College sites lack key features, researchers find

Click on the image to see the research poster.

University websites are among the top information resources for high school students considering which school to attend, but many are lacking in the features that prospective students find most engaging.

A study by researchers at North Carolina A&T found that media richness — features that most closely resemble face-to-face communication — are widely lacking among a sample of 94 university homepages.

If university home pages don’t increase the media richness of their sites, they stand to lose students in the high-stakes recruiting game, the researchers say.

More details on the study are here.

The study was conducted by Adrian Gray, a junior in the Department of Journalism and Mass Communications . Gray was assisted in the content analysis by journalism professors Kim Smith, Ph.D., and Arthea Perry, MFA.  Their project won first place in the university’s annual Undergraduate Research Day poster competition.

Undergraduate research winners announced

First Place: Adrian Gray (Faculty advisors Kim Smith and Arthea B. Perry), Department of Journalism and Mass Communication:
In Search of Media Richness and Social Support Functions on the Home Pages of University Websites: A Content Analysis

Second Place: Ênio Frota and Paula França (Faculty advisor Steven Jiang), Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering:
Use of Eye Tracking to Test Usability of a Prototype Interface for Fluid Powered Rescue Robots

Third place: Jasmine Brodie (Faculty advisors Kofi Adu-Nyako and Ralph Okafor), Department of Agribusiness, Applied Economics and Agriscience Education:
Where Are the Healthy Dairy and Grains Options Found in Guilford County?

A&T undergraduates show off their research

Justin Riley, an atmospheric sciences and meteorology major, presents his research on hurricanes and sea-surface temperatures in the Atlantic Basin.

N.C. A&T undergraduates have gone out across Guilford County, across the state of North Carolina and around the world to conduct research in recent semesters.  Some of their best projects are on display today at the Fort Interdisciplinary Research Center as part of Undergraduate Research Day, one of the highlights of the university’s annual Research Week.

A&T students have analyzed the availability of healthy food in Guilford County, fluid-powered rescue robots, and paintings in the Biltmore House.  They’ve explored the ergonomics of hydraulic systems, literacy in Malawi and Haiti, and energy use at West Wilkes Middle School. Other projects examine green fluorescent protein, sea surface temperatures in the Atlantic, microRNA biomarkers, and a number of projects that don’t lend themselves to short descriptions.

Research posters from five academic units and at least 15 departments are included. Throughout the day, researchers will present their posters to judges who will name winners at the end of the day.

Click here for abstracts of the posters.

Undergraduate researcher Tia Tate presents her poster, "Specific Detection of Disease-Related Micro RNA Biomarkers."

Christopher Martin, left, and Justin Jones tell the judges about their research and photo reconstructions of paintings in the Biltmore House library.

Research Week 2012 schedule announced

2011 Research Award winners Dr. Ellie Fini, Dr. Zhichao Li, and Dr. Millie Worku

The work of outstanding faculty members, undergraduate researchers and freshman innovators will be recognized during Research Week 2012 next month.

The events also will feature a graduate-student panel discussion and a morning focused on the university’s role in applied research. Keynote speakers will include Mr. Theodore Wood, intellectual property attorney in Washington, D.C., and graduate of N.C. A&T; Mr. Robert Bennett, CEO of US Green Energy Corp.; Dr. Solomon Bililign, professor of physics and director of the NOAA ISET CRC; and Dr. Shirley Hyman-Parker, associate dean for research in the School of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences.

The full agenda is here.  Highlights:

Innovation and Applied Research Day

• Friday April 13
• 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., Fort IRC, Room 410
• Corporate panel: The University’s Role in Innovation and Applied Research
• Lunch speaker: Mr. Robert Bennett, US Green Energy

Undergraduate Research Day

• Monday April 16
• 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Fort IRC, Room 410
• Undergraduate poster presentations
• Lunch speaker: Dr. Shirley Hymon-Parker, Associate Dean for Research, School of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences

Graduate Research Day

• Tuesday April 17
• 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., Fort IRC, Room 410
• Graduate student panel discussion
• Lunch speaker: Dr. Solomon Bililign, Professor, Department of Physics; Director, NOAA ISET CRC

Research Excellence Day

• Wednesday April 18
• 10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m., Alumni-Foundation Event Center
• Research Excellence Awards luncheon, noon
• Keynote speaker, Mr. Theodore Wood, Esquire, Sterne Kessler Goldstein Fox PLLC, Washington, DC

Two Aggie undergrads make good impressions

You can say this about Aggie undergrads: We have some young scholars who can make very positive impressions.  Two students who have done so lately are Leah Marshall, a senior biological engineering major, and Jack Harris, a junior computer science major.

Marshall is a USDA 1890 Scholar and has interned with the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service in her home state of Virginia.  You can tell that her work there on water and waste management structures, among other areas, won her some fans with the agency — the NRCS is now featuring her on their website in an “Employee Spotlight” article. Marshall is considering grad school, but if she changes her mind, it looks like she won’t have any trouble finding a job.

Harris is generating some positive exposure for himself and the university on IBM’s “Destination Z” website, which promotes mainframe technology.  The profile of Harris relates how his experience with video games has grown into an enthusiasm for a career with mainframes.  There’s no shortage of people who think video games are a massive waste of time.  Don’t you love an Aggie who upsets conventional thinking?

Abstracts for Student Research Day 2011

Students discuss their Student Research Day presentations this morning at the Fort Interdisciplinary Research Center.

Welcome to Research Appreciation Week at North Carolina A&T.  Twenty-seven students are scheduled to make oral presentations or present posters at today’s Student Research Day event (Fort IRC, Room 410, beginning at 8:30 a.m.).  Their abstracts are contained in this PDF document. Keynote speaker at lunch is Dr. Michael Cundall, director of the A&T Honors program — 11:45 a.m., Fort IRC, Room 410.

Research Week registration deadlines extended for faculty and student posters, presentations

Deadlines have been extended for faculty research posters and student posters and presentations for Research Week.

Registration of posters for Faculty Research Day now closes on Thursday, April 7. Posters must be delivered to Room 312 Fort IRC by close of business on Friday, April 8.  Faculty Research Day is April 14.

Registration of posters and oral presentations for Student Research Day will now close on Monday, April 4 at 5:00 pm.  PowerPoints should be should be emailed to mrbolick@ncat.edu and are due on April 4. Posters must be delivered to Room 312 Fort IRC by close of business on April 4.  Student Research Day is Monday April 11.

The revised full agenda for Research Week (PDF).

Four undergraduate researchers from N.C. A&T to present at N.C. General Assembly event

North Carolina A&T is sending four undergraduate researchers to “Research in the Capital,” a biennial event at the North Carolina General Assembly that showcases undergraduate research projects.  Four undergraduates from each UNC institution will display posters in the Legislative Building. The event provides an opportunity for legislators to meet students while also being exposed to research in the UNC system.

This year’s event is on Wednesday April 13. N.C. A&T will send:

• Stefan Boskovic, who is working with Dr. Solomon Bililign (NOAA ISET) studying chemical reactions that affect atmospheric compounds.  These processes directly and indirectly influence radiative forcing and, through that, the Earth’s climate.

• Daniel J. Oldham,who is is working with Dr. Elham Fini (Civil Engineering) investigating the feasibility of using increased amounts of recycled roofing shingles in asphalt paving.  This would keep the used shingles out of landfills and reduce the amount of new petroleum products used in road construction.

• Jarrett M. Paige, who is working with Dr. Dhanajay Kumar (Mechanical Engineering) researching the growth of titanium nitride nanowires.  These titanium nitride nanowires are expected to play an important role in the fabrication of medical implants.  Other students working on the project include Jessamy Crystal, Ahmed Altaher, and Mainul Faruque.

• Kim Stratford, who worked with Dr. John Stafford of Vanderbilt University using female mice to study the effects of estrogen on insulin sensitivity.  Their goal was to understand how estrogen protects premenopausal women from the effects of a high fat diet.

Research Appreciation Week set for April 11-14

North Carolina A&T State University will expand its traditional Research Appreciation Day this year into a four-day event showcasing the diversity of research at the university.

Research Appreciation Week will run from April 11 through April 15.  The week’s events include:

• Student Research Day, Monday April 11, featuring oral and poster presentations by undergraduate and graduate students;
• Graduate Student Research Day, Tuesday April 12, which will include two panels of graduate students speaking on the graduate student experience at A&T;
• Faculty Research Day, Thursday April 14, which includes the Research Excellence Award presentation luncheon; and
• Corporate Research and Innovation Day, Friday April 15, featuring a panel of academic and corporate representatives speaking on corporate-community-university collaboration for innovation and commercialization.

The featured speaker on Faculty Research Day will be Dr. Sally Kornbluth, vice dean for research, Duke University School of Medicine, speaking on “Managing Research Activities at the College/School level — Deans and Chairs as Enablers.”  Other speakers, including the keynote speaker at each day’s luncheon, will be announced over the next several days.

Click here for the week’s agenda (PDF).

Four undergraduates honored for outstanding research presentations

Undergraduate researchers, from left, Adrian Ambrose, Shauna Adams, Jasmine Brooks and Matthew Stanco.

Research on antimicrobial agents, arthritis, thermal conductivity, and ultrasonic vibration has won recognition for four undergraduates.

The students were honored for their presentations at the university’s first Undergraduate Research Symposium, held on September 22.

Shauna Adams received the Best Presentation Award for “Longitudinal Heat Transport as a Method for the Determination of Thermal Conductivity.”  Adams is a senior from Hampton, Virginia, majoring in mechanical engineering.  Her advisor is Dr. John Kizito.

Matthew Stanco was named runner-up for “Measurement of Ultrasonic Vibration Using Ultra-High Frequency CCD Laser.”  Stanco is a senior from High Point, majoring in industrial engineering.  His advisor is Dr. Zhichao Li.

Adrian Ambrose received the Best Poster Award for “The Effects of Age on the Progression of Osteoarthritis and the Gene Expression in Mice.”  Ambrose is a junior biology major from Roanoke, Virginia.  His advisor is Dr. Greg Goins.

Jasmine Brooks was the poster category runner-up for “Evaluation of Select Plant Essential Oils as Potential Antimicrobials.”  Brooks is a senior from Knightdale, majoring in food science.  Her advisor is Dr. Ipek Goktepe.