2009 ARGONNE SYMPOSIUM
A cadre of students and faculty attended the
20th. Annual Argonne Symposium for Undergraduates in Science,
Engineering, and Mathematics on Friday 13 November 2009 at the
Argonne National Laboratory in Argonne, Illinois, USA.
This event, held every year, is designed to
give undergraduate students exposure to professional research
activities. Students may propose research topics to present at the
conference, or, if they like, they may just attend without
presenting.
On Friday morning, we went to Argonne. The
conference started at 9:00 A.M., at which time we heard the first
keynote address. The symposium always begins and ends with a
keynote address about some issue in science, but explained in a way
that undergraduate students can follow.
The first address was "Novel H1N1:
Perplexities In Pandemic Planning"
by Jamie L. Stalker, the Medical Director of Argonne. This talk
explained the history of pandemics, the history of flu mutation, and
how all of this relates to the current situation.
After this talk, the symposium divided
itself into twenty different sessions--some starting immediately,
others starting after lunch--pertaining to different areas of
science.
Following was the lineup from NMU:
ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY
"Effects On The Permeability Of Calcium
In The Presence Of Polydimethylated Siloxanes Through A
Semi-Permeable Membrane."
Benjamin E. Wilson, supervised by Professor Eugene B. Wickenheiser,
Chemistry.
COMPUTER SCIENCE I
"Analysis And 3D Visualization Of
Multiple Trophic Cascade Scenarios."
Joshua M. Cook, Matthew J. Knox, Brian J. Krent, supervised by
Associate Professor Randy R. Appleton, Computer Science.
"A Study Of Parallel Multiplication
Algorithms Via GPGPU."
Jaclyn R. Beck, David E. Lyon, Darren M. St. Amour, Esther M. Su,
supervised by Instructor Michael R. Kowalczyk, Computer Science.
"Evolution Of Motility Patterns in
Simple, Blind Organisms In A Bounded Environment."
Geoffrey S. Riutta, supervised by Associate Professor Jeffrey Horn,
Computer Science.
GENERAL PHYSICS, PHYSICS, AND MATERIALS
SCIENCE II
"Development of Electronics To Automate
The Cavity Testing Process."
Bradley D. Schoenrock, supervised by Cornell University Professor
Dave J. Meidlinger, Physics.
MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTER SCIENCE II
"Computation of Escape Times Using Hybrid
Monte Carlo Algorithms."
Paul D. Erickson, Axel T. Cisluycis, supervised by Instructor
Michael R. Kowalczyk, Computer Science.
The closing keynote address was "A
Biologist Goes To The Movies" given by Michael LaBarbera,
Professor of Organismal Biology and Anatomy at The University of
Chicago. He gave a very entertaining and enlightening lecture on
the anatomy of various B-movie monsters, and how such monsters would
actually behave if they were real.
|
