Works in Progress Symposium 2024 Awards

Hosted by the Helen Hardin Honors College, the Works in Progress Symposium (WIPS) is an annual event at which undergraduate students present their research in a formal, juried setting. This year, WIPS featured 47 presentations by students at the UofM. Presentations are grouped into disciplinary categories and cash awards are provided for the most outstanding presentations in each category.

Winners in Each Disciplinary Category

Education

1^st place: Majdal Issa, “The Influence Cognitive Bias and Group Decision-Making Have on Socioscientific Issues” (Faculty Mentor: Jaime Sabel, Biological Sciences)

Engineering

1^st place: Drew Davis, “Safe Routes to School” (Faculty Mentor: Stephanie Ivey, Civil Engineering)

2^nd place (tie): Gerrell Dabbs, “Noise Analysis for Hyperspectral Unmixing Algorithms” (Faculty Mentor: Chrysanthe Preza, Electrical & Computer Engineering)

Elizabeth Matlock-Buchanan, “Tosh Farms Sow Lameness Prevention Project: Using Biomedical Approaches in an Agricultural Setting for Intervention in Culling of Sows due to Lameness” (Faculty Mentor: Jessica Jennings, Biomedical Engineering)

Liberal & Fine Arts

1^st place: Avery Gray, “Earth to Ayesha – Narrative Web Series” (Faculty Mentor: David Goodman, Communication & Film)

2^nd place: Cierra Dennis, “New Insights on Dyslexia in Mandarin Chinese” (Faculty Mentor: Leah Windsor, Institute for Intelligent Systems, English)

Life & Health Sciences

1^st place: Katherine Harris, “Assessing the Adaptive Potential of Ursus Americanus” (Faculty Mentor: Emily Puckett, Biological Sciences)

2^nd place: Mira Umarova, “Co-option of Two N-alkanes as a Brood Pheromone Modulating Foraging Preferences in Temnothorax Ant Workers” (Faculty Mentor: Philip Kohlmeier, Biological Sciences)

Math & Computer Sciences

1^st place: Jacob Stewart, “Barrier Effects on the Escape and Pursuit of an L1 Pursuer and L2 Target” (Faculty Mentor: Thomas Hagen, Mathematical Sciences)

Physical & Applied Sciences

1^st place: Khawlah Almurisi, “Optimizing Hydrogenation Reactions with Gas Chromatography,” (Faculty Mentor, Charles Garner, Chemistry)

2^nd place: Anthony Bryant, Aidan Espy, and Jefferson Minton, “Microplastic Analysis and Research in Natural Environments” (Farhad Jazaei, Civil Engineering)

Social & Behavioral Sciences

1^st place: Madiha Syeda, “Oxytocin Receptor Activation in the Nucleus Accumbens Differentially Mediates Phasic Dopamine Release” (Faculty Mentors: Deranda Lester and Rebecca Drenshaw, Psychology)            

2^nd place: Elaine Mooney, “Investigating Mental Simulation and Mental Imagery Using Sentence-Picture Verification” (Faculty Mentors: Stephanie Huette and Rane Ankney, Psychology)