Grand Challenges Initiative - STEM students continue to impress with their research and writing skills Archive - Grand Challenges Initiative

GCI Team Wins the 2021 Kevin and Tam Ross Undergraduate Research Prize STEM students continue to impress with their research and writing skills

August 18, 2021 by Grand Challenges Initiative | Grand Challenges Initiative

Grand Challenges Initiative (GCI) students Heather Andrini, Ashley Okhovat, and Sydni Au Hoy (l. to r. above) have been awarded the 2021 Kevin and Tam Ross Undergraduate Research Prize hosted by The Leatherby Libraries. Heather, Ashley, and Sydni started working on their project, “Psychogenic Non-epileptic Seizures Disorder: Treatment after the Diagnostic Odyssey” as the focus of

Highlights from Fireside Conversation with Dr. Kizzmekia Corbett

August 17, 2021 by Grand Challenges Initiative | Grand Challenges Initiative

In April, the Grand Challenges Initiative was honored to host Dr. Kizzmekia Corbett, the NIH’s scientific lead for the development of a SARS-CoV-2 vaccine, for a wide ranging conversation about solving society’s most pressing problems. We invite you to watch a video of the highlights below.

Team Waxworms: Degradation of Polyethylene Plastic with Galleria mellonella Sidney Briski, Rhea Inumerable, Chathuni Liyanage, Natalie Saadeh, Roselyn Trinh, Avani Tumuluri

May 11, 2021 by Grand Challenges Initiative | Student presentations

The excessive disposal of plastics has caused an unfathomable accumulation of plastics in cities, sewage systems, landfills, oceans etc., and is threatening ecosystems and their inhabitants all over the globe. With the absence of a sustainable and environmentally friendly means of properly disposing these plastics, this experiment was geared towards solving this challenge. In this

Working with Wastewater Yeseom Cho, Matthew Mead, Sarah Monthofer, Sebastian Vera and Jason Yoon

May 11, 2021 by Grand Challenges Initiative | Student presentations

Working with Wastewater is a 2-4 player educational board game designed for ages 12 and up hosted on Tabletopia. Each player is a wastewater treatment company looking to maximize profits while minimizing the waste produced by treating wastewater. Companies will start with a distinct wastewater treatment facility with different assets. Purchase additional wastewater treatment technologies

hAPPy: Mental Health Application Matthew Graham, Romtin Resvani, Nousha Karimi, Pranav Saravanan

May 11, 2021 by Grand Challenges Initiative | Student presentations

Our application’s purpose is to provide an opportunity to the average person in educating themselves on how their habitual tendencies effect their mental health and encourage healthy practices. hAppy: Mental Health Application Poster

Human Immunodeficiency Virus: Eradicating the Stigma Claire Johnson, David Yang, Arisbeth Mancilla, Helena Gray

May 11, 2021 by Grand Challenges Initiative | Student presentations

Our Grand Challenge Initiative throughout the past three semesters has been to create ways to reduce transmission of HIV, as well as create ways in which adolescents are more drawn to learning about sexual health. Human Immunodeficiency Virus: Eradicating the Stigma Poster

Teaching Ocean Acidification Athenna Gonzalez, Preciosa Hernandez, Jessica Romo, Leah Zahn

May 11, 2021 by Grand Challenges Initiative | Student presentations

Ocean acidification is a phenomenon that results from increasing anthropogenic carbon dioxide emissions on land. As carbon dioxide is absorbed, a series of chemical reactions causes an increase in acidity. This leads to many detrimental effects on marine organisms reverberate up the food chain. One reason ocean acidification remains a grand challenge is because of

AI Chatbots In Therapy For Depression Ayden Nelson, Jenny Epstein, Chris Sanchez, Janine Ortiz, Daniel Chelling

May 11, 2021 by Grand Challenges Initiative | Student presentations

Our challenge was harnessing AI to be used in depression therapy. AI Chatbots In Therapy For Depression Poster

Why Causal Correlations are Applicable to Quantum Mechanics Marc Domingo, Nathan Ree, Thao Vy Le

May 11, 2021 by Grand Challenges Initiative | Student presentations

When the concept of causality is thought of within a non-physics based context, it is typically thought of as the relationship between “cause” and “effect” or simply as the idea that something results in a subsequent event occurring. However, when brought into the context of physics, one must account for the two types of mechanics

AR in Music Education Nick Fuess, Joseph Sneifer, Alex Ballout, Alex Zermeno

May 11, 2021 by Grand Challenges Initiative | Student presentations

Over the past couple of years, more and more schools have continuously cut funding for music programs around the country. This increase in budget cuts can be seen affecting students by not allowing students at a young age to be creative, which discourages them as they continue their education to think within boundaries consistently. The