Students showcase research

Day filled with presentations of research projects

Photo by Elenna Koenig | The Doane Owl
Senior Haley Peek presents research on mental health in prison systems.

Doane hosted Mind Expo in the Don Nyrop Great Hall on April 18. Mind Expo was an event where students in their undergraduate studies at Doane could present their scholarly works. Mind Expo was sponsored this year by the Institute for Computing, essentially a think tank for people across all disciplines who use computing to solve problems.

The Institute for Computing is a program that is sponsored by Doane and managed by a Board of Directors, who coordinate the cooperation of students, faculty, corporate partners and alumni of Doane University.

The event was all day, and students could present their scholarly works through two different avenues: a poster presentation or an oral presentation. These events were scheduled by the Undergraduate Research Committee, who also reviewed the applicants for Mind Expo.

Mind Expo was not confined to one particular discipline of study either, they had 12 different disciplines featured at the expo, and had a few dozen students who were presenting.

Students were dressed in professional attire to present their findings and their work.

Junior Riley Brazda was one student who presented her research.

“I am looking at different levels of sucrose-acetate between flossers and non-flossers,” junior Riley Brazda said. “Flossers are people who floss, and then non-flossers are people who don’t floss.”

Students who participated in Mind Expo had an overall positive attitude towards presenting their work.

“It’s a lot of fun,” Brazda said.

The discernable purpose of the Mind Expo is to give undergraduate students the opportunity to get a taste for what they would do if they decide to take their studies to the professional level, where talks by professional scholars are commonplace.

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