Over 50 student research projects were highlighted at this year's Undergraduate Research Fair, the ninth year that the event has been held at Penn State Worthington Scranton.
Dr. Charles Patrick, chief academic officer, opened this year's event by announcing that it was the largest Undergraduate Research Fair at the campus to date. The event, which is open to the public, drew a crowd of about 200 indivdiuals.
Students from a variety of disciplines displayed projects that ranged from Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) topics to creative writing and personal relationships.
Project topics ranged from "Analyzing Gastropods From Two Anchialine Cave Systems (in Croatia)" by biology student Kyle Walsh, to more technical applications, such as, "Apple iOS vs Android" a project comparing two popular mobile device systems, by students Michael Blasi and Anthony Cavallaro.
Students also looked at medical issues, as in Angeline Wauran's project, "Mandated Nurse-to-Patient Ratio and Patient Mortality" to more literary research pursuits, like Autumn Speckhardt's "The Shakespeare Authorship Controversy."
Each year, students and their faculty advisors choose specific topics/hypotheses to research. They conduct their research throughout the academic year, and then reveal their results and findings in project summaries and analyses that are showcased at the research fair.
Winners are chosen in each academic category, and then three overall winners are chosen.
This year's categories and winners were:
SCIENCE
First place: Kyle Walsh, Analyzing Gastropods from Two Anchialine Cave Systems (in Croatia)
Second place: Ahmet Ahmetberg, Coorelations Between Total Plasma Proteins, Leukocytes, and Haemoporteus Prevalence in White-Throated Sparrows
Third place: Amber Delhagen, Determining the Mixotrophic Capabilities of Chromulina Nebulosa
BUSINESS
First Place: Frank Esposito, Angelo Montaro, Sryog Gandhi, and John Finley, Global Public Tuition Costs
Second Place: Shuaihao Yu, Between WTI and Brent, Which Index Can Better Reflect the Economy Movement of America
Third Place: Frank Esposito, Student Debt and Limits on the Economy
ENGLISH
First Place: Autumn Speckhardt, The Shakespeare Authorship Controversy
Second Place: Chelsea LaTorre, Through Camus' Eyes
Third Place: Victoria Sheridan, Impact of Movie Remakes on the
place Victoria Sheridan: Impact of Movie Remakes on the Audiences' Perception Compared to the Original Thematic Interpretation
CREATIVE WRITING
First Place: Ian Kopacks
Second Place: Jess Kilonski
Third Place: Victoria Sheridan
HUMAN DEVELOPMENT AND FAMILY STUDIES
First Place: Sarah Kocher, Coleen Weaver, Sarah Guchanyk, Kimberly Young, and Katherine Larsen, How Loving Relationship Improves One's Self-Adjustment and Self-Esteem
Second Place: Juan Madrigal, Nicole Hanusich and Kyrra Struble, Incest: History, Purpose and Effects
Third Place: Alexandar Alpert, Marcus Lemoncelli, Felicia Petrillo and Elizabeth Zawicki, The Effects of Teratogens on Pre-natal and Infant Development
INFORMATION SCIENCES AND TECHNOLOGY
First Place: Michael Blasi and Anthony Cavallaro, Apple iOS vs. Android
Second Place: Ryan Kazokas and Nick Patel, EZ VetNotes
Third Place: Mike Dorio, Rich Lupia, Chris Materewicz and Sean Teeple, An Application Level Approach to Search Engine Optimization
MATHEMATICS and PHYSICS
First Place: Shuaihao Yu and Davendra Chatterpaul, Lift and Drga vs. Altitude for a Passenger Airplane Wing
Second Place: Jacob Covey and Mariah Paone, Relationship Between the Fibonacci Sequence and the Golden Ratio
Third Place: Scott Burguess and Ian Kopack, Visualizing the Big Dipper from Different Vantage Points
NURSING
First Place: Angeline Wauran, Mandated Nurse-to-Patient Ratio and Patient Mortality
Second Place: Miranda Reaser, The Saintly Benefits of St. John's Wort on Major Depression
Third Place: Wendy Kazmierski, The Importance of Real-Time Vital Sign Documentation and Tablet PC Vital Sign Equipment
TOP THREE OVERALL WINNERS
First Place: Sarah Kocher, Coleen Weaver, Sarah Guchanyk, Kimberly Young and Katherine Larsen, How Loving Relationship Improves One's Self-Adjustment and Self-Esteem
Second Place: Kyle Walsh, Analyzing Gastropods from Two Anchialine Cave Systems (in Croatia)
Third Place: Autumn Speckhardt, The Shakespeare Authorship Controversy
