Seeing the World through New Eyes: Implementing map-based mobile apps in field trips and research

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Chambers, Mariah Seeing the World through New Eyes: Implementing map-based mobile apps in field trips and research Faculty Mentor: Ron Harris, Department of Geological Sciences Introduction Mobile apps are a resource that can aid in field trip instruction and enhance students’ learning. Because the specific location of the field trip is often an important element […]

Are Mutual Funds Closet Indexers? Evidence from S&P 500 Index Weight Adjustment

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Are Mutual Funds Closet Indexers? Evidence from S&P 500 Index Weight Adjustment Student: Christopher Hair Mentor: Bronson Argyle Introduction Mutual Funds are investment funds run by a company that enable the public to invest capital without needing to personally, actively manage the investment. Typically, an experienced investor will manage the fund for a small fee. […]

Production of Commodity Chemicals with a Glycerol Feedstock

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Zachary Pribyl and Kara Stowers, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry Introduction In recent years there has been a growing interest to move away from petroleum feedstocks and instead use renewable fuel sources. As this interest has increased and biofuel has been used in greater volume, glycerol (a byproduct of biofuel production) has become over-produced in […]

Fabrication of Dye Sensitized Solar Cells Using Native and Non-Native Nanocrystals in Ferritin as the Dye

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Alessandro Perego and John Colton, Physics and Astronomy Introduction Dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) present a valuable and sustainable alternative to silicon solar cells. These cells present numerous advantages compered to inorganic photovoltaic systems, such as ability of absorb more sunlight per surface area than standard silicon-based solar panels, DSSCs are also able to work even […]

Reverse-Engineering Gene Networks that can Remember Using the Manifold Boundary Approximation Method

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Andrew  White and Mark Transtrum, Department of Physics and Astronomy Introduction Observable biological behaviors result from the interactions of microscopic elements, which form complex systems that we can model mathematically. Ideally, mechanistic models should predict a biological system’s behavior without misrepresenting the system’s biochemistry. The method of model reduction known as the Manifold Boundary Approximation […]

Intelligent Stitching: Transforming Offline Stroke Extraction for Online Handwriting Recognition

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Curtis Wigington and William Barrett, Computer Science Introduction Images of historical documents are being collected and archived much faster than volunteers can possibly index them alone. Improvements in offline handwriting recognition could greatly accelerate the work of indexing by FamilySearch. Offline handwriting recognition has already been shown to be effective in assisting indexers and automating […]

Development and Application of Quassiclassical Direct Dynamics Program for Organic and Organometallic Reactions

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Nathan Wohlgemuth and Dan Ess, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry Introduction Organic and organometallic reactions are generally assumed to follow statistical mechanical models of reactivity and selectivity that correspond to transition state theory. However, in recent years there have been several organic reactions that have been shown to be controlled by post-transition state reaction dynamics. […]

Handwriting Recognition through Distance-Based Morphing and Energy Minimization

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Dr. William Barrett During the past year, I have had the opportunity to mentor two undergraduate students as we performed research for improving technologies used for family history. The specific projects each student worked on, the outcomes of the projects, and the mentoring are described below. Handwriting Recognition Dataset Creation We are working on handwriting […]

Geometric Optimization, Analysis, and Design

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Faculty Advisor: Denise Halverson 1. Evaluation of how well the academic objectives of the proposal were met The goals for the mentoring environment were reached: Academic Development – Each student had the opportunity to work on a cutting edge research problem, as indicated below. Papers are in various stages of completion, a few submitted or […]

Mentoring Environment Grant Final Report

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“Melting glaciers as a source of mercury and other trace metals do high elevation ecosystems in the Wind River Range, Wyoming” Greg Carling, Dept. of Geological Sciences 1. Evaluation of Academic Objectives The purpose of this project is to evaluate the chemistry of proglacial streams in the Wind River Range of Wyoming to develop baseline […]