Students Rev Up for Summer Research
By Anna Lynn Spitzer
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Irvine, Calif., June 24, 2009 -- For the fifth consecutive summer, a select group of UCI undergraduates is forgoing sun, surf and travel in favor of labs and learning. The eight, who were chosen to participate in SURF-IT, the Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship in Information Technology, got their feet wet this week at the SURF-IT annual orientation session.
Sponsored by the UCI division of Calit2 and the university’s Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program, SURF-IT gives undergraduates the opportunity to work hand-in-hand with faculty mentors on individual multidisciplinary research projects for 10 weeks, improving their skills and research techniques in state-of-the-art facilities.
At Monday’s orientation, the eight students met each other and Calit2 staff, and learned from Calit2 research director and SURF-IT co-director Stuart Ross what the summer would entail. Ross presented an overview of the institute and program requirements, as well as tips for success, before leading them on a tour of the Calit2 Building.
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The students, most of whom spent last summer traveling and/or taking summer school classes, will work full-time with their mentors. Each will present his/her research findings at a poster session and closing reception at the end of the summer. Faculty participants – in addition to their mentoring duties – will present a series of seminars during the summer that provide the students with enhanced knowledge about telecommunications, and information technology systems and applications.
This year’s projects run the research gamut: creating video games that enhance social skills; designing information systems for managing personal health information; characterizing flow in microfluidic compact disc platforms for clinical diagnostics; employing software-defined radio for audio transmission over wireless ad-hoc networks and more.
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The 2009 SURF-IT students, projects and faculty mentors include:
Sunhee Baik
Major: Informatics, Minor: Management
Project: Enhancing Social Skills through Video Game Encounters
Mentor: Liane Brouillette, Department of Education
Jakkree Janchoi
Major: Computer Sciences
Project: Web-Enabled Home Health Monitoring
Mentor: Mark Bachman, Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
Bryce Kubo
Major: Biomedical Engineering
Project: Flow Characterization in a Microfluidic Compact Disc (CD) Platform for Clinical Diagnostics
Mentor: Marc Madou, Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
Isaac Mahgrefteh
Major: Computer Science
Project: SATViewer - Visualizing a Large Number of Captured Sensor Streams on a Limited Display
Mentor: Sharad Mehrotra, Department of Computer Science
Taylor M. Mar
Major: Undeclared
Project: Video Games and Learning
Mentor: Mark Warschauer, Department of Education
James Milewski
Major: Informatics
Project: Designing and Evaluating an Information System for Personal Health Information Management
Mentor: Yunan Chen, Department of Informatics
Alex P. Taubman
Major: Information and Computer Science
Project: Video Games and Learning
Mentor: Mark Warschauer, Department of Education
Jason A. Tran
Major: Electrical Engineering
Project: A Software Defined Radio Implementation for Audio and Voice Transmission over Wireless Ad-hoc Networks
Mentor: Hamid Jafarkhani, Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science