Students Gain High-level Academic Experience at SCCUR

A multidisciplinary group of Harvey Mudd College students will present their research results Saturday, Nov. 23, at the Southern California Conference for Undergraduate Research (SCCUR) at Whittier College in Whittier, Calif.

SCCUR provides a forum for undergrad research, scholarship and creative activities and promotes innovative achievements across disciplines. Students present their work either in poster sessions or as 15-minute talks.

“The conference is a great venue for students to present the results of their research off-campus in a friendly atmosphere. The audiences are small and supportive, and it offers a nice intermediate between the on-campus presentations that our students frequently make and large professional conferences where most presenters are professors, post-docs and graduate students,” said biology Professor Steve Adolph, who is coordinating the conference trip. “Students also enjoy the opportunity to learn about the diverse research projects conducted by undergraduates from other Southern California colleges and universities.”

Harvey Mudd students will present on a variety of topics from biology, chemistry, computer science, mathematics and engineering.

Engineering majors Cody Crosby ’15 and Aarthi Sridhar ’15 will present findings from their work exploring the development of high-entropy alloys (HEAs). Unlike traditional alloys, HEAs have five or more metallic elements in roughly equal proportions. Such alloys have the potential for making lighter, stronger metals that can endure high-temperature and corrosive environments.

“We are focused on promoting solid solution formation in multicomponent metallic alloys to produce improved mechanical properties, including tensile strength and hardness,” said Crosby. “We applied to this conference, because we wanted to improve our presenting skills and gain high-level academic experience, while exposing a broader audience to the potential of high-entropy alloys.”

Harvey Mudd student presentations at SCCUR will include:

Cody Crosby ’15 and Aarthi Sridhar ’15: “A Building Block Approach to Developing a Low-Cost High Strength High Entropy Alloy.”
Advisor: Lori Bassman
, professor of engineering

Weimeng (Stephanie) Kong ’15: “Analyzing Atmospheric Aerosol with Atomic Force Microscopy.”
Advisor: Lelia Hawkins, assistant professor of chemistry

Michelle Wei ’15 and Lingxiao (Bruce) Yan ’15: “Effect of Uniaxial Extension on Drug Permeation in Vivo.”
Advisor: Nancy Lape, associate professor of engineering

Kennedy Agwamba ’16: “Using 28S and COI Coding Sequences to Measure the Rate of Mitochondrial Gene Evolution in Octocorals.”
Advisor: Catherine McFadden, professor of biology and department chair

Allison Arnold-Roksandich ’14: “Multipartitions and Modular Forms.”
Advisor: Holly Swisher, associate professor of mathematics (Oregon State University)