Comparative Synteny Analysis of the Microtubule Star Gene in Drosophila obscura and Drosophila persimilis with Reference to Drosophila melanogaster. Faculty Sponsor: Jessica Crowley
- Larissa Oliveira Souza, Carina Holt and Quynh Doan - Comparison of the Structure of the Insulin Signaling Pathway Microtubule Star (mts) Gene in Three Species of Drosophila. Faculty Sponsor: Jessica Crowley
- Liam James Maher and Imtiaz Rahman - Implementation and Optimization of the Zigzag Scanline Algorithm for Improved Navigation of Roomba Robot. Faculty Sponsor: Hao Loi
- Parker Huggins and Radclyffe Hall - Synteny and Genetic Conservation of the Microtubule Star Gene in the Drosophila busckii and Drosophila hydei Species as Compared to Drosophila melanogaster. Faculty Sponsor: Jessica Crowley
- Ruth De Leon and Naeem Sutton - Exploring Efficiency in Robotic Room Mapping: A Comparative Analysis of Hilbert Curve Algorithms in the Educational Robot Create 3. Faculty Sponsor: Hao Loi
- Tim Fobes - Varicella-Zoster Virus and the Effects on the Vestibular System. Faculty Sponsor: Opeyemi Odewale
“This is a great opportunity for QCC students to see themselves as researchers and share their work with the larger research community, said Dr. Andria C. Schwortz, professor of Integrated Science and coordinator of Physics.
In addition to student presenters, many additional QCC students attended to support their peers and prepare for their research presentations next spring. Congratulations to all the QCC students for developing their research skills, perseverance and contagious enthusiasm.
“I am so proud of how hard my students worked on their research project, both individually and as a group. Being able to see that there is no set answer for a particular question is an important lesson for how science really works," said Professor of Biology/Coordinator of Liberal Arts-Biology Jessica Crowley, Ph.D.
This work couldn’t have been accomplished without the faculty sponsors, and as well as Darcy Carlson, STEM Starter Academy project coordinator, who arranged transportation and provided essential support.