Undergraduate students majoring in computer science, aerospace engineering, fashion design and neuroscience were among the fellows who presented the research they conducted while in the 9th annual Summer Undergraduate Research Experience (SURE) at Kent State University.
On Oct. 21-22, the 178 students who conducted research under the direction of faculty mentors had to condense eight weeks of research down to three minutes and a slide. They shared their research with faculty judges, family and peers, gathered at the Kent Student Center. The 2024 SURE cohort was the largest group ever, said Ann Gosky, director of the Office of Student Research.
The competition announced first- and second-place winners on Oct. 25 at a ceremony in the Kiva auditorium. There, some of the first-place winners gave their presentations once again.
"I think our numbers continue to grow because of the quality of the experience," Gosky said. "Students have the opportunity to work with world class faculty mentors in their academic areas of interest. The experience also increases skills that are critical to be successful during and after college - in the world of work or in graduate school. Students understand the value of these research opportunities and faculty want to contribute to student success.
SURE is sponsored by the Division of Research and Economic Development, Honors College and the Office of the President. In addition, SURE is supported by several individuals, departments, colleges, institutes and others.
The program, which runs for eight weeks in June and July, provides a stipend for either full- or part-time work and offers on-campus housing for participants. Students gain valuable one-on-one experience with a faculty mentor, professional development and scholarship opportunities through student group meetings with fellow SURE participants.
Student fellows made presentations on a variety of topics, including:
- Senior computer science major Xavier Jeffy’s presentation entitled “AI Driven Car Price Prediction.” His mentor is Qiang Guan, Ph.D., associate professor, Department of Computer Science.
- Senior neuroscience major Aliyah Ross’ presentation “Male Mice with Reduced Transporter Function Show More Fear in New Environments.” Her mentor is Lee Gilman (they/them), Ph.D., assistant professor, Department of Psychological Sciences.
- Junior computer science Brandon Sainiak’s presentation entitled “Ankle Arthroscopy Simulation Prototype.” His mentor is Kwangtaek Kim, associate professor, Department of Computer Science.
In 2022, Kent State was elevated to an “R1” classification by the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education. R1 (or very high research) is the highest research ranking that Carnegie designates, putting Kent State into a category of the highest 146 research universities in the U.S. out of more than 4,000.