Modeling Main Group Metal Alkane Functionalization Reactions in Highly Acidic Carboxylic and Sulfuric Acid Solvents

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Lily H. Carlson, Prof. Daniel H. Ess, Chemistry Department Our group is interested in identifying the unknown mechanisms of main-group C-H functionalization reactions. In the long term, our goal is to use computational chemistry tools to develop general principles on mechanisms, intermediates, reactivity, and selectivity for hydrocarbon C-H functionalization reactions by p-block main-group compounds as well […]

Cluster Analysis via Random Partition Distributions

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Brandon Carter, Dr. David B. Dahl, Department of Statistics Introduction Cluster analysis is an important exploratory data analysis technique used in a wide variety of fields. Cluster analysis seeks to discover a natural grouping of the data, where items in the same cluster or group are more similar than items from different clusters. Through our research, […]

Passive CubeSat Probes for Affordable, Low-Risk Inspection of Space Vehicles

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Josh Cannon, Brian Iverson, Mechanical Engineering Introduction Effective fault detection is vital for safe and reliable spacecraft performance. Traditionally, developers have relied almost exclusively on on-board instrumentation to detect faults in spacecraft performance. Remote inspection can provide a holistic complement to on-board instrumentation, but it is seldom incorporated into spacecraft missions due to its cost and […]

Recording of Marco Borogni’s Vocalise Etudes for Trumpet

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Dominik Campora, Professor David Brown, Trumpet Professor The experience of preparing, completing, and evaluating the progress of my ORCA project over the past twelve months has helped me grow exponentially as an aspiring orchestral musician. Specifically, preparing the Bordogni etudes has helped me achieve a heightened musical sense of phrasing, analysis, and musicality. Our musical and […]

Cyclic Peptide Catalyst design

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Millicent Campbell, David Michaelis, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry Enzymes found in nature are more efficient catalysts than those used in organic chemistry labs. However, natural enzymes are not ideal for organic synthesis because they only make one product and only work in specific conditions. The Michaelis lab designed a catalyst capable of mimicking enzyme-like reactivity […]

Using Writer’s Notebooks and Tutoring with Alternative High School Students

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Alexis Cramer and Dawan Coombs, English Introduction I began this project with a goal to determine how I could help my at-risk students become more engaged in learning. Research encourages teachers to use relevant pedagogical tools to engage students. While I agree with that conclusion, I felt it was still too broad to be effective. […]

Heterodinuclear Co-Zr Compound Shows Increased Reactivity in Kumada Coupling

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James Coombs, Daniel Ess, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry Introduction Heterodinuclear compounds containing a metal–metal bond represent a potentially useful subclass of catalyst in organic synthesis. Heterodinuclear compounds offer the possibility of increased reactivity due to interactions between metal centers (Scheme 1A). These so-called cooperative effects can enhance reactivity by changing the electronic density, increasing […]

CD5 Deficient Mice Exhibit Altered Cognitive Function in Behavioral Studies

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Tyler Cox, Work done in lab of Dr. Scott Weber, Microbiology and Molecular Biology Department Introduction The immune system plays a role in protecting and maintaining the central nervous system (CNS). 1Dysfunctions within the immune system can affect the CNS and it is associated with diseases such as Multiple Sclerosis, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease. Having an […]

The Photo Vision: Modern Cliché-Verre

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Jacqueline Camacho, Christiane Ramsey, Harold B. Lee Library On May 24, 2018 I arrived in Reykjavik, Iceland after two day of travel. Our first day composed of exploring the city, learning the history of Iceland, and of course trying to stay awake to adjust to the time change. The next day was when I started to […]