6 <strong>Science</strong> and <strong>Engineering</strong> seattle university 7 Student Success Steel Bridge Team Stiffs the Competition Congratulations to the Steel Bridge Team for having the stiffest bridge in the nation! The team tied with the <strong>University</strong> of Central Florida for first place in the stiffness category and topped the other 43 teams competing at the national competition held May 22-23 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Since the tie-breaker was based on the display category score, our team brought home the second place plaque. This marks the second year in a row that <strong>Seattle</strong> <strong>University</strong> has been a leader in the stiffness category. Last year, the team tied for second in stiffness, and was bumped to third based on the display tie-breaker. To qualify for the national competition, the SU team placed first in stiffness, first in efficiency, and second overall out of 14 teams at the regional competition in Helena, Montana. The 2008-<strong>2009</strong> team members were: Alan Chun, Jennifer Davis, Kavik Frol, Vanessa Mitchell, Royce Miyahara, Brian Olmsted, David Palmiter, Michael Shattuck, Jeri Shimazu, Glenn Strid, and Kasi Wells. Alumnus Ryan Daudistel (BSCE ‘08), one of the founders of the Steel Bridge Team at SU, was the technical advisor. Diagnostic Ultrasound Students Receive Top Honors For the seventeenth consecutive year, <strong>Seattle</strong> <strong>University</strong> diagnostic ultrasound students have received top honors at the Annual Society of Diagnostic Medical Sonography (SDMS) conference. The W. Fredrick Sample Student Excellence Award Competition has award categories for original research and literature review. Student intern, Bailey Nelson, took first place in the SDMS award Award winning steel bridge team poses on top of their structure. for literature review. The SDMS award for original research resulted in <strong>Seattle</strong> <strong>University</strong> student interns Alison Freeberg and Erika Hutson earning first- and second-place honors, respectively. These students completed their work as part of their senior synthesis experience, and they presented their papers at the awards ceremony. The winning papers will be published in the SDMS peerreviewed publication, Journal of Diagnostic Medical Sonography. Civil Engineers Take First Place Congratulations to Huy Le and Charlie Wence, who took home first place at the Institute of Transportation Engineers annual competition held on the evening of May 13, <strong>2009</strong>. Charlie and Huy topped three <strong>University</strong> of Washington graduate student teams with the presentation of their solution for improving safety along the 35th Avenue SW corridor in West <strong>Seattle</strong>. This is the second year in a row that Charlie and Huy have won the competition and the $500 prize. Mathematics Students Score Well in Putnam Competition In December 2008, five SU undergrads, Rebecca Butler, Michael Gehlke, Thu-Thao Nguyen, David Prigge, and Ben Small, competed in the William Lowell Putnam Mathematical Competition. In addition, Michael, David, and Ben formed a team representing <strong>Seattle</strong> <strong>University</strong>. This competition is quite challenging. This year, over 47% of the participants scored zero out of 120 points. The average score for our five competitors was 12, and the total score for our team was 48, ranking the team 67th out of at least 405 teams. ■ Professor Sue Jackels, Shea Wright and Danielle Ashworth make liquid nitrogen ice cream. Professor’s Perspective: Undergraduate Research by Sue Jackels, Professor of Chemistry Teaching science in the classroom and laboratory is rewarding, but what I truly enjoy is the “making of scientists” that occurs in the research laboratory when students participate with faculty mentors in exciting activities that lead to new scientific knowledge. So, when I was offered the privilege of directing SU’s new Murdock College <strong>Science</strong> Research Program, I enthusiastically said “Yes.” The grant from the M. J. Murdock Charitable Trust provides the College’s natural science departments (Biology, Chemistry, and Physics) with a $350,000 award to enhance our undergraduate research program over a span of three years. A team from the College of <strong>Science</strong> and <strong>Engineering</strong>, including Dean Michael Quinn, Associate Dean Jean Jacoby, Kristen Skogerboe, Dan Smith, and Paul Fontana, envisioned the program and wrote the successful proposal. As director of the program, I am responsible for overseeing the grant and organizing the activities in support of faculty-mentored undergraduate student research. It is hoped that the grant activities will enhance the education of our students and raise the profile of undergraduate research at SU. My job began in the spring with the selection of the six faculty and twelve students as the Murdock awardees who would join with the many other researchers in the College, giving a total of twenty-three faculty and forty-one students for summer <strong>2009</strong>. The new program features opportunities for students to participate in summer research mentored by faculty, paid summer research time for faculty, a venue for students and faculty to share their results at the Murdock Undergraduate Research Conference, and an enrichment program with field trips, social activities, research lab open house, and visiting speakers. For me, the director responsibility is a labor of love since I have been continuously involved in chemistry research with students for over thirty years and have seen firsthand the excitement that develops and translates into career opportunities for students. Early in the summer, we made an excursion to Theo Chocolate in Fremont for a tour and a talk on the science of making chocolate. We all enjoyed learning a lot about chocolate and made a thorough effort to taste all the varieties. Mid-summer we held the first ever SU Research Open House. Students hosted visitors in their laboratories to explain their projects and show the methods they were using in research. I was so impressed with the quality and variety of research being conducted here in the College, and the students gained valuable experience articulating their research projects. Following the open house was a social hour where we made liquid nitrogen ice cream. The summer experience culminated in a successful poster session and barbeque celebration. In October, ten faculty, twenty-two students and our Dean attended the Murdock Undergraduate Research Conference at Gonzaga <strong>University</strong> to make eighteen research presentations. We look forward to publications generated by the summer’s research and to continued research with the knowledge that much deep learning is being catalyzed in the process. ■