On Tues., March 26, over 20 undergraduate students presented their academic research in the poster session for the interdisciplinary President’s Academic Showcase competition. Over $5,000 in prize money is awarded to the winners and finalists of Tier One for upperclassmen and Tier Two for underclassmen. 

“Why I participate in this is because it’s a great opportunity to connect with more professors in the research field, and really prepare me for my future career. Currently I’m looking at occupational therapy,” said Reagan Wagner, who won second place in Tier One. 

Wagner said that even though the showcase project might seem intimidating, it’s worth the time and effort. “You have a great mentor pairing and for everyone who is participating in it, it’s a lot of fun to see other projects and have that experience of learning with each other.” The following students earned top marks in the poster session. 

Tier One Winners: 

1st Place: “Evaluating the Effect of Equine Conformation on Core Muscle Activation for Use in Hippotherapy” from Vanessa Royal, senior.

2nd Place: “The Effect of Horse Characteristics on Kinematics of Gait Pattern at the Walk” from Reagan Wagner, junior. 

3rd Place: “Exploratory Cross-Sectional Analysis of Lifestyle, Psychometric factors, Fitness and Function in Parkinson’s Disease Patients” from Oliver Di Martino, junior.

Tier One Finalists: 

Honorable Mention: "Abiding with Jesus: The Significance of Abiding (Menō) in John’s Gospel” from Gina Bertaina, junior. 

Honorable Mention: “Investigation of Computational Modeling Accuracy in Malate Dehydrogenase Structure Predictions and Interactions” from Andy Kapoor, senior. 

Tier Two Winners: 

1st Place: “Gospel Themes in Shakespeare’s The Tempest” from Grace Leininger, sophomore. 

2nd Place: Theatre: A Path to Empathetic Evangelism” from Camille Beeson, sophomore.

3rd Place: “From Rebellion to Remembrance: Unveiling Historical Memory through Star Wars” from Andrew Reeder, sophomore. 

For more information about the President’s Academic Showcase, contact Dr. Nathan Meier at nathan.meier@cui.edu. 

Tags: Academic Showcase

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