Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

The Transesterification Of Hickory Nuts Into Biodiesel Fuel, Hannah Trauger, Madilynn Dewell, Jahida A. Mendoza

Undergraduate Research Conference

• Biodiesel fuels can be produced from a fat and an alcohol via transesterification

• Hickory nuts have a high fat content (~60 % by weight)

• Can nuts from shagbark hickory (Carya ovata) be used to produce a biodiesel fuel using existing acidcatalyzed transesterification methods?

Using Macroinvertebrates To Test The Water Quality Of Lake Nacogdoches, Emily Ivester, Hollyn Grizzaffi, Nicklaus Langlois, Augusto Conde De Frankenberg

Undergraduate Research Conference

The target of this assessment was to conduct a water quality test on Lake Nacogdoches in Nacogdoches TX. Lake Nacogdoches is operated by the city of Nacogdoches for municipal water supply and recreation. One of the tests that we ran to determine water quality was a macroinvertebrates test. To do this, we kicked up substrate to expose the organisms burrowed deep in the soil and caught them in a d-frame kick net. We then used our macroinvertebrate key to identify the organism and find the level of biodiversity in the lake. This test is essential because biodiversity affects climate stability, …

Determination Differences Between Men And Women In Mathematics, Lacy Cook

Undergraduate Research Conference

We analyzed data collected from 35 Tyler Junior College Students collected over three testing sessions. Students were asked to take a five-question math test. The test included four questions from the American High School Math Examination, where the problems are designed to be solvable for students without any upper level (calculus) mathematics background as well as one randomly generated question. Students were asked to take as much time as they needed, but no longer than one hour to complete the test. We used the amount of time spent on the test to measure the students' level of determination. The goal …

Longitudinal Study Of Lanana Creek, Bayler Barnes, Jackson T. Ortiz, Trace Washburn

Undergraduate Research Conference

A longitudinal study was done to collect data on the various conditions of LananaCreek in Nacogdoches, Texas over a seven week span from September 14 to November 2, 2018. The part of the creek studies is a 3.5 mile stretch from East Austin Street to Hoya Soccer Complex, mostly located on the campus of Stephen F. Austin State University. There were 6 different testing sites selected along this expanse. Collection of samples was performed by the General Chemistry I Honors class as part of the laboratory experience. Once collected, the samples were transported back to the lab for testing. The …

Data Parsing For Optimized Molecular Geometry Calculations, Luke Rens

Undergraduate Research Conference

The purpose of this project is to optimize and streamline to process of using ADF and ReaxFF. There is no efficient way to effectively add constraints to a compound and run it through ADF, take the ADF output and create a file that can be run through Reaxff, then take that Reaxff output and come to conclusions on it. To streamline this process, scripts were developed using Python to parse information out of data generated by ADF.

Surfaces Of Revolution In Virtual Reality, Joshua Harris

Undergraduate Research Conference

Why is this project needed?

❑ Surfaces of Revolution is many student’s first experience with three dimensional mathematical objects.

❑ The calculations required are not the inhibitor of the student’s understanding.

❑ Visualization of these solids along with the appropriate set up are the greatest hindrance to a deep under-standing of surfaces of revolution.

❑ Other tools that create computer generated visualizations of surfaces and curves in space render them as two-dimensional projections of a three dimensional object.

❑ Other tools typically do not have the capabilities of guided instruction, exploration of concepts on carefully chosen examples, and the ability …