More than 160 undergraduates in the fields of biology, chemistry, physics, psychology, economics, humanities and engineering, among others, and from nearly a dozen institutions participated in the Chicago Area Undergraduate Research Symposium held on April 6 at the Hermann Hall Conference Center on IIT Main Campus. IIT students excelled at the annual event, winning in three categories:

Overall Poster Presentation: Barrett Leslie— Slicing the Platonic Fractal Set

Sociology, Anthropology, Psychology: Catalina Rivera—Toys that Talk: The Influence of Toy Properties on Prelinguistic Communicative Behavior

Math, Computer Sciences, Engineering, Physics: Xin Zheng—A Novel Approach in Detecting the Normal and Shear Forces at the Fingertips with Minimal Hysteresis  

The Chicago Area Undergraduate Research Symposium (CAURS) was founded in 2005 by Chandler Robinson, who was at that time an undergraduate at Northwestern University, in an effort to promote, encourage, and celebrate the efforts and dedication of undergraduate students conducting research. Students from all Chicago-area schools are invited to attend and present at the symposium, and abstract submissions from all academic disciplines are welcome. The day-long event consists of multiple poster sessions featuring all student participants, as well as oral presentations from a number of students selected to give talks.

In addition, a dedicated time for poster-viewing, a networking session with graduate and professional school representatives, and informal roundtable discussions with various other academic and industry representatives provide students ample opportunity to discover the work being done by their peers and to meet and network with other students and faculty. The event concludes in the evening with dinner, a keynote address from a distinguished researcher from one of the CAURS member institutions, and an awards ceremony recognizing the achievements of the day’s outstanding presenters. Read more about CAURS by clicking here.