Austin Comer and Bill Han Winners of the Undergraduate Research Poster Competition
Juniors Austin Comer and Bill Han respectively won the Fall 2011 Undergraduate Research Poster Competition held in the McKetta Study Hall last week.
Comer’s poster, “Constructing Novel L-Arabinose Metabolic Pathways in Saccharomyces Cerevisiae”, examines how to make ethanol from non-food sources to provide more effective ways to produce car fuel. Han develops a method of altering hydrogel stiffness using light as a potential therapeutic strategy to reverse the progression of cancer in his poster, “Light-Trigged Modulation of Alginate Hydrogel Stiffness by Gold Nanorod Loaded Liposomes”.
“This competition was the hardest one to judge in my four semesters judging undergraduate posters,” said Josh Katzenstein, graduate student in Professor Ellison’s group. “There was a lot of very high quality research and it was very difficult to pick just two winners.”
The competition, which takes place every semester, gives students the chance to showcase research they have been conducting and sharpen their presentation skills. Winners also receive a $75 scholarship.
“This is a great chance for undergrads and grad students to see the breadth of research taking place in the department,” said Katzenstein. “It’s a good opportunity for people from a variety of fields to come together and discuss their work.”