On Thursday, Aug. 11 the Lassonde School of Engineering (LSE) at York University hosted So You Think You Can Research? a summer undergraduate research conference. The conference featured students who are currently working on research projects with faculty from the Lassonde School of Engineering, the Faculty of Science, the Schulich School of Business and the Faculty of Health.
The goal of the conference was to prepare the students for conference environments they will encounter in their future careers. The conference was also an opportunity for students to showcase some of the research they have been doing throughout the summer.
"Renaissance engineering is about applying knowledge to discover more about the world around us and use those findings to improve our society," said Lassonde's Founding Dean Janusz Kozinski. "For many of our students this summer opportunity represents the beginning of a lifelong quest to tackle difficult questions."
The all-day conference featured nine undergraduate student presentations where students discussed the findings of their summer research, while another 55 presented using posters and digital presentations.
The conference featured nine undergraduate student presentations where students discussed the findings of their summer research, while another 55 presented using posters and digital presentations.
Lassonde students' research was funded by both NSERC and LURA (Lassonde Undergraduate Research Award), a Lassonde research fund designed specifically for undergraduate research. Students from multiple programs at York University participated in the conference, funded by a number of Faculties and the Office of VPRI.
"This conference is a wonderful opportunity to demonstrate undergraduate scholarship, innovation and creativity," said Lassonde's Associate Dean of Research and Graduate Studies Spiros Pagiatakis.
Judges from each faculty evaluated the presentations based on specific criteria including the quality of the content, presentation and discussion.
Lassonde student Semi Hasaj was recognized by both the judges and his peers, receiving Second Place and the Students’ Choice Award for his oral presentation on nanosatellite technology. Presenting the award to Hasaj is Lassonde Dean Janusz Kozinski.
More than 170 guests attended the conference, engaging with students and learning more about their research.
"It's wonderful to see our undergraduates engaged in exciting front line science, and inspiring to learn how meaningful these research opportunities are for enhancing their learning experience at York," said Ray Jayawardhana, dean of the Faculty of Science.
Poster Presentation Winners:
First Place: Joel George & Amanda Jass. Characterization of the FRQ-less Oscillator System in Neurospora Crassa Using Oxidation and Reduction Cycles of Peroxiredoxin as a Biological Marker of Circadian Rhythms. (Faculty of Science - Biology) Supervisor: Patricia Lakin-Thomas.
Second Place: Yosef Bisk. Monte Carlo Methods for Pattern-Avoiding Permutations. (Faculty of Science - Mathematics) Supervisor: Neal Madras.
Third Place: Cristofaro Timpano. Passive Micromixing via the Use of Multi-orientation Microbridges. (Lassonde - Mechanical) Supervisor: Pouya Rezai.
Students' Choice Award: Juan Guzman. Micro-Spatial Heterodyne Spectrometer (SHS) UAV Payload. (Lassonde - ESSE) Supervisor: Regina Lee.
Honourable Mention: Parastoo Baghaei Ravari. On-chip Spirometer. (Lassonde - EECS) Supervisor: Ebrahim Ghafar-Zadeh.
Honourable Mention: Ashraf Altesha. Sequencing and Transcript Localization of GPA2/GPB5 in the Blacklegged Tick Ixodes Scapularis. (Faculty of Science - Biology) Supervisor: Jean-Paul Paluzzi.
Honourable Mention: Bita Yousefi Pihani. Influence of BioStremes on Biological Wastewater and Sludge Treatment Processe. (Lassonde - Civil) Supervisor: Ahmed Eldyasti.
Oral Presentation Winners:
First Place: Boris Barron. Investigation of Allan Variances of Homebuilt Diode Lasers. (Faculty of Science - Physics) Supervisor: Anatharaman Kumarakrishnan.
Second Place: Semi Hasaj. COTS Star Imager for Nanosatellite Applications. (Lassonde - ESSE) Supervisor: Regina Lee.
Third Place: Mohammed Kagalwala. Mechanical Design of the Fabry-Perot Spectrometer for Balloon Flight. (Lassonde - ESSE) Supervisor: Jinjun Shan.
Students' Choice Award: Semi Hasaj. COTS Star Imager for Nanosatellite Applications. (Lassonde - ESSE) Supervisor: Regina Lee.
The research projects and student bios will be featured on a website dedicated to undergraduate research.