A micro-gravity rover, biogas digester and refillable body product dispenser will be among more than 540 projects displayed during Wartburg College’s Research, Internship and Creative Endeavor Day Thursday, April 10.
More than 400 students will exhibit projects, display art and air documentaries on the third annual RICE Day celebrating academic excellence, innovation and enterprise. Classes will not be held.
The public is invited to attend the events, including the Excellence in Teaching and Scholarship Convocation in Neumann Auditorium at 10 a.m., which honors outstanding teachers, advisers and staff members — as well as academic projects. A program will be available at www.wartburg.edu/rice/ the week of the event listing projects and sites.
“Our students have been doing this research and creating these programs and projects all along,” said Dr. Roy Ventullo, director of undergraduate research. “But we aren’t always the best at advertising this good work.”
Ventullo said more disciplines and departments are contributing this year — an increase from 368 students and 490 presentations in 2013 — which may prompt a two-day event in the future.
“It took some work to get this started, but we are busting at the seams right now,” he continued.
Among the student projects are:
· Biology — Nearly two-dozen poster presentations, including research on the effect of exercise on memory in college students and retinoic acid effects on brain cancer cells.
· Business administration/entrepreneurship — Presentations, including recent Clinton Global Initiative University winner “Wings of the Night,” which will use insectivore bats to combat malaria in Malawi.
· Communication arts — Documentary topics include KBBG radio, a local music juggernaut, and bullying among others.
· Engineering science — Poster presentations on engineering designs to create assistive technology for tagging guns, a micro-gravity testing rig and wireless data transmission on wind turbines.
· History — Presentations on topics, including the War of 1812, Jimmy Carter, working women in World War II, and the lindy hop.
· Modern languages — Presentations on topics, including creative readings in French and Spanish television commercials.
· Music therapy — Presentations ranging from the use of music therapy in long-term care facilities to music video creation with adolescents in a residential home.
· Peace and justice — Presentations on campus and community organizing and malaria as a means for disarmament.
· Religion and philosophy — Research into using land as a divine gift, living wages in the U.S. and depersonalization.
· Scholars Program — Presentations ranging from the young Latino American dream to the effect of opposite-sex pheromones immediate early gene expression in male golden hamsters.
· Social sciences — Open house and poster presentations on topics including the relationship between personal wellness and perceived stress, how marketing strategies affect consumer memory and perspective, and perceptions of long-distance relationships.
· Social work — Posters depicting work done with 16 area agencies.
· Research — Poster presentations on a topics ranging from an examination of country music lyrics over time to a study of urban and rural values. Other topics include perceptions of body modifications in professional settings, self-esteem in regards to quality of life and an examination of “National Geographic” advertisements.
Student-created artwork will be on display in the Waldemar Schmidt Art Gallery and Bachman Fine Arts Center Room 114.
Music ensembles will have open rehearsals, including Symphonic Band (3:50 p.m., Bachman Fine Arts Center Room 100), Wind Ensemble (4:50 p.m., Bachman Fine Arts Center Room 100) and Wartburg Choir (4:50 p.m., Wartburg Chapel).
The various science disciplines will have an open house and poster session, 7-9 p.m., in the Hall of Champions in the Wartburg-Waverly Sports and Wellness Center.
The Saint John’s Bible also will be on display on the second floor of Vogel Library.