RESEARCH SYMPOSIUM FOCUSED ON EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES, INNOVATION
By Pete Rosenbery
The third ASA Multidisciplinary Research Symposium, hosted by the College of Applied Sciences and Arts, featured an expanded lineup and location change.
Chad Schwartz, assistant professor, School of Architecture, and Karen Johnson, associate professor, aviation technologies, symposium co-chairs, were pleased with the event. The symposium, “Emerging Technologies: Innovation in the Applied Sciences and Arts” was Oct. 14-15, at the Transportation Education Center.
Schwartz and Johnson each said about 100 people registered for the symposium, and that the event was a success.
The Oct. 14 panel discussions provided an “excellent forum for discussing pertinent topics in the realm of transportation,” Schwartz said. The first focused on providing understanding on the burgeoning field of unmanned aerial systems, and the second presented an intriguing discussion from various points of view in the applied sciences of the potential impacts of alternate transportation systems on small college towns, Schwartz said.
“The presentation sessions on Saturday (Oct. 15) were intellectually stimulating and hit on a wide range of topics in the applied sciences with a focus on transportation and architectural work from SIU faculty and students,” Schwartz said. “Although fewer in number than last year, the intellectual content displayed at the student poster session was the best we have ever had at the symposium. The jury had nothing but good things to say about their conversations with the students.”
Johnson said organizers received “nothing but positive feedback” from those who attended. She also hopes for more participation by all departments, faculty and student within the college in the future.
“I hope next year we can continue to grow and increase the diversity of research that is presented,” she said.
Dean Andy Wang hopes the series grows into a national forum for researchers in applied sciences and arts. The event schedule and brief description of the presentations are here.
Sessions included presentations that included automotive, aviation, education and student success, design, information technology, and sustainability, featuring faculty and staff from SIU Carbondale, Middle Tennessee State University, the University of Kansas, University of Kentucky, Fontbonne University, and students from Carbondale Community High School. In addition, there were 18 student posters involving “Emerging Technologies.” Top student poster awards went to three students from the School of Architecture: Jacob Petty and Adam Tregoning, graduate students in architecture, and Zoey Koester, a senior in interior design.
Event sponsors are the university’s Office of Workforce Innovation and Research and the Graduate School, Southern Illinois Healthcare, TAC Air, Eggemeyer Associates Architects, Inc., and FWAI Architects, Inc.