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Students take learning to new heights with innovative research projects
From designing a prosthetic limb for a dog to exploring climate change and insecticide resistance, 糖心vlog students have embarked on innovative research and engineering projects over the past year.
More than 80 student projects were showcased during the annual Pacific Undergraduate Research and Creativity Conference on April 29 and Engineering Senior Project Day on May 6.
Read on for a few highlights of students鈥� work.
Students test the prosthetic limb using force plates in the Athletic Center.
Hanan Abdelwahed 鈥�23, Rishabh Agarwal 鈥�23, Evelyn Sanchez 鈥�23, Alex Young 鈥�23
Students in the School of Engineering and Computer Science teamed up to design an advanced canine prosthetic to improve mobility.
鈥淭he ones you see on the market are similar to a peg leg, so we would imagine that in the long run it would cause pain in that joint because it's taking a lot of force,鈥� said fourth-year student Evelyn Sanchez. 鈥淲hat we are incorporating with our leg is an elbow joint (with hydraulic shock), which hopefully will absorb most of the impact.鈥�
The team designed the prosthetic for Phoenix, a 5-year-old German Shepard who lost her leg after being hit by a car in 2021. Students designed and created the adjustable vest and prosthetic leg using a 3D printer in the and tested its effectiveness using ForceDecks, which are flat plates on which Phoenix can stand.
鈥淭hat measures how much force she's applying on the leg with the prosthetic as well as how much force she applies with her healthy leg,鈥� explained fourth-year student Hanan Abdelwahed.
Students have created 10 iterations of the prosthetic over the past year based on their testing. The team is still fine-tuning their design but were able to see it in action when Phoenix recently walked in the prosthetic for the first time. 鈥淭hat was the best feeling,鈥� fourth-year student Alex Young said.
Students working with mosquito samples inside the lab.聽
Eileen Xue 鈥�23, Darren Zhan 鈥�23, Lena Tang 鈥�23
Over the past two decades, mosquitoes in Northern California have become resistant to certain types of insecticide due to a gene mutation. A team of pre-dentistry majors conducted mosquito DNA sequencing, which is used to identify genetic information, to determine when and where the resistance originated.
The information is needed as vector control districts in the region try to develop more effective methods to reduce mosquito populations.
鈥淲e want to figure out鈥攄id this mutation arise in a specific location in California and spread or did it pop up in multiple locations?鈥� fourth-year student Eileen Xue said.
Using samples collected from five California sites in 2008 and 2021, the team analyzed the mosquitos鈥� DNA looking for the mutation. The data was then put into algorithms to construct phylogenetic trees, which allows the students to analyze and track the mutation.
More samples are needed before drawing conclusions, but the work lays the foundation for future research.
鈥淢osquito insecticide resistance is a real problem, so being able to apply what we learned in class to help solve this problem is really cool,鈥� said fourth-year student Lena Tang.
Students presented their research at the annual Pacific Undergraduate Research and Creativity Conference.
Harnoor Joura 鈥�25, Jenna Makarem 鈥�25, Jodie Sun 鈥�24
With the growing prevalence of heat waves globally due to climate change, a team of student researchers set out to explore the impacts of extreme temperature changes on crickets.
Students studied the insects in two environments鈥攚ith and without predators鈥攖o see how heat waves impacted the insects鈥� food and water consumption and the amount of energy their bodies invested in reproduction.
Students found that a combination of heat waves and predators (such as spiders) in their environment caused the crickets to modify their behaviors.
鈥淲e saw that they focused more on putting their energy into their reproductive organs, but they also decreased how much they put into their somatic mass, which is the rest of the body,鈥� second-year student Harnoor Joura explained. 鈥淭hat potentially could expose them to immune system risks because they're not able to create the same cells, hormones and proteins that they need to survive.鈥�
As a pre-dentistry major, Joura found the project an invaluable learning opportunity. 鈥淚t's great experience to have both the data collection working in the lab and then also getting to dissect. We get so much manual dexterity (practice).鈥�
Civil engineering students' rendering of "Prowl Park."
Jeremiah Reynoso 鈥�23, Brenna Crump 鈥�23, Josephine Millard 鈥�23 and Lonei Banaag 鈥�23
Using a drone, modeling and design software and some creativity, a team of civil engineering students created architectural renderings of 鈥淧rowl Park鈥濃�攁 concept for new entertainment and refreshment facilities near the athletic fields on Pacific鈥檚 Stockton Campus.
鈥淥ur site layout lead started off with using a drone to gain information about surveying data and better understand where everything is situated on the site,鈥� said fourth-year student Jeremiah Reynoso. 鈥淲e used programs like Google Earth, Revit and AutoCAD 3D to find elevations so we could plan our model and place our facilities in the most ideal locations.鈥�
Their design includes a large refreshment stand, pavilion and tiger paw print-shaped pond with a new site layout to improve drainage in the area.
鈥淚t was a great experience being able to apply my technical knowledge into an actual product,鈥� Reynoso said. 鈥淚 think one of the more important things I was able to gain was working with others on a team. Communication is a big part of engineering, and this project helped us develop those skills.鈥�
Other research presented include the evolution of dark matter in galaxies, a tree seed planting robot and the impact of books bans. Abstracts for all students鈥� research projects are available on , the university鈥檚 repository for research and academic work.
