Symposium presents variety of projects
>>Print ViewPublication Date: 04/01/2008
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Some Purdue students conducted research to save the lives of soldiers abroad, and some are helping inner city neighborhoods, while others are hoping to win gold at the Student Academy Awards in Hollywood.
The Colleges of Science, Agriculture, Engineering and Technology hosted the annual Undergraduate Research and Poster Symposium on Monday. The symposium displayed the research of students throughout the University, including four computer graphic technology students who took this opportunity to produce their own animated short film.
"The film is seven minutes long, and includes 10,000 individually drawn frames," said Tyler Kupferer, a senior in the School of Technology and the film's director. It includes original music composed by two Purdue students and performed by a string quartet. The film is named "Ara" and will be reviewed by the same Academy that awards Oscars at the Academy Awards.
Jeffrey Mis, a senior in the College of Agriculture, focused his research on making inner city neighborhoods more eco-friendly.
"Unfortunately, a lot of the major corporations are geared towards new developments, and the inner cities are left out," said Mis. He focused his research on the local Wabash Avenue neighborhood in Lafayette. Mis hopes the awareness will cause a domino effect that will spread throughout the inner city.
One idea that may spread through the entire nation was presented by two other students researching a way to increase the shelf life of eggs by 12 weeks. They are attempting to do this using edible coatings on the eggs, including Paraffin wax, mineral oil, soy protein and whey protein.
"This will increase their export potential, and consumers will have higher quality eggs," said Marcelina Alimin, a sophomore in the College of Agriculture.
Stephen Strinka, a junior in the School of Mechanical Engineering, is hoping to create a material that will save the lives of countless soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan.
"A lot of times after an explosion, soldiers suffer from Traumatic Brain Injury incurred from the shock wave of the blast."
Strinka is currently looking for material to supplement current helmets for blast waves by using a controlled explosion inside Zucrow labs at Purdue. He said he is very optimistic about his research. "It's great to see that undergraduates are able to really make a difference in the world, and this symposium is the evidence."