Understanding the Absorption Edge Energy Shift of Thorium Dioxide, Uranium Oxide, and Uranium Nitride in the EUV *Or* Optical Applications of Uranium Thin-Film Compounds For the Extreme Ultraviolet and Soft X-ray Region

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Richard L. Sandberg and Dr. David D. Allred, Department of Physics and Astronomy Recently, the extreme ultraviolet (EUV) and soft x-ray region of the electromagnetic spectrum (between about 1 and 100 nm in wavelength or 20 eV to 5 keV photon energy) has become increasingly important in technological applications. The next generation of optical technologies […]

Identification of Binding Partners for Phosducin

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Tiffany Sabin and Dr. Barry Willardson, Chemistry and Biochemistry Cellular signaling is vital to the proper functioning of a cell. In the visual system, as light activates the transmembrane receptor rhodopsin, a series of signals is initiated throughout the cell. This response begins with the activation of G proteins which couple to the rhodopsin. One […]

Improving Error Discovery in Guided Search Model Checking

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Neha Rungta and Dr. Eric Mercer, Computer Science As computer systems grow in complexity it is becoming harder to completely test them. The cost of finding and correcting errors after deployment is staggering. Current validation methods are not well suited to finding subtle errors laden in the concurrency of modern systems. This project searches the […]

ORCA

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Kourtney Peters Throughout my research, the students were rarely given a verbal introduction to the tasks they faced. Instead, they had to rely on their intuition, pre-conceptions, and any previous knowledge to find solutions to the tasks at hand. They were given time and resources to explore their already existing understanding. This balance of time […]

Stereo-selective Photochemical [2+2] Cycloaddition: π-π Interactions or Radical Stabilization

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Alexander Parent and Dr. Steven Fleming, Chemistry and Biochemistry Organic chemistry centers around the stereo- and regioselective formation of C–C bonds. Although [4+2] and [2+2] cycloadditions present the opportunity for single-step creation of multiple stereocenters and two C–C bonds, the products resulting from intermolecular cycloadditions can be hard to predict and yields of any single […]

Use of Cationic Steroid Antibiotics to Fight Drug Resistance in Gram-Positive and Gram-Negative Bacteria

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Thomas Orsak and Dr. Paul Savage, Chemistry and Biochemistry Drug resistance has become an increasing problem for clinical anti-bacterial needs and a major human health threat. Drug resistance emerges through structural or biochemical pathway changes that antibacterial drugs specifically target. Bacteria have the ability to rapidly mutate and gain resistance to antibacterial drugs because of […]

Characteristic Acoustical Properties of a Theater in the Round

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David Nutter and Dr. Timothy Leishman, Physics and Astronomy Architectural Acoustics is a field of study with many applications in building design, including office spaces, concert halls, and recording studios. Theaters must be carefully designed so that the speech intelligibility of actors is adequate for the audience. Since theater design is varied and unique to […]

Charactering Titanium Dioxide by use of Transmission Electron Microscope

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Jason Neff and Dr. Richard Vanfleet, Department of Physics and Astronomy The original title submitted for my research was “Stacking Faults in GaN”. This study was aimed at employing the use of the Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM) to understand and image defects in the crystal lattice of Gallium Nitride (GaN) that lead to stacking faults. […]

Cadmium Specific Ion Sensor

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David Michaelis and Dr. Paul Savage, Chemistry and Biochemistry In recent years it has become critical to detect and monitor concentrations of heavy metal ions in the environment. Cadmium and other heavy metals have detrimental effects to human health. The main difficulty of sensing these ions is selectively detecting the ions in the presence of […]