Congratulations to this year's award winners!
Graduate Student Awards
1st Place Talk: Amanda Lee, Doctoral Student, Animal Science
Title: Evaluating the effects of heat stress, stocking density, or combination on the welfare of lactating dairy cows 2nd Place Talk: Sujana Chandrasekar, Master's Student, Nuclear Engineering Title: Detecting process anomalies in additive manufacturing using data 1st Place Poster: Riddhi Shah, Doctoral Student, Bredesen Center, Energy Science & Engineering Title: Insights into hemicellulose-cellulose interactions from thermochemical pretreatment of model composite materials 2nd Place Poster: Michelle Halsted, Doctoral Student, Bredesen Center, Energy Science & Engineering Title: Methods for Assessing Biofilm Initiation: ImageJ Macros Program ‘CellAttachMicrowell’ Automatically Detects and Quantifies Single- Cell Attachment to Surfaces via Brightfield Microscopy |
Undergraduate Student Awards
1st Place Talk: Kimberly Bress, Senior, Psychology
Title: Effects of social dominance on defeat-induced neural activity in a ventral hippocampus-to-basolateral amygdala circuit 2nd Place Talk: Elena Bagatelas, Senior, Developmental Biology Title: The effects of age and use on late life reproduction in C. remanei and C. elegans fog-2 worms 1st Place Poster: Annie Loewen, Senior, Psychology Title: Sex differences in the effects of social status on defeat-induced social avoidance in Syrian hamsters 2nd Place Poster: Jessica Layton, Senior, Plant Sciences Title: Bigger targets are easier to hit: Facile chloroplast genome transformation in Nicotiana tabacum cv. Petit Havana with giant chloroplasts |
Margaret "Tina" Riedinger Societal Impact Award: Student who presented research findings or a technological innovation that has resulted in, or has great potential to have, a positive impact on society. This award-by-nomination recognizes the students' ability to communicate a societal need addressed by their research, the degree and type of societal benefits, the sustainability and scalability of their research, and their ability to demonstrate the social and economic impacts of their work in the future.
Purni Wickramasinghe, Doctoral Student, Food Science
Title: Chlorine dioxide gas for the inactivation of human norovirus genogroup II on formica coupons
Purni Wickramasinghe, Doctoral Student, Food Science
Title: Chlorine dioxide gas for the inactivation of human norovirus genogroup II on formica coupons
Please see below for the schedule of events, list of speakers, the requirements for poster and oral presentations, and a complete list of abstracts.
Keynote Speaker: Mary J. Miller, MS/MBA from the Office of the Undersecretary of Defense for Research and Engineering at the U.S. Department of Defense
11 AM, Baker Center, Toyota Auditorium
A UT alum with an engineering background, Ms. Miller is now responsible for the Department of Defense (DoD) strategies and supporting plans to develop and leverage technologies needed to ensure continued U.S. technological superiority. She provides leadership, establishes policy and guidance for the development and execution of the DoD Science and Technology (S&T) enterprise, with an annual budget in excess of $12 billion. She oversees matters from basic science and capability prototyping to research and engineering at the 63 DoD laboratories, promotes coordination and cooperation across DoD, between DoD and other federal and non-federal agencies, and organizes and ensures technological exchange with allied and friendly nations.
Ms. Miller received a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Washington, an M.S. in Electrical Engineering, Electro-Physics, from George Washington University and an M.B.A. from the University of Tennessee. Ms. Miller was selected in 2005 to the Senior Executive Service and is Defense Acquisition Workforce Level III certified in Program Management; Engineering; and Science and Technology Management. |
Invited guests for panel discussion on "Navigating a Career in STEM"
3 PM, Baker Center, Toyota Auditorium
Kertesha Riley is the STEM Career Consultant at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville and a first-year Ph.D. student in Counselor Education. Having spent a significant portion of her undergraduate career in a STEM field, Kertesha truly connects to the passions, interests, and even struggles that students in STEM majors sometimes encounter. As part of her role in the Center for Career Development, she serves both undergraduate and graduate students within the STEM fields, counseling them on career options, job and internship search strategies, graduate school planning, and transitioning to life after graduation.
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Rebecca Prosser is a Professor in the department of Biochemistry and Cellular and Molecular Biology (BCMB), and is Director of the NeuroNET Research Center. Dr. Prosser’s research focuses on the mammalian circadian clock that controls our daily rhythms in behavior and physiology. Current research projects are exploring intracellular and extracellular mechanisms modulating clock function, and interactions between both alcohol and cocaine with circadian rhythms. Dr. Prosser has been at UT Knoxville for 25 years. Prior to coming to UTK Dr. Prosser was a postdoctoral fellow in the Dept. of Biological Sciences at Stanford University, and a graduate student in the Neurobiology Program at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. She has served on numerous departmental committees, including serving as the BCMB Graduate Program Director. She has served on the College Promotion and Tenure Committee and the University Graduate Council. She currently serves on the College of Arts and Sciences Dean’s Advisory Council, and is in her third term as member of the Faculty Senate, where she heads the Faculty Appeals committee.
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Anita Marshall is a PhD candidate in the School of Geosciences at the University of South Florida, Tampa. She received a B.S in Earth Science and an M.S. in Geology from the University of Arkansas and is a member of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma. Her primary research in Geoscience Education focuses on improving access to the geosciences for students with physical and sensory disabilities. A secondary research focus in volcano geophysics applies geophysical tools to the study of near-surface volcanic features. For the past two years, Anita has worked as a researcher on an NSF-funded GEOPATHS project aimed at developing new approaches to enabling students with limited mobility to participate in geoscience field work through the use of technology and collaborative teams. Anita serves on the board of the non-profit International Association for Geoscience Diversity (theIAGD.org), where she creates multi-media products, collaborates on the design and execution of accessible field trips, and serves as a mentor and advocate for geoscience students with disabilities.
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Dr. Maha Krishnamurthy is Vice President of UTRF at the Multi-Campus office and manages the operations of the Knoxville office. This office is responsible for all aspects of the commercialization of technologies developed at UT Knoxville, UT Institute of Agriculture, UT Chattanooga, UT Space Institute, and the Graduate School of Medicine in Knoxville. The Knoxville UTRF office also assists various sponsored program offices in negotiating confidentiality and material transfer agreements. This office also offers educational programs on technology transfer and entrepreneurship, and connecting researchers with local and regional economic development resources. Prior to joining UTRF in 2011, Maha spent time at Oak Ridge National Laboratory as an intellectual property commercialization, licensing, and maturation consultant and assisted with managing the privately funded technology transfer program. Maha obtained a master’s degree in laser and plasma physics from the University of Mumbai, India. She then earned a Ph.D. in particle physics, doing her graduate and then post-doctoral research at the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory in Menlo Park, California. Maha also received an MBA from the University of Tennessee.
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Dr. Carlee McClintock operates a confirmation laboratory as the Senior Scientist at Pain Consultants of East Tennessee to facilitate clinical monitoring of their chronic pain patient population. In addition to her clinical lab work, she is part of a collaborative multidisciplinary team working on a seed project funded by Oak Ridge National Laboratory to elucidate the impact of opioids on gut microbiome diversity and metabolic functionality within the context of obesity. She earned a B.S. degree in Neurobiology with a Computer Science minor from the University of Texas at Austin, followed by a Ph.D. in Life Sciences with an emphasis in Bioanalytical Technologies from the University of Tennessee through the UTK-ORNL Genome Science & Technology Program. Dissertation research performed at ORNL focused on structural analysis of proteins utilizing electrochemistry, liquid chromatography, and mass spectrometry. Postdoctoral research in the Biochemistry/Cellular & Molecular Biology Department at UTK utilized various biotechnologies to structurally and kinetically assess metal-binding features of a metastable protein crucial to hemostasis. She recently moved from Knoxville to Lenoir City with her husband and two young boys, who have inspired her to take taekwondo classes and daily hiking trips through the woods.
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Poster Session Requirements
Session Description
Poster sessions will allow for the informal discussion of scholarly research being done by self-identifying women in science, technology, engineering and math fields. Poster presenters will be assigned to one of two, 2-hour poster sessions (morning or afternoon) based on department (field) or specific research area. Posters will be put up in the morning before the opening remarks and will remain up all day for viewing until after the closing remarks.
Submission Format
Poster session abstracts are limited to the following:
- Title
- Author(s) name(s) and institution(s)
- Abstract (not to exceed 2000 characters (that includes spaces)) that briefly addresses the following topics:
- Overall research goal, hypotheses, and/or background
- Methodology, experimental design, instrumentation, and/or techniques used to collect/analyze data
- Results, discussion, and/or conclusions
Selection Criteria
In the event that more applicants submit abstracts than can be accommodated in the University space, abstracts will be evaluated based on the following criteria:
- Is the title accurate, broadly descriptive, and communicate the importance of the research?
- Is the work grounded in a larger body of theory or research?
- Is the description of the research approach clear?
- Does the abstract communicate the originality and/or innovation of the work?
- Is the abstract organized well and concise?
- You may download the rubric that the judges will use to evaluate your poster presentation below:
Poster Preparation and Size Limitations
Posters should be printed on flexible, matte paper and should not exceed a maximum of 47 inches wide x 35.5 inches tall.
Posters should be hung according to the number you receive when you check in at the registration table on March 1st (location TBD). Push pins and technical equipment for hanging posters will be provided. Neither tables nor power sources will be provided. We recommend that you bring business cards or post contact information near your poster should someone you meet like to continue your discussion after the session.
Posters should be printed on flexible, matte paper and should not exceed a maximum of 47 inches wide x 35.5 inches tall.
Posters should be hung according to the number you receive when you check in at the registration table on March 1st (location TBD). Push pins and technical equipment for hanging posters will be provided. Neither tables nor power sources will be provided. We recommend that you bring business cards or post contact information near your poster should someone you meet like to continue your discussion after the session.
Oral Session Requirements
Session Description
Oral sessions will allow for a formal presentation of scholarly research being done by self-identifying women at in science, technology, engineering and math fields. Presentations will be assigned to a 20-minute time slot in one of two, 2-hour oral sessions along with five other presenters in their research field. Talks should be prepared to be 15 minutes in length. There will be 5 minutes after each talk for questions/comments and travel between rooms.
Submission Format
Oral session abstracts are limited to the following:
Note: Once you have submitted your abstract, you may not edit or resubmit. Only one abstract may be submitted per student.
- Title
- Author(s) name(s) and institution(s)
- Abstract (not to exceed 2000 characters (that includes spaces)) that briefly addresses the following topics:
- Overall research goal, hypotheses, and/or background
- Methodology, experimental design, instrumentation, and/or techniques used to collect/analyze data
- Results, discussion, and/or conclusions
Note: Once you have submitted your abstract, you may not edit or resubmit. Only one abstract may be submitted per student.
Selection Criteria
In the event that more students submit abstracts than can be accommodated during each session’s allotted time, abstracts will be evaluated based on the following criteria:
- Is the title accurate, broadly descriptive, and communicate the importance of the research?
- Is the work grounded in a larger body of theory or research?
- Is the description of the research approach clear?
- Does the abstract communicate the originality and/or innovation of the work?
- Is the abstract organized well and concise?
- You may download the rubric that the judges will use to evaluate your oral presentation below:
Oral Presentation Preparation
Electronic files must be prepared using the formats listed below:
Details on electronic and projection equipment for each of the rooms will be provided after abstracts have been accepted and assigned to a session.
Speakers should report at least 10 minutes prior to their session start time.
Electronic files must be prepared using the formats listed below:
- Operating System: Media should be formatted for Windows or Mac OS X
- Plug-Ins: Quicktime 7, Windows Media Player
Details on electronic and projection equipment for each of the rooms will be provided after abstracts have been accepted and assigned to a session.
Speakers should report at least 10 minutes prior to their session start time.
Volunteer Judge Sign-Up
Volunteer judges are assigned to a full oral session (2 hours, morning or afternoon) or 4-5 posters (to evaluate over the 2 hour poster session, morning or afternoon). The rubrics used to evaluate presentations are provided below. Because these are multidisciplinary presentations, the rubrics have been designed to help judges evaluate the presentations based on universal criteria instead of the content of each individual project. Judges will *not* be assigned to one of their own students, and where possible will be assigned to *only* undergraduate or graduate presentations.
To volunteer to be one of our judges at this year's conference, please fill out your information, preferences, and availability below.
And finally, thank you for volunteering! We understand how busy your schedules are and want you to know how much the participants and the symposium planning committee appreciate the time you take to provide feedback to these students at a critical time in their careers.
To volunteer to be one of our judges at this year's conference, please fill out your information, preferences, and availability below.
And finally, thank you for volunteering! We understand how busy your schedules are and want you to know how much the participants and the symposium planning committee appreciate the time you take to provide feedback to these students at a critical time in their careers.
For a full screen signup experience: