Auburn Engineering students, postdoctoral fellows prep for March 26 research symposium
Published: Mar 3, 2025 8:15 AM
By Joe McAdory
About 70 Auburn Engineering students will be among 486 entries — undergraduates, graduate students and post-doctoral researchers — to present their respective research and scholarly discoveries through oral and poster presentations and panel sessions, at the annual Auburn University Research Symposium on March 26 at the Melton Student Center.
What can attendees expect to learn?
The impact of biochar amendment and cropping systems on soil water movements. How stiffness through custom-fit, 3-D printed ankle-foot orthoses can be impactful. Whether or not 3-D tissue-engineered models are effective in studying lung cancer tumors. And more.
Simple stuff.
“Those who attend the symposium might not necessarily be able to grasp all the scientific details of some of the research, but they will come away saying, ‘Wow, this is cool!’ said Lorenzo Cremaschi, director of Undergraduate Research at Auburn University and Henry Burt Jr. Professor, in mechanical engineering.
“It’s important to make sure that our students’ research isn’t confined to the laboratories. We aim to provide students with opportunities to demonstrate the impact of their research on our community, university and state. Such exchanges can foster collaborative environments that inspire further innovation.”
Cremaschi said students learning how to share their ideas with general audiences — and peers — is central to their Auburn engineering experience.
“It's difficult sometimes for students to understand the importance of communication,” he said. “The symposium encourages students to effectively communicate their research to a wider audience.”
Not only does the event allow students to share their work with peers and guests, but they will also compete for cash prizes. As determined by faculty judges, multiple awards, both university-wide and college-specific, will be presented in the following categories: STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) and social science/creative scholarship in design, arts and humanities, with separate awards for poster and oral presentations.
University-wide awards for graduate students include first place ($500), second place ($250) and third place ($100), while undergraduate students can win first place ($125), second place ($75) and third place ($50).
Last spring, Daniel Meadows, a graduate student and graduate teaching assistant in chemical engineering, won second place among all graduate STEM entries for his oral presentation, “Selective extraction of ethylene vinyl alcohol from K-cup plastic waste.”
Additionally, college-specific awards will be given for the top poster and oral presentation in each college, with graduate student awards of $100 and undergraduate student awards of $50.
“The Samuel Ginn College of Engineering provides the best student-centered engineering experience in America and part of that experience is research,” said Allan David, associate dean for research. “Whether it’s hands-on work in a laboratory, crafting ideas into visual elements for poster presentations, or delivering project summaries in-person before an audience, research remains the cornerstone of the academic process. It’s how we develop fresh ideas that evolve into solutions to everyday problems.”
Media Contact: , jem0040@auburn.edu, 334.844.3447
The annual Auburn University Research Symposium will be March 26 at the Melton Student Center.
