Undergraduate research and service learning projects were showcased yesterday at the fourth annual UW-Madison Undergraduate Symposium at Memorial Union. About 90 projects and 134 students were featured through oral presentations, posters, art exhibits and performances.
The symposium sponsored by the Office of the Provost, the Graduate School and the Morgridge Center, was dedicated to celebrating research, creative endeavor and service learning.
Robert Skloot, associate vice chancellor for academic affairs, said the annual symposium is a culmination of all of the opportunities available for undergraduates at UW-Madison and is an example of how the undergraduate experience has been strengthened in the past years.
\This campus is known as a world-class research institution, and our undergraduates are involved in amazing projects,"" said Susan Dibbell, manager of the university's Morgridge Center for Public Service. ""This symposium allows us to showcase what undergraduates are doing and the contribution that they make.""
Sponsors of the symposium said that the projects are taken seriously and often have potential for real life application.
One student at the symposium, a senior double majoring in biological engineering and biology, Jeff Phillips, developed with a team of students the JABE 200, a safer suture needle with a retracting tip that will soon be patented.
Phillips said his research experience was very beneficial for him and he encourages other students to participate in research because of how much he learned.
Jason Helgren, a senior mechanical engineering major and team leader of the College of Engineering's Future Truck team agreed with Phillips, saying that ""what you learn in class is one thing, but research projects allow you to apply things; that's what you really have to do in the workplace.""
Student service learning projects, which link a class's subject matter to the community, were also presented at the symposium.
""It helps students understand the material and gain knowledge while getting real-life experience,"" Dibbell said.
Stephanie Hauge, a senior sociology and women's studies double major, who worked to promote positive body image and self-esteem in middle-school-age girls, said she valued her experience because it allowed her to see the effects of her major in real life.
""The student service learning experience gave me a chance to get out of the classroom and try my hand at things,"" Hauge said.
She added that her project helped her focus on her career goals.
""The experience refreshes you and it can really give you some new ideas, career-wise,"" Hauge said.
