2023 Undergraduate Research Forum gathers capstone student work in Joyce and Walton Center
More than 50 Alfred University undergraduate exhibitions went on display in the Joyce and Walton Center last week, where the 2023 Undergraduate Research Forum was hosted. The Forum highlighted the work of 99 undergraduates, many working in research teams, and exploring a wide range of academic interests.
Projects on display ranged from electric vehicles to student-published literature anthologies, from studies of college-student drinking habits to the effect of strontium and copy on bioactive glass materials.
The majority of the exhibitions illustrated research projects undertaken by undergraduates in the Inamori School of Engineers. Nineteen exhibitions were mounted by students in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, and two exhibitions represented work by students studying in the College of Business.
CLAS exhibitions included a display developed by Sociology major Julio Fuentes, “Policy Implications of Ableism.” Partially paralyzed in a football-related accident in 2006, Fuentes has continued his undergraduate work at Alfred University, researching the marginalization and “oppression that faces disabled people in our society.”
Around the corner from Fuentes’ exhibit, Engineering students Hans Goodnow and Jasmine Willard displayed an electric motorcycle, a stripped down 2005 Kawasaki Ninja with the gasoline-powered engine replaced with a brushless DC motor and a 72-volt battery.
Projects illustrating undergraduate work in the Humanities included anthologies edited and published by students in English Professor Allen Grove’s Publishing Practicum class: an anthology of Victorian and Edwardian haunted house stories, edited by Ashton Julian; a collection of 19th-century American women’s etiquette literature (Monica Nowik); and examination of marital infidelity and its representation in three 19th century works (Elizabeth Sidenstecker).
The work of undergraduates in the College of Business included a study of consumer and market trends for a small business and bakery in rural Allegany County, undertaken by Katelyn Rieger. Another Business College project focused on ethical leadership and employee commitment within the U.S. Army (“Results indicate that ethical leadership has a significant impact on organizational commitment, job satisfaction, and personnel engagement”).
The Undergraduate Research Forum has traditionally provided Alfred University undergraduates with an opportunity to showcase their scholarship and creative activity. Held each spring, the Forum brings together an intellectual community of highly motivated students to share their work with faculty, staff, peers, and external audiences.