updated November 2, 2009

Laboratory Learning: Carly Baehr, a senior chemistry major, worked with Mark Brandt, associate professor of chemistry, on projects throughout the summer in the advanced chemistry laboratories at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology.

• Josh Andreas, a junior chemical engineering major from Columbia City, Ind.; Joseph Barlan, a senior chemistry major from Astonia, N.Y.; Ashley Brockhaus, a junior chemical engineering major from Columbia City; and Stephen Chase, a senior biomedical engineering major from Carmel, Ind., on “Environmentally Friendly Suzuki Cross Coupling.” Rebecca DeVasher, assistant professor of chemistry and biochemistry, was a mentor of the project.
   
• Carly Baehr, senior chemistry major from Stevens Point, Wis., on “Examining the Effects of Ligands and Alcohols on Dimer Exchange in the Human Estrogen Receptor.” Mark Brandt, associate professor of chemistry and biochemistry, served as the project mentor.
   
• Joseph Barlan, a senior chemistry major from Astonia, N.Y., on “Palladium-Catalyzed Cross-Coupling of a Functionalized Aryl Iodide.”
   
• David Cooper, a senior chemistry major from Houston, on “Molecular Dynamics Simulations of the Estrogen Receptor,” a project advised by Yosi Shibberu, associate professor of mathematics, and Brandt.
   
• Sarah Erhart, a senior chemistry major from New Castle, Ind., on “Developing a Fluorescence Lifetime-Based Assay for Ligand Binding.” Brandt served as the project mentor.
   
• Jennifer Fischer, a senior chemical engineering major from Hamilton, Ohio, on “Development of a Protocol to Synthesize PLGA Nanosphere.” Scott McClellan, assistant professor of chemical engineering, was a mentor for the project.
   
• Ted Frater, a senior chemical engineering major from Madison, Wis., on “Ion-Current Rectification in Conical Nanopores,” a project completed with colleagues at Indiana University.
   
• Molly Gillam, a junior applied biology major from Lafayette, Ind., on “Cloning of Mouse RON Receptor Tyrosine Kinase into a Lentiviral Expression Vector,” a project completed with the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine's Department of Cancer and Cell Biology.
   
• LeMoyne Habimana-Griffin, a junior biomedical engineering major from Alexandria, Ind., on “Preparation of HA-Pln DIV Conjugates Hydrogel,” a project in collaboration with the University of Delaware.
   
• Leah Howard, a senior biomedical engineering major from Crawfordsville, Ind., on “Examination of Acetabular Cup Insertion Energy and Removal in Total Hip Arthroplasty.” The project was completed with Christine Buckley, associate professor of applied biology and biomedical engineering, and Scott Small of the Joint Replacement Surgeons of Indiana Research Foundation.
   
• Evan Jones, a senior applied biology major from Anderson, Ind., on “Characterization of Non Race-Specific Disease Resistence Proteins NDR and NDR through Epitope Tagging.” Peter Coppinger, assistant professor of applied biology and biomedical engineering, was a mentor on the project.
   
• Marsha Krisenko, a senior applied biology major from Brazil, Ind.; Matthew Moseng, a senior computer science major from Cedar Lake, Ind.; Drew Paine, a senior software engineering major from Terre Haute; Robert Williamson, a senior applied biology major from Alpine, Texas; and Greg Zynda, a senior mathematics major from Lemont, Ill., on “Tracing the Journey of Each Footstep."
   
• Marsha Krisenko, a senior applied biology major from Brazil, Ind., on “Engineering Novel Viral Vectors:Transforming Infectious Agents into Vehicles for Vaccine Delivery,” a project completed at the Mayo Graduate School in Rochester, Minn.
   
• Kyla Lutz, a junior biomedical engineering major from Tennyson, Ind., and Greg Zynda, a senior mathematics major from Lemont, Ill., on “The Mathematical E. coli.” Allen Holder, associate professor of mathematics, assisted on the project.
   
• Elizabeth Malola, a junior chemical engineering major from Rochester, Ind., on “The Effects of Oxidation on Free Fatty Acid Methyl Ester (FAME) Physical Properties.” Assisting on the project was Michael Mueller, head of the Department of Chemistry.
   
• Jordan Milligan, a senior chemical engineering major from Westfield, Ind., on “Surfactant-Assisted Aqueous Extraction of Soybean Oil from Soybean and Recovery of Oil from Skim,” a project completed with researchers from Iowa State University.
   
• Drew Paine, a senior software engineering major from Terre Haute, on “Utilizing Collaborative Prototyping to Enhance the Usability of Software Products.” Sriram Mohan, assistant professor of computer science and software engineering, was a mentor for the project.
• Angelica Patino, a sophomore biomedical engineering major from Indianapolis, on “Flexibility of Spinal Central Pattern Generators,” a project with Northwestern University.
   
• Stephen Sakai, a senior mechanical engineering major from Terre Haute, and Kyle Wilson, a senior mechanical engineering major from Dublin, Ohio, on “Investigation of Changes in the Combustion Process of a Spark Ignition Internal Combustion Engine due to Laser Excitation of Fuel Molecules.” Lending assistance on the project were Rebecca DeVasher, assistant professor of chemistry and biochemistry, and Allen White, assistant professor of mechanical engineering.
    
  
• Eric Smith, a senior chemistry major from Clinton, Ind., on “The Plant Homologue of EYES ABSENT Retains the Ability to be Potentiated by the SIX family of Transcription Factors,” a project completed with colleagues from the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center.
   
• Jeanie Sozansky, a junior applied biology major from Greentown, Ind., on “Evaluation of Descriptions Used in Sexual Selection Research.” Ella Ingram, assistant professor of applied biology and biomedical engineering, was a project mentor.
   
• Abigail Switzer, a senior chemical engineering major from Marion, Ohio, on “Synthesis and Optimization of a High Capacity Carbon Dioxide Absorbent,” a project completed at Cornell University.
    
  
• William Terrill, a junior biomedical engineering major from Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, on “Difference in Blood Viscosity between Diabetics and Non-Diabetics Receiving Treatment for Kidney Failure by Dialysis,” a joint project with students and faculty from Illinois Institute of Technology and the University of Chicago.
    
  
• Kirk Thompson, a junior applied biology major from Harrisburg, Ill., on “In-Vitro Generation of Amebocytes from the American Horseshoe Crab, Limulus Polyphemus.” Lending assistance on the project were Bill Weiner, associate professor of applied biology and biomedical engineering, and Rose-Hulman alumnus Amber Brannan.
    
  
• John-Paul Verkamp, a senior computer science major from Saint Anthony, Ind., on “Audio Depth Map as a Replacement for Traditional Vision.”
   
  
• Robert Williamson, a senior applied biology major from Alpine,Texas, on “A Bayesian Markov Chain Monte Carlo Implementation of Analysis of Molecular Variance” (completed with colleagues from the University of Wyoming.)
   
  
• Kyle Wilson, a senior mechanical engineering major from Dublin, Ohio, on “Direct and Collisional Excitation of Fuel Components.” Assisting on the project were DeVasher and White.
  

The symposium was organized by Brandt and Coppinger, directors of the Interdisciplinary Research Collaborative Program. More information about this program can be found at www.rose-hulman.edu/IRC.