Interdisciplinary Science & Engineering (ISE) Symposium
DURHAM—UNH held their ninth annual Undergraduate Research Conference Interdisciplinary Science and Engineering (ISE) Symposium on April 23, for the first time in the newly renovated and expanded Kingsbury Hall. Featured were over 220 undergrad students from UNH and Elizabeth City State University of North Carolina, among whom six projects won the ISE Award of Excellence.
Undergrad research increases student confidence and in many cases influences graduate school and/or career choices. Extraordinary learning opportunities vary from field studies and empirical research to viable end products. The symposium provides students with the opportunity to interact with peers and gain professional experience presenting research. The caliber of this year’s research projects had the judges complaining that they would like to offer more awards. A good problem to have in anyone's book.
Research projects were across disciplines examples of which include Electrical and Computer Engineering senior Muhammad Nazmul Islam who explained,"According to the National Institute of Health, approximately 28 million people in United States are affected by hearing loss. My research work in Active Noise Cancellation will help reduce the jet engine noise in airplane and machine noise in industry floors significantly."
Earth Sciences senior, Janine Fraschetti's research project was to understand the history of sedimentation in the world’s oceans. She says that, "Critical to interpreting marine records is the establishment of time markers in the stratigraphy."
During a 2006 expedition to the Indian Ocean, twenty-one sites in four areas of the seafloor were sampled in the continental margins offshore India.
A volcanic ash layer was recovered in a sediment core from the Bay of Bengal. Cores 19A and 19B, where the ash layers are observed, are from the Mahanadi Basin site. Fraschetti said that, "This is a continental slope environment with the stratigraphy showing a high sediment input from the continent and marine phytoplankton. Determining the origin of the volcanic ash and obtaining its age will provide valuable insights into the geologic, volcanic, climate, and sedimentary history of the region."
Physics senior, George Clark explained that, "The interstellar boundary explorer (IBEX) is a NASA spacecraft which will be collecting neutral atoms from interstellar space. To determine the interstellar arrival direction with an accuracy of 0.2 degrees or better, the spacecraft needs a pointing reference. This is the star sensor role in IBEX. The star sensor is co-aligned to the IBEX-lo collimator, which is responsible for collecting the neutral atoms. The unique "V" aperture of the star sensor will allow us to map the collection of neutral atoms to the position of the stars, which are known to a high accuracy."
Civil Engineering senior, Walter Durack V reported that, “The One Small Bridge at a Time undergraduate research objective was to study replacement alternatives for Cross Road Bridge in Sharon, NH. 
When things go wrong with a bridge, consequences are severe. Due to durability and ease of maintenance, of the two feasible replacement alternatives: 1) a reinforced concrete frame or 2) a timber beam structure, we feel the best option is the reinforced concrete frame.” Durack added that, “There are 137 state owned and 363 municipally owned bridges in significant need of maintenance or refurbishing. Thanks to this project and the positive encouragement from my advisor, Prof. Erin Bell, going on to graduate school is a strong possibility."
ISE 2008 was part of the ninth-annual UNH URC which took place from April 18th through the 26th. URC was a weeklong celebration of the research scholarly, and creative projects of UNH undergraduates. Twenty-four events took place throughout the conference week, where students from varied academic disciplines presented their work.
New this year all 2008 ISE participants are eligible for an ISE Travel Award. More information on the ISE Travel Award can be found by clicking on Application. This award is made possible through NH EPSCoR (grant NSF EPS-0701730).
ISE AWARDS OF EXCELLENCE (alphabetical order)
- “Active Noise Cancellation Headset,” Muhammad Nazmul Islam, Electrical and Computer Engineering senior, Advisor: Gordon Kraft.
- “Geochemical Constraints on the Origin of a Shallow Ash Occurrence in the Mahanadi Basin, offshore India,” Janine Fraschetti, Earth Sciences senior, Advisor: Joel Johnson.
- “One Small Bridge at a Time,” Matthew Valle, Craig Shillaber, Walter Durack, and Heather Newton, Civil Engineering seniors, Advisor: Kevin Gardner.
- “Star Sensor Flight Calibration for the Interstellar Boundary Explorer,” George Clark and Morgan O’Neil, Physics seniors, Advisor: Eberhard Moebius.
- “UNH WildCatSat Senior Design Project,” Robert Terry and Jeffrey Kite, Electrical and Computer Engineering seniors, Ryan Carney, Christopher Famolare, Christopher Hill, and Melissa Minuti, Mechanical Engineering seniors, Zachary Kelton, Computer Engineering senior, James Gealy, Patrick Lee and David Levine, Computer Engineering graduate students, Advisor: May-Win Thein.
- “Water Resources Assessment of Appledore Island, NH,” Jonathan Felch, Environmental Science senior, Advisor: Matt Davis.
ISE Sponsors:
College of Life Sciences & Agriculture
College of Engineering & Physical Sciences
College of Engineering & Physical Sciences Alumni Society
Environmental Research Group
Institute for the Study of Earth, Oceans, & Space
New Hampshire Space Grant Consortium
NH EPSCoR (Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research)
UNH Undergraduate Research Conference Planning Committee
Photos for slide show courtesy of photographer Ron Bergeron, UNH Photo Services.
ISE Planning Committee:
Radim Bartos (CS), Erin Bell (Civil), Bobby Braswell (CSRC/EOS), Ihab Farag (Chem Eng), Frank Hludik (ECE), Debra JohnyBear (DO), Brad Kinsey (ME), Joe Licciardi (Earth Science), Jeff Melton (Env Eng), Karsten Pohl (Physics), Marianna Shubov (MATH), Doug Vandemark (OPAL/EOS), and Ruth Varner (CCRC/EOS).