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April 3, 2007

Science

Students win big in ACES competition

The Annual Celebration of Excellence by Students paid $50-$300 in cash prizes.

Story by: Joan Khalaf

The Shorthorn staff

The Shorthorn: Laura Sliva

Architecture graduate student Carrie Schart explains her research project to psychology assistant professor Mark C. Frame during the Annual Celebration of Excellence by Students on Friday in the University Center.

Timothy Lewis, an aerospace engineering graduate student, began work for his research project in August and presented it to a panel of faculty judges Friday at the Annual Celebration of Excellence by Students.

The multidepartmental event comprised oral and poster presentations in the University Center. Students had the opportunity to win $50-$300 in cash at the awards ceremony following the morning and afternoon presentations.

Lewis won first place in the oral graduate morning category for his research on sensory targets for airplanes. He was surprised by his victory.

“There were a lot of other presentations, and they always look like they did more than I did,” he said. “I always kind of don’t give myself enough credit.”

Lewis thinks he won because of his speaking and presentation style.

“I took debate in high school,” he said. “It’s about standing up there, not being nervous and having a conversation. I had to make eye contact and see when they were interested and when puzzled. My judges were all anthropologists, so I had to change what I was talking about to their interests.”

The projects were assigned by professors, who tutored the students. Architecture graduate student Carrie Schart presented a project on a greenhouse for an elementary school and won second place in the graduate poster category. She said she ran into challenges while doing the semester-long project.

“Designing a building is one thing, but learning about new materials is another,” she said. “Sustainability is already becoming a more prominent thing.”

William Eberle, a computer science graduate student, won second place and $200 in the oral afternoon graduate category. Eberle said he wasn’t sure what he was going to do with the money because he graduates this semester.

“Obviously, the research paid off, and I enjoyed it,” he said. “I’m going to take the money and have a big party now.”