11 Academy Students Present Their Research at State Capitol

[fblike]Eleven Gatton Academy students presented their research at the Posters at the Capitol state research conference. The conference occurred at the Kentucky State Capitol building in Frankfort, KY.

The Academy students’ presentations represented a variety of STEM disciplines ranging from chemistry to biology to mechanical engineering. Chad Phillips, assistant director of admissions and external relations, said the conference gave Academy students the opportunity to share their research findings and learn about other academic disciplines.

“Poster at the Capitol was quite a unique conference. While some research conferences focus solely on one area of research such as chemistry, this conference allowed Academy students to see how research is conducted in multiple fields helping them to understand the interdisciplinary nature of research.”

Since the conference occurred at the state capitol, students were able to share their research findings with their state representatives and state senators. Furthermore, many Academy students took this opportunity to share stories from their Academy experience with their state officials.

The following is a list of the Academy students who participated in the event:

William Storrs, Covington, and William Johnson, Elkton, presented their research on Developing a Four-Rotored Radio Control Helicopter for Photography and Photogrammetry Applications with faculty mentor Joel Lenoir.
David Brown, Central City, presented Creation of Poly(3-hexylthiophene)-Functionalized Silsesquioxane Nanorods for Organic-Based Solar Cells with faculty mentor Hemali Rathnayake.
Ryan Gott, Bowling Green, presented Understanding the Haptic Response of Wood Finishes with faculty mentor Chris Byrne.
Lara van der Heiden, Carlisle, presented Mercury Analysis in Rafinesque Big Eared Bat Populations with faculty mentor Cathleen J. Webb.
Nitin Krishna, Corbin and Hannah Pennington, Union, presented Formulating Mathematical Models to Analyze the Treatment of Chronic Wounds with faculty mentor Richard Schugart.
Matthew Gonzalez, Brodhead, presented Antimicrobial and Antiangiogenic Drugs – Relevance in Biomedical Research with faculty mentor Rajalingam Dakshinamurthy.
Wayne Schmitt, Jeffersonville, presented Microbial Fuel Cells: Generating Electricity From Mud with faculty mentors Yan Cao, Wei-Ping Pan and Hou-Yin Zhao.
Melissa Smith, Guthrie, and Meghan Hall, Hustonville, will present Does Ecology Promote Sexual Dimorphism in the Pecos Pupfish (Cyprinodon pecosensis)? with faculty mentor Michael Collyer.