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Editorial

Toward Excellence in STEM Research

Harvey J.M. Hou

Department of Physical/Forensic Sciences, Alabama State University, Alabama 36104,

*Corresponding author, Harvey J.M. Hou, E-mail: hhou@alasu.edu

Achieving research excellence in the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) is one of the goals of the Annual Research Symposia at Alabama State University in Montgomery, Alabama, starting in 1980s (Hou 2017). Each year, students, scientists, and professors from the institutions in Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Tennessee, and other states, give talks or poster presentations about their recent stimulating results, ongoing innovative projects, and future exciting plans in the Symposia. Over the years, the Symposium is increasingly becoming a regional conference in STEM fields. The Theme of the 2018 Annual Research Symposium is “Toward Excellence in STEM Research.”  

Last year, we have received 76 abstracts presented by 38 research laboratories in 13 institutions from five states, Connecticut, Texas, Michigan, Indiana, and Alabama (Hou 2017).  The 153 authors of the presentations are from 21 institutions in nine states, including Connecticut, Texas, Michigan, Indiana, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, New York and Alabama, and two other countries, including United Kingdom and Cameroon.

On behalf of the 2018 Research Symposium Committee, I am delighted to inform you that the 2018 Annual Research Symposium will be held in the John Garrick Hardy Student Center on Wednesday, March 14 to Thursday, March 15, 2018.

We are delighted to witness the continuing growth of the Symposia over the years. In 2018, we have received more than 80 abstracts authored by over 180 authors from 29 institutions in 10 states, including Texas, Georgia, Louisiana, Tennessee, Pennsylvania, Minnesota, Kentucky, Mississippi, South Carolina, and Alabama, and three other countries, France, Italy, and China. The symposium will have more than 40 talks, including more than 20 talks from professors/scientists and 19 oral presentations from students, and 41 posters.

The Plenary Speaker of the Symposium is Dr. Kevin Redding, a Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry, the Director of the Center for Bioenergy and Photosynthesis (CB&P), and the Associated Director of the Center of Bio-Inspired Solar Fuel Production (BISfuel) of Arizona State University. BISfuel is one of 46 DOE Energy Frontier Research Centers established nationally in 2009 (US Department of Energy 2016). Dr. Redding is an international leader, a top scientist, and an outstanding teacher in the field of photosynthesis research.

In 2017, the Redding Lab has made an important and significant contribution to unlock the secrets of photosynthesis, in collaboration with Professor John Golbeck of Pennsylvania State University and Dr. Raimund Fromme of Arizona State university. Their outstanding discovery is based on the past 8-year hard work and combined efforts and may be recorded as an inspiring and successful story in textbooks. The manuscript was published in Science on September 8, 2017 (in print) and describes the 2.2-Å resolution X-ray structure of the "first-ever" homodimeric photosynthetic reaction center, which is a multisubunit membrane protein complex from Heliobacterium modesticaldum and functions as a remarkable energy conversion device (Gisriel et al 2017). This work shines new light on the evolution of photosynthesis and on cleaner fuels.

The Featured Speaker is Dr. Derrick Dean, the winner of "the Faculty of the Year" Award in STEM fields in 2017. Dr. Dean is a Professor of Biomedical Engineering, the Director of the Biomedical Engineering Program, and the Director of the Integrated Bio-Engineering & Advanced Materials (I-BEAM) Center at the Alabama State University. Other speakers will include ASU faculty as well as the participants from other institutions in Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Tennessee, and Texas. Student talks will be given by postdoctoral researchers, Ph.D. students, M.S. students, and undergraduates.

This year, the Symposium has introduced several new features below.

The accepted abstracts of the Symposium in 2018 will be published in the journal, Frontiers in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. Each abstract may include one Figure/Table, and 1-5 references. It should have about 250 words. The full manuscript of the presentation may be submitted to Frontiers in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics for publication. Last year, seven full papers from the 2017 Annual Research Symposium were published in November 2017 (Archie et al 2017, Berch et al 2017, Egbo et al 2017a, Feng 2017, Jordan et al 2017, Missoum et al 2017, Strout 2017).

The abstracts are reviewed and evaluated by ASU faculty members and external experts, including Cajetan Akujuobi, Cleon Barnett, Derrick Dean, Balaram Ghimire, Alice Haddy, Gary Hastings, Gulnaz Javan, Mian Jiang, Philippe Juneau, Xing Liu, Maureen Kendrick Murphy, Shanlin Pan, Douglas Strout, Rajendran Swamidurai, Tatsuya Tomo, Alain Bopda Waffo, Robert Villafane, Bo Wang, Hongzhuan Wu, Emmanuel Tadjuidje, and Tong Ye.

This year, the top 10% of the student presentations will be given the Outstanding Student Awards as judged by the Student Award Committee. The awards are divided to two categories (Poster and Oral Presentations) at three levels (Postdoc/Ph.D. student, M.S. student, and undergraduate). Last year, seven students received the Outstanding Student Award (Winners of outstanding student presentations 2017), including two oral presentations (Jengelley et al 2017, Egbo et al 2017b) and five poster presentations (Curry et al 2017, Dean et al 2017, Kumar et al 2017a, Kumar et al 2017b, Willams et al 2017).

In conclusion, as a growing regional conference, the Annual Research Symposium provides an excellent platform for undergraduate, graduate, and research scholars at Alabama State University as well as other institutions to share their research experience to broader audience. This year the Plenary Speaker Dr. Kevin Redding will share his recent world-class innovative results and future exciting projects. The Symposium will inspire the students in their future STEM endeavors and facilitate the collaborations among the faculty members in their respective fields. I believe that the Annual Research Symposium offers an important opportunity toward the excellence in STEM research via showcase the outstanding research activities of undergraduates, graduates, scientists and professors each year.

Acknowledgements

The author would like to deeply thank the Alabama State University, Troy University, Dean Kennedy Wekesa, ASU program directors (Manoj Mishra, BK Robertson, Carl Pettit, Derrick Dean and Komal Vig), ASU Student Government Association, companies (Fisher, VWR), and individuals for financial support. He is very grateful to Latonia Harris, Sharifay McIver, David Campbell, Haley Cumbie, Gerald Cobb, and Latonya Holmes for their assistance. He greatly thanks the Symposium On-Site Staff, members of the Student Award Committee, and members of the Symposiums Committee for their efforts. This work is supported by the Alabama State University.

References

Archie A, Fike EK, and Murphy MK (2017) Metal analysis of deer hooves in south Alabama: Sentinels of deer health, nutrition, and the environment, Front. Sci. Technol. Eng. Math., 1, 5-9 

Berch JK, Murphy MK, and Jackson DD (2017) Using high risk/transformative research projects to introduce undergraduates to the research process, Front. Sci. Technol. Eng. Math., 1, 10-14

Curry AJ, Price JS, and Matthews QL (2017) The in vitro effects of alcohol on exosome biology, Annual research symposium program book, Alabama State University, pp. 31-32

Dean D, Nyairo E, and Hunter  M (2017) Design and fabrication of polymeric tissue scaffolds by 3-D printing, Annual research symposium program book, Alabama State University, pp. 54-55

Egbo TE, Dickson JO, Miller C, Johs A, Sanders CA, and Robertson BK (2017a) Characterization, identification and seasonal evaluation of microbes in mercury contaminated soils, Front. Sci. Technol. Eng. Math., 1, 15-26 

Egbo T, Sanders C, Miller C, Waffo A and Robertson BK (2017b) Isolation, screening and characterization of Hg resistant bacteria capable of extracellular biosorption of Hg, Annual research symposium program book, Alabama State University, p. 31-32

Feng C (2017) Stability and oscillation in coupled Rayleigh-Duffing oscillators model with delays, Front. Sci. Technol. Eng. Math., 1, 27-37

Gisriel C, Sarrou I, Ferlez B, Golbeck JH, Redding KE, Fromme R (2017) Structure of a symmetric photosynthetic reaction center–photosystem, Science, 357, 1021-1025

Hou HJM (2017) Novel opportunities in STEM fields, Front. Sci. Technol. Eng. Math., 1, 1-4

Jengelley D, Tong X, Kono TM and Evans-Molina C (2017) Pro-inflammatory stress leads to down-regulation of stromal interaction molecule and altered store-operated Ca2+ entry in the pancreatic _ cell, Annual research symposium program book, Alabama State University, p. 24

Jordan D, Bibb K, Saldanha S, Jones-Triche J, Karki L, and Jordan SM (2017) Using case studies as an active learning tool to enhance student engagement and learning in general biology classrooms,Front. Sci. Technol. Eng. Math., 1, 38-48

Kumar S, Rose U, Stokes III J, and Mishra M (2017a) Association of Hsp70 and _-seminoprotein with prostate cancer progression, Annual research symposium program book, Alabama State University, p. 62

Kumar S, White N, Gunn KS, Mishra M, Manne U, and Saldanha SN (2017b) Modulation of Hsp70-mediated cytoprotection by resveratrol and staurosporine in colon cancer cells, Annual research symposium program book, Alabama State University, pp. 62-63

Missoum B, Payne D, Robertson BK, Scissum-Gunn K, and Wu H (2017) Comparison of three assays to detect low pathogenic avian influenza viruses in wild aquatic birds, Front. Sci. Technol. Eng. Math., 1, 49-55 

Strout DL (2017) Carbonyl versus dinitrogen bonding to nickel(0) and iron(0), Frontiers Sci. Technol. Eng. Math., 1, 56-61  

US Department of Energy (2016) Energy Frontier Research Centers, https://science.energy.gov/bes/ efrc/. (accessed November 14, 2017)

Williams SP, Peoples VA, and Coats MT (2017) Antibiotic nanoparticle conjugates are potentially useful against penicillin-resistant Streptococcus pneumonaie, Annual research symposium program book, Alabama State University, p. 57

Winners of outstanding student presentations (2017) Awards, https://sites.google.com/a/alasu.edu/ars-2017/awards, (accessed November 14, 2017)

Citation:

Harvey J.M. Hou (2018) Toward excellence in STEM research, Frontiers in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics, Volume 2, Issue 1, 1-3