Sigma to host research symposium

For the seventh year in a row, Portland State’s Sigma Xi chapter is presenting its research symposium, which is open to all undergraduate and graduate students in the Portland metro area.

PSU, Oregon Health and Science University, Concordia University, University of Portland and Willamette University will all participate.

Sigma Xi is a scientific research society with a goal to develop a science community. Its symposium has seen close to a hundred entries in the past; this year it expects 65.

Unique to this quasi science fair is the implementation of the projects. Students create posters that tell the story of what they are working on, which include their topic, goals, methods and implementation.

Each project fits into a pre-determined category of biological science, earth science, behavioral science, chemistry, physics, environmental science, biomedical science, mathematics, computer science and engineering. Students hang their posters in the morning, which gives the judges a two-hour window to view them without the students present. When the students return, judges will be able to ask students questions that pertain to their project.

Linda Mantel is the president of the Columbia-Willamette chapter for Sigma Xi, which sponsors the event. In addition to her role, she will also be serving as a judge this year. 

“The judges in each category confer and decide on the top posters,” Mantel said. “We offer cash prizes for the winners. In addition, the top winners are invited to participate in the Sigma Xi Annual Meeting and Research Conference in the fall, with financial support from the chapter.”

Sigma Xi is involved with many colleges in the realm of science and even extends its hand to Intel. The goal of the symposium is to apply practical science in a fun way, using posters rather than a research paper, for example.

Virginia Butler, professor in the Department of Anthropology, has worked with students who have entered the symposium before.

“It’s a great opportunity for students to get practice responding to questions about their work,” she said. “You have to convey your work across different disciplines, i.e. chemistry to sociology. It’s a great time to step away from your focus and see the greater impact [and] communicate with a broad spectrum of people,”  

Mrugesh Mote was a graduate student when he won last year. His “Modeling and simulation of randomly self-assembled nanowire networks” won first prize. Mote’s networks were created with higher speeds and lower costs than comparable ones.

“It was good, it was a very good chance to present what you are doing; this was a great chance to meet some of the other students, judges are qualified, explaining what you are doing is a really good thing,” he said.

Mote is currently working for Qualcomm as a design engineer.

The symposium will be held from 1:30 to 4:30 p.m. on Monday, April 11 in the Smith Memorial Student Union Ballroom. It is free and open to the public. ?