(April 30, 2019) – Students representing every college at UTSA were honored for their success in research at the Undergraduate Research and Creative Inquiry Showcase, the university’s largest show-and-tell event of the year. Organized by the Office of Undergraduate Research, this year’s showcase featured more than 200 undergraduate students highlighting their research and creative endeavors across all disciplines.
"This year’s showcase displayed the talent, intellectual acuity, and multifarious creative endeavors of UTSA’s undergraduate students,” said Jill Hernandez, associate dean of undergraduate research in University College. “The showcase featured a record number for student participation from every college, more civically engaged research projects, and a diverse range of faculty-mentored transformational research experiences. Expanding opportunities for undergraduate research is one of the ways to distinguish UTSA as a national model for student success at large, public research universities.”
The showcase gives many undergraduates their first opportunity to share their research in an academic setting and explain their methodology and findings to peers and faculty, many of whom participated as judges.
Based on the judging results, one student from each college was recognized for their research and one student was selected for the Best-In-Show Award and the Civic Engagement Award.
The 2019 recipients:
College of Architecture, Construction and Planning
Ivan Ventura, Retrofitting Urban Infrastructure
Faculty Mentor: Ian Caine
College of Business
Dayanira Mendoza, Disney Rides
Faculty Mentor: Wenbo Wu, Mark Leung
College of Engineering
Joshua Gale, A Novel and Active Bandage for Accelerating the Healing of Chronic Wounds
Faculty Mentor: David Restrepo
College of Education and Human Development
Erin Roye, The Effects of Diet + Exercise on Cardiometabolic Health of Female Mice
Faculty Mentor: Eunhee Chung
College of Liberal and Fine Arts
Michael Tijerina, Dito Saenz, Dominic Valadez, Natalie Morales
What are College Students Listening to and How 'Complex' Is it?
Faculty Mentor: Jennifer Beavers
College of Public Policy
Sara Morsi, Adolescent Pregnancies in Northeast Independent School District
Faculty Mentor: Patricia Jaramillo
College of Sciences
Dale Lucas, Progress of 2 Wetland Restorations in Bolmorhea/Toyahvale, TX
Faculty Mentor: Brian Laub
Honors College
Carolina Cruz, Streaming Killed the Radio Star: the Innovation of Music Discovery in the US
Faculty Mentor: Richard Gretz
Civic Engagement Award:
Derek Sandoval, Calling the Police among Hispanic, White, and Black Female Survivors of Intimate Partner Violence: Applying the Health Belief Model
College of Public Policy
Faculty Mentor: Kellie Lynch
Best in Show:
Dayanira Mendoz, Disney Rides
College of Business
Faculty Mentor: Wenbo Wu, Mark Leung
Additionally, two faculty members were awarded the Faculty Mentor Award for Undergraduate Research.
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This event will acknowledge graduating seniors from the McNair Scholars program at UTSA before inducting the new cohort of scholars into the program.
North Paseo Building (NPB 5.140), Main CampusAt this memorable celebration, UTSA graduates will be introduced one-by-one to cross the stage and accept their doctoral degrees.
Arts Building Recital Hall, Main CampusRoadrunner Walk is an event for graduating students to have a memorable walk on campus to celebrate an important milestone and their achievements. Graduates will walk along the Paseo while being celebrated by the UTSA community, friends, and family members.
Student Union Paseo, Main CampusCelebrate the accomplishments of College of Education and Human Development, College for Health, Community and Policy, College of Sciences and University College.
Alamodome, 100 Montana St.Celebrate the accomplishments of Alvarez College of Business, College of Liberal and Fine Arts and Klesse College of Engineering and Integrated Design.
Alamodome, 100 Montana St.The University of Texas at San Antonio is dedicated to the advancement of knowledge through research and discovery, teaching and learning, community engagement and public service. As an institution of access and excellence, UTSA embraces multicultural traditions and serves as a center for intellectual and creative resources as well as a catalyst for socioeconomic development and the commercialization of intellectual property - for Texas, the nation and the world.
To be a premier public research university, providing access to educational excellence and preparing citizen leaders for the global environment.
We encourage an environment of dialogue and discovery, where integrity, excellence, inclusiveness, respect, collaboration and innovation are fostered.
UTSA is a proud Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI) as designated by the U.S. Department of Education .
The University of Texas at San Antonio, a Hispanic Serving Institution situated in a global city that has been a crossroads of peoples and cultures for centuries, values diversity and inclusion in all aspects of university life. As an institution expressly founded to advance the education of Mexican Americans and other underserved communities, our university is committed to promoting access for all. UTSA, a premier public research university, fosters academic excellence through a community of dialogue, discovery and innovation that embraces the uniqueness of each voice.