Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

2021 Grand River Water Quality, Allison Romanski, Madeleine Lang

Student Summer Scholars Manuscripts

2021 Grand River Water Quality Sampling

The goals of this research project were to collect repeat samples at designated reaches and under different flow conditions along the Grand River, sample the entire Grand River over a short period of time, collaborate with wastewater treatment plant labs and technicians to analyze water samples, and to calculate a Water Quality Index (WQI) for samples collected.

Seven different reaches were sampled and over 120 samples were collected between May 7th and August 12th of 2021. Water samples were collected and analyzed for nitrate, total phosphate, ammonium, chloride, dissolved oxygen, biological oxygen demand , …

Keeping Earth Healthy Together, Megan Shaw

Honors Projects

This project is a book for young children to be exposed to sustainable practices. Practices range from simple daily activities to career options. There is also a parents' section in the back for additional resources. The book can be accessed at: https://flipbookpdf.net/web/site/c2637bb1d14d17cf91b7262fb3fa2bf6a7f5fbec202104.pdf.html.

Using Machine Learning For Detection Of Covid-19, Justin Rickert

Honors Projects

Currently, the most widely used diagnostic tool for COVID-19 is the RT-PCR nasal swab test recommended by the CDC. However, some studies have shown that chest CT scans have the potential to be more accurate and are also capable of detecting the virus in its earlier stages. Unfortunately, CT results are not instantaneously available as it may be days before a radiologist can review the scan. This delay is one of the factors preventing the widespread use of CT scans for COVID detection. To address the delay, this project investigated Convolutional Neural Networks, an advanced form of machine learning used …

Mathematical Modeling In Finance, Owen Sweeney

Honors Projects

Financial tools play an integral role in the day-to-day lives of individuals and businesses. Many of these tools use predefined formulas to calculate items such as loan payments, interest and capital structure components. These tools do not usually provide the flexibility needed when new parameters are introduced. By utilizing mathematical modeling, these standard formulas can be derived and even improved to provide the needed flexibility.

Making The Easy Accessibility Package, Aaron G. Trudeau

Honors Projects

The Easy Accessibility Package is a code package for Unity (a game engine bundled with game development software) that is meant to help video game developers quickly and easily make their games accessible to disabled gamers. The two main features I include in the project were remappable controls (changing which button performs which in-game action) and screen reader support (reading on screen text or game status aloud), both of which are vital to making games accessible.

The repository for the project at the time of submission can be found here: https://github.com/trudeaua21/EasyAccessibilityPackage/tree/v0.1-alpha

The up-to-date repository for the project can be found …

Improving Conceptual Understanding Of Gas Behavior Through The Use Of Screencasts And Simulations, Brianna L. Martinez, Ryan D. Sweeder, Jessica Vandenplas, Deborah Herrington

Peer Reviewed Articles

Engagement with particle-level simulations can help students visualize the motion and interactions of gas particles, thus helping them develop a more scientifically accurate mental model. Such engagement outside of class prior to formal instruction can help meet the needs of students from diverse backgrounds and provide instructors with a common experience upon which to build with further instruction. Yet, even with well-designed scaffolds, students may not attend to the most salient aspects of the simulation. In this case, a screencast where an instructor provides narrated use of the simulation and points students towards the important observations may provide additional benefits. …

Computing Competencies For Undergraduate Data Science Curricula: Acm Data Science Task Force, Andrea Danyluk, Paul Leidig

Peer-Reviewed Publications

At the August 2017 ACM Education Council meeting, a task force was formed to explore a process to add to the broad, interdisciplinary conversation on data science, with an articulation of the role of computing discipline-specific contributions to this emerging field. Specifically, the task force would seek to define what the computing/computational contributions are to this new field, and provide guidance on computing-specific competencies in data science for departments offering such programs of study at the undergraduate level.

There are many stakeholders in the discussion of data science – these include colleges and universities that (hope to) offer data science …

Last Interglacial Climate From Dendostrea Frons Oysters, Verrill Island, Bermuda, Lillian Minnebo

Student Summer Scholars Manuscripts

The Bermuda Islands preserve carbonates recording many past changes in sea level, including multiple warm and cool geologic intervals. Several localities expose shell-rich deposits from the Last Interglacial (~125,000 years ago), a time broadly similar to climate today that can potentially serve as an analog for future conditions. Here, we use δ18O analyses of fossil mollusks to estimate past temperatures and seasonality and compare our data with those from other species.

Eight Dendostrea frons oysters were sampled along their growth axes to reconstruct seasonal temperature curves. We report a mean δ18O value of -0.51 ± 0.17‰, corresponding to a temperature …

Detecting Face Mask Usage Trends In Social Media With Machine Learning, Seth Ockerman

Student Summer Scholars Manuscripts

The use of face masks to prevent disease spread among the general population has become widespread due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The ability to accurately detect and monitor the trends in face mask usage is crucial to understanding and predicting hotspot areas for both current and future pandemics. In this work, we investigate the detection of face masks in social media images using deep learning, specifically convolutional neural networks (CNNs). The use of CNNs for face mask detection has been explored by the research community; however, a common limiting factor has been the lack of a large, diverse image dataset …

“The Production Of Eight Plasmid Expression Vectors Through Gibson Assembly And The Optimization Of The Enzymatic Cleavage Reaction Between Tobacco Etch Virus (Tev) And The Model Fusion Protein, Nus-G”, Elizabeth Kennard

Student Summer Scholars Manuscripts

Snake envenomization is a neglected public health issue that effects large portions of the world, as venomous snakes are found on six continents (World Health Organization,2007). With 2-3 million people bitten globally every year leading to an estimated 125,000 deaths and 400,000 amputations, researching effective treatments is important. Several Mammalian species have a natural resistance to snake venom (Voss, R.S et al.,2012; Bastos, V.A. et al.,2016). The North American Opossum (D. virginiana) produces proteins that inhibit certain snake venom components including snake venom metalloproteinases (SVMPs) and phospholipase 2As (PLA2s) (Catanese, J.J. et al.,1992; Perales, J. et al.,1994; Farah, M.D.F.L. et …