URaCE links students to summer-long research projects

 

Suppose that, as police head out on their shift, they’re told that a burglary is likely to take place at a specific time on a specific street in a specific neighborhood.

Not just “Hey, keep your eyes open” because it’s a high-crime area in general, but “Hey, computer software has crunched the numbers and can name day, time and place with a high degree of accuracy.”

Aaron Crawford worked on a project with just that purpose, to create software that learns how to take data from Hamilton County 911 and the Chattanooga Police Department—types of crimes, where they’re committed, what time of day they take place, the income levels of the area and other information—and predict the what, where and when of potential crimes.

“We’re not entirely there yet, but that’s the end goal,” Crawford says.

The junior in mechanical engineering joined the project after contacting the UTC Office for Undergraduate Research and Creative Endeavor (URaCE). Formed this summer, the office connects students with research on campus, a wide variety of projects that includes biology, chemical and mechanical engineering, environmental science, English, nursing and art. Crawford’s project was headed by Nurhidajat Sisworahardjo from the electrical engineering department and Mbaksiya Onyango from civil and chemical engineering.

“To be competitive in the 21^st century global world of work, students must demonstrate what they know and what they can do,” says Lisa Piazza, director of URaCE. “Student engagement in undergraduate research activities positively impacts students’ success measures such as persistence, retention and completion and adds value to an UTC education.”

The students work for 10 weeks; some are given on-campus housing and all are given a stipend so they don’t have to work an outside job.

“This summer has absolutely been the most productive summer for me, probably of my entire life,” says Hannah-Rose Margavio, a junior in chemical engineering.

In a project led by Sungwoo Yang from the chemical engineering department, she spent the summer researching a new material that may reduce energy costs in large commercial and residential buildings. Called silica aerogel, it can be sandwiched between two panes of glass to trap heat and potentially reduce heating, cooling and energy costs, she says.

Through UraCE, students also were given tips to help them beyond the lab, showing them how to write research papers as well as how to present their research material to an audience or during a job interview.

“We had seminars that went through professional skills and academic writing skills to get us prepared not only for the end of our project but also for the rest of our academic careers, however long that is,” Crawford says.

For Margavio, the seminars helped build her confidence level when it comes to presenting her work to strangers, an integral part of the research world.

“I get really, really bad anxiety when I have to talk in front of people I don’t know,” she says.

Now, though, she understands “that there are things that you can say to a person who asks you a question that’s outside your scope of research. I now know there’s nothing wrong with saying, ‘That’s outside the scope of my research.’

“Just getting my name out there and getting that experience talking about my work will definitely help me,” she says. “Not only for the application for grad school, but in job interviews when someone says, ‘Tell me a little bit about your research.’ Instead of going, ‘Uh, uh, uh,’ I actually have some things to tell them.”

The stipend is a key element for some students, making it much easier to focus on their research.

“I could be paid to work on research and be academically active throughout the summer,” Crawford says. “If UraCE wasn’t there, I would probably be at home, working a different job, most likely a lower-paying 9-to-5 job.”