Annual Paulson Student Research Awards presented to 15 undergraduates

May 24, 2007

Georgia Southern University’s commitment to undergraduate research has been emphasized with the presentation of the third annual Paulson Student Research Awards.

Fifteen students were awarded a total of $25,000 in research funding from the Allen E. Paulson College of Science and Technology (COST) for the 2007-2008 academic year.

The students will present their research during a symposium hosted by the COST College Office of Undergraduate Research (COUR) in April 2008.

‘The faculty of COST has always put a great of emphasis on research, and the Paulson awards are a great way to encourage our students to get involved,” COUR Director Bruce Schulte said. ‘These funds will help deserving undergraduate students obtain hands-on knowledge of the research process, such as reading the literature, acquiring data, and writing and presenting their findings.”

To be eligible for a Paulson award, a student must be enrolled as an undergraduate major in one of the units of COST, which includes the departments of biology; chemistry; construction management and civil engineering technology; geology and geography; mathematical sciences; mechanical and electrical engineering technology; and physics.

In addition, the student must be mentored by a member of the COST faculty. The student had to submit an application hat included a description of the proposed research project, an explanation of how the experience would benefit both the student and the mentor’s research program, and a proposed budget of up to $2,500.
Schulte and the COUR Committee reviewed the applications to determine the winners and the amounts of the awards.

‘The students went through a very rigorous application process,” Schulte said. ‘The ones who emerged should be very proud of their accomplishments.”

The awards are divided into two categories. One is for the math and science departments, and one is for the technology departments.

The math and science awards were presented to the following students:

•  Thomas Anderson of Sylvania, Ga., received $1,300 for his chemistry project titled ‘An Investigation of Raman Spectrometry.” His mentor is associate professor James LoBue.

•  Kristin D’Antignac of Augusta, Ga., received $1,750 for her chemistry project titled ‘Fluidic Production of Molecular Hydrogen Using the Biocatalyst Hydrogenase.” Her mentor is assistant professor Dontarie Stallings.
•  William Edwards of Douglasville, Ga., received $1,250 for his mathematics project titled ‘Applescript Code Building and Analysis of iPod Calculus and Differential Equation Applications in College Classrooms.” His mentor is assistant professor James Braselton.
• Laura Halmo of Suwanee, Ga., received $500 for her physics project titled ‘Modeling the Dynamics of Mixtures of Bose-Einstein Condensates.” Her mentor is professor Mark Edwards.

•  Philip Marley of Albany, Ga., received $2,100 for his biology project titled ‘Demography of the Gopher Tortoise (Gopherus polyphemus) on GLS State Park: Habitat Characteristics, Population Structure and Movement Patterns.” His mentor is professor David Rostal.
•  Joseph McGaughey of Macon, Ga., received $2,495 for his biology project titled ‘Investigating the Fate of Ingested Aeromonas Bacteria in the Housefly Midgut.” His mentor is assistant professor Dana Nayduch.

• Rebecca Rosenburg of Roswell, Ga., received $2,200 for her biology project titled ‘Novel Spiroplasma Species: Optimal Growth Temperatures and Growth Rates.” Her mentor is associate professor Laura Regassa.

• Leslie Sutton, of Columbus, Ga., received $2,255 for her biology project titled ‘Spatial Variation in Sedimentation Rates on Temperate Reefs of Gray’s Reef National Marine Sanctuary.” Her mentor is associate professor Daniel Gleason.
• Joseph Waddell of Marietta, Ga., received $1,600 for his biology project titled ‘Ontogeny of Carapace Morphology and Behavior in Gopher Tortoises.” His mentor is assistant professor Lance McBrayer.

The technology awards were presented to following students:

•  Christopher Aiken of Loganville, Ga., received $1,950 for his mechanical engineering technology project titled ‘Robotic Ink Jet Printing.” His mentors are professor Don Armel and assistant professor Hung-Ming Cheng.

•  Josh Caldwell of Epworth, Ga., received $780 for his mechanical engineering technology project titled ‘The Development of Techniques to Increase the Fatigue Life of Common Plastics.” His mentor is assistant professor Aniruddha Mitra.

•  Brent Chenhall of Athens, Ga., received $500 for his mechanical engineering technology project titled ‘Vibration Analysis of Metal Tube Structure with Foam Inside.” Mitra is his mentor.

Update of an Instrument for Measurement of Electron Emission from Sliding Contacts.” His mentor is associate professor Gustavo Molina.

•  Danielle Lopez of Corrales, N.M., received $2,390 for her mechanical engineering technology project titled ‘Solar Vehicle Project 2007.” Her mentor is assistant professor Anoop Desai.

• Brendan McKee of Snellville, Ga., received $2,500 for his electrical engineering technology project titled ‘The Design, Analysis and Fabrication of an Automated Robot.” His mentor is assistant professor Youakim Kalaani.

For more information on the Paulson Student Research Awards program, visit http://cost.georgiasouthern.edu/resources/cour/, email bschulte@georgiasouthern.edu or call (912) 681-5807