RICHLAND, Wash. –�� Washington State University Tri-Cities students will present semester and course research and art projects as part of the Undergraduate Research Symposium and Art Exhibition Dec. 9 and Dec. 11-13.

Sessions will take place from noon – 1 p.m. each day in Consolidated Information Center (CIC) 120, with the exception of Wednesday’s session, which takes place from noon – 1 p.m. in the CIC Art Gallery.

“Students have the opportunity to publicly present course and research projects that not only provide hands-on opportunities to explore topics within their field, but also projects that bridge into community partnerships to solve real-world problems,” said Allison Matthews, clinical associate professor of psychology and coordinator for the symposium.

Some of the academic areas highlighted during the symposium include: the sciences, digital technology and culture, fine arts, history, mathematics and psychology.

Some of the projects featured during the symposium include:

• The exploration of American roots, including topics such as immigration, migration and ethnic identity
• Nutrient limitation of microbial and algal biofilms in Cascade streams
• Drawing and paintings that depict a variety of themes, including topics of expressing the evolution of humanity, nostalgia for the past or hope and/or fear for the future; ��and spirituality, mythology, or emotional state

For more information, contact Matthews at 509-372-7146 or��almatthews@wsu.edu.

 

Media contacts:

Allison Matthews, clinical associate professor of psychology and symposium coordinator, 509-372-7146, almatthews@wsu.edu

Maegan Murray, ���سԹ� public relations specialist, 509-372-7333, maegan_murray@wsu.edu

RICHLAND, Wash. – Washington State University Tri-Cities undergraduate students will display semester and course research and art projects as part of the Undergraduate Research Symposium and Art Exhibition April 30 – May 3.

Sessions will take place from noon – 1 p.m. each day, Tuesday through Friday, in Consolidated Information Center (CIC) 120. The fine arts session will also take place noon – 1 p.m. on Thursday, May 2, in the ���سԹ� art gallery in the CIC.

“Throughout the symposium and art exhibition, students have the opportunity to share their research and art projects, and to practice communicating their work to people outside their area of study,” said Allison Matthews, clinical assistant professor of psychology and coordinator for the symposium.

“This event also highlights the development of research and creative skills through their coursework, as well as undergraduate student involvement in WSU’s larger research initiatives to advance knowledge and pursue discovery,” she said.

Academic areas highlighted during the symposium include: anthropology, sociology, political science, English, biology, digital technology and culture, fine arts, computer science, history, psychology and engineering.

Some of the projects featured during the event include:

• Investigating the Effects of Nutrient Addition on Mycorrhizal Colonization of Grassland Plants
• The development of a Solid Liquid Interface Monitor (SLIM) – the design, of which, has potential to one-day be implemented at the Hanford Site to create three-dimensional scans of waste in Hanford tanks
• A remote-controlled, small-scale airplane that was entered into the SAE Aero Design Competition
• The design of an application that visualizes location-enabled cabs in a map interface, selects the trips from a common list and assigns them to the perfect driver or car to maximize a driver’s profit
• An empirical assessment of an undergraduate teaching assistant training program
• Advanced drawing and sculpture projects from throughout the spring semester

For more information, contact Matthews at 509-372-7146 or almatthews@wsu.edu.

By Maegan Murray, ���سԹ�

RICHLAND, Wash. – Mechanical engineering students in a Washington State University Tri-Cities capstone course worked with a university arts professor to design and construct a moving tree sculpture that presents the unfortunate realities of the use and discarding of plastic in today’s society.

Sena Clara Creston, clinical assistant professor of fine arts and digital technology and culture at ���سԹ�, had the idea to create an installation of an artificial tree that, at first glance, welcomes the viewer in with its beauty and reverence, but then encapsulates the viewer and presents the realities of how plastic is used across the world.

For the project, titled “Willow of the Waste,” Creston worked with undergraduate mechanical engineering students to come up with the mechanical design of the tree, which stands approximately eight feet tall and moves gently as though it is breathing. When the viewer approaches, the branches contract, encasing the viewer in a shell under the branches. Upon closer look, the viewer can identify that the “beautiful” leaves, trunk and branches are made of commonly used plastics such as containers for water, grocery bags and others, presenting the harshness of the fact that plastics will outlive most materials on earth.

“When it breaths and showcases natural movements, it is calming and intriguing – it causes people to want to look closer,” Creston said. “When they get closer, they see the materials and the impact that these have on our environment.”

Creston said while plastic has served a utilitarian purpose, and that even as it presents a beautiful material sometimes, it doesn’t degrade, and will outlive many natural and even man-made structures.

“With the Willow of the Waste, it’s art that is made out of this beautiful translucent material, but at the same time, it’s trash. It’s the cleanest garbage,” she said. “And whereas artistic works that feature paint, buildings and even the natural world may decay, this tree is made of immortal plastic. For all intensive purposes, my tree will last longer than any painting. That’s a devastating reality to reflect upon.”

Interdisciplinary partnerships

Creston said working with the engineering students presented a unique opportunity to blend utilitarian skill through engineering with an artistic approach that allows the viewer to reflect on an important topic that concerns today’s world.

The partnership resulted after she spoke with Changki Mo, associate professor of mechanical engineering, who presented the project as an option to his students for their capstone engineering senior design course. The students ran with the project, taking into consideration the artistic components of the tree that also served a functional purpose. The student team consists of Tyrell Turner, Elvin Munoz, Gabby Sanchez, David Garcia, Moises Pinon and Aljon Salalila.

“I’m so impressed with this team – with them thinking about the project conceptually, the necessity of the user experienced and with them thinking about the mood of the piece,” Creston said. “They were truly able to think beyond the fact that is a machine, but that it is also an experience. They went above and beyond. I couldn’t have done something like this without their help.”

Getting creative with engineering

The engineering students said they enjoyed the fact that they were able to be creative with the project using their skill in engineering.

“With the artistic aspect of this project, it has been nice because it allows us to put our own creative spin on how to do things,” said Tyrell Turner, a senior mechanical engineering student at ���سԹ�. “We were able to do the mechanical part and now she has the materials that she will cover it with based on how she wants it to look. It has been fun blending the two together.”

Engineering student David Garcia said they had to overcome a number of challenges to make the project a success, from making small changes to ensure that the movement of the tree was natural and believable, to having to recut and rearrange specific parts, to learning the electrical components of how to make it operate as a “breathing” figure. All served as learning opportunities about overcoming road blocks and challenges.

“It’s been a journey, but it’s all come together now,” Turner said. “We’re all excited to see it all come together and for it to get displayed.”

To be featured at ���سԹ� symposium

Creston said she is still working on the plastic ornamental aspects of the tree, including the leaves, bark and others, but that those will be completed shortly. The base structure of the tree, however, will be on display during the Undergraduate Research Symposium and Art Exhibition at ���سԹ� from noon – 1 p.m. on Thursday, May 3, in the ���سԹ� Art Gallery in the Consolidated Information Center.

The tree will eventually become part of an immersive environment known as “Machinescape” that features a range of mechanical and robotic figures that all feature the same types of translucent plastic. Creston recently completed another figure, which she calls the “Huminal” that will be incorporated into part of the scene.

RICHLAND, Wash. – Students will present on a range of research and course projects as part of the Washington State University Tri-Cities Undergraduate Research Symposium and Art Exhibition, noon-1 p.m. May 1-3 in the Consolidated Information Center on campus.��

“We invite the public to join us for the symposium as it not only gives an insight into the incredible research and projects that our students have spent months and even semesters completing, but also provides students an opportunity to communicate those projects, further allowing them to practice the skills that they will take into their professional careers,” said Allison L. Matthews, clinical assistant professor of psychology and coordinator for the symposium.

Presentations will take place in CIC 120, with Thursday’s presentations also taking place in the CIC Art Gallery. Different projects will be featured each day of the symposium. More than 200 projects will be on display throughout the three-day event.

Academic areas highlighted during the symposium include: biology, chemistry, engineering, English, environmental science, history, political science, psychology, computer science, digital technology and culture, and fine arts.

Some of the projects include:

• Ecological restoration using DNA extractions from soil samples.
• Tri-City Union Gospel Mission data analysis.
• Artax: A distributed real-time informatics system for mass spectrometry.
• Non-destructive tank inspection robot.
• SAE Aero Design – engineering of a small airplane.
• Interactive kinetic sculpture.
• Impulsivity facets and substance use disorder symptoms.

Media Contacts:

Allison L. Matthews, ���سԹ� clinical assistant professor of psychology, 509-372-7146, almatthews@wsu.edu

Maegan Murray, ���سԹ� public relations specialist, 509-372-7333, maegan_murray@wsu.edu

RICHLAND, Wash. – Students will present on their research, course projects and art from noon – 1 p.m. Tuesday-Thursday, Dec. 12-14, as part of the Undergraduate Research Symposium and Art Exhibition at Washington State University Tri-Cities.

Members of the public are invited to attend the student presentations. The sessions will be in Consolidated Information Center room 120, with Thursday’s presentations also in the Art Gallery and SIMIAN Lab, located on the second floor of the library.

Allison L. Matthews, ���سԹ� clinical assistant professor of psychology, said that the symposium provides students with the opportunity to showcase their research designs and findings, in addition to providing them with the public experience of communicating those results to a wide audience.

“This event is a great way for our students to present their scholarship, creative works and real-world research that has the potential for advancing discovery and knowledge in a range of academic subjects,” she said. “The Undergraduate Research Symposium and Art Exhibition allows our students to showcase these projects and highlight their accomplishments.”

Academic areas highlighted during the symposium include: biology, computer science, English, fine arts, history, political science and psychology.

Some of the projects include:

• Partnering with PNNL to write software that helps advance informatics and instrumentation to help understand fundamental biology, including aiding cancer research.
• Evaluating the composition of macroinvertebrate samples from the Tucannon River.
• Exploring how dystopian literature reflects the culture and social anxieties of a given time period.
• Using quantitative analysis to help establish patient demographics and to assess the relationship between mental health and blood sugar levels – a partnership with the Grace Clinic in Kennewick.
• Creating virtual reality environments through the use of the Simian Lab on campus.
• Partnering with CypherPath to write software that can analyze network traffic, which can be used for cyber security.

 

Contacts:

Allison L. Matthews, ���سԹ� clinical assistant professor of psychology, 509-372-7146, almatthews@wsu.edu

Maegan Murray, ���سԹ� public relations spe