2018 Richard Barber Interdisciplinary Research Program

Please see our updated website: https://cvkelly.wayne.edu/Barber

Since 2010 Richard Barber has generously funded our summer research program that has brought together researchers from across WSU for transformative research and education.

Our program continues to foster collaboration between faculty and students from the College of Engineering, the School of Medicine, the College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, and College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. This year includes a renewed focus on student mentorship and expands the undergraduate schedule to a full-time work load. We aim to have this research experience be a meaningful experience for helping the students develop scientific approaches to problem solving and fostering their high-tech careers. Earlier this winter, we requested applications from any faculty members engaged in interdisciplinary scientific, engineering, and/or medical collaborations and have now selected four research projects to participate this summer.

2015 program participants.

The four research projects participating in the 2018 Richard Barber Interdisciplinary Research Program are

1) Engineering the Economics of Affordable Urban Housing through the Utilization of High Performance Materials

Fatmir Menkulasi, Civil and Environmental Engineering, College of Engineering

Liang Hu Economics, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

2) Science and Engineering of Environmental Stewardship in Urban Ecosystems

Shirley Papuga, Geology, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

Tim Dittrich, Civil and Environmental Engineering, College of Engineering

Michelle Serreyn, Biological Sciences, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

3) The Occurrence of Microplastics in Drinking Water Treatment Systems and the Consequential Impact on Ecological and Human Health

Yongli Zhang, Civil and Environmental Engineering, College of Engineering

Tracie Baker, Pharmacology, School of Medicine

4) Investigating structure and function of insect wings through integration of developmental genetics, biomechanics, and biomedical imaging

Aleksandar Popadic, Biological Sciences, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

Mohammadreza Nasiriavanaki, Biomedical Engineering, College of Engineering

Takeshi Sakamoto, Physics and Astronomy, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

Undergraduate Applications Requested

Applications from interested undergraduate researchers for the 2018 research projects are now being accepted. Instructions and the application can be found here (link removed). Eight yet-to-be-identified undergraduate students will be accepted into our program this summer. Research teams will be be assembled in late March and begin working together soon after the Winter semester ends. Undergraduate students will be paid hourly ($12.5/hr) for up to 240 hrs throughout the summer. The specific work schedules will be created to meet the needs of the project. At the end of summer, each student will prepare a poster presentation and write a report summarizing their research findings. Undergraduate researchers will be sought that will be (1) relatively new to research, (2) working outside of their home department, (3) qualified to make meaningful contributions over the summer, and (4) open to continuing the research after the summer. Applications are due Sunday, March 25, 2018.