Current Projects

Stress, Behavior and Health

Our team has been studying subtle changes in brain function that are associated with increased risk for hypertension in young adults. These changes in brain function produce emotional dampening, the reduced perception of emotionally meaningful environmental cues such as facial expressions. Emotional dampening could lead to increased psychosocial stress and further elevations in blood pressure and risk for cardiovascular disease.

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Design and Synthesis of Advanced Nanomaterials to Address the Global Challenges of the 21st Century

This Creative Inquiry is focused on the design and synthesis of nanomaterials for applications that are of significant interest towards addressing the grand challenges of the 21st century.  Specifically, this CI research is addressing challenges associated with Catalysis and Drug Delivery.  Catalysis is responsible for 90% of the chemicals and materials produced today.  This equivocates to roughly 30% of the global GDP.  We are looking to redefine the way nanomaterials are used for catalysis.

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Conservation of Marine Resources

The Conservation of Marine Resources Creative Inquiry team participates in marine ecology research to benefit the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary. Current projects include studying (1) the impact of shelter loss on the survival of juvenile Caribbean spiny lobsters, (2) using acoustic telemetry technology to track the movement of Caribbean spiny lobsters, (3) estimating effects of structure on reef fish diversity and abundance and, (4) studying the effects of coral disease on coral cover and reef fish communities in the Florida Keys.

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AI in Biomedicine: Prediction and Annotation of Novel Disease Genes by Genomic Data Mining

In the human genome, most genes actually do not encode proteins; they are noncoding RNA genes. The largest class of noncoding genes is known as long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs), which are transcripts greater in length than 200 nucleotides, but with no protein-coding capacity. While some lncRNAs have been demonstrated to be key regulators of gene expression and 3D genome organization, most lncRNAs are still uncharacterized. We have thus been developing machine learning and data mining approaches for the functional annotation of human lncRNAs, as well as circular RNAs (circRNAs), by leveraging the vast amount of genetic and genomic data ("biological big data"). Our recent studies demonstrate that genomic data mining can give insights into RNA functions and provide valuable information for experimental studies of candidate lncRNAs. This CI project will focus on the identification and functional analysis of novel candidate lncRNAs (or circRNAs) associated with human diseases, including autism and intellectual disability. 

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Courage and Positive Psychology Research

What is courage? Can people become more courageous? How can people lead better lives? The Courage and Positive Psychology CI team conducts scientific investigations into courage and other virtues and human well-being. 

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Motion Science and Applied Psychophysiology Lab

This lab is focused on understanding the relationship between human sensory systems and virtual reality devices, particularly focusing on simulator sickness. Students in this lab learn how to use psychophysiology recording tools, design/run an experiment, and read papers associated with virtual reality and motion sickness. The goal is to have students create their own methodology or ask their own question that leads to creation of a poster to present at a conference annually. 

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Lifestyle Medicine

This creative inquiry will explore the effects of lifestyle medicine in conjunction with traditional medicine practices on the patient population at the Joseph F. Sullivan Center. Lifestyle Medicine is an evidence-based approach shown to prevent and treat disease, using a whole food dietary lifestyle, regular physical activity, restorative sleep, stress management, avoidance of risky substances and positive social connection as a primary therapeutic modality for treatment and reversal of chronic disease. 

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Bundling Food, Nutrition, and Packaging Sciences

Undergraduate teams with academic experience in culinary science, nutrition, packaging science collaborate in new product, recipe, services development and testing as well as evaluation with health considerations for adults in the Upstate of South Carolina.   

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Culinary Nutrition

This team collaborates with providers of children programs and services in the Upstate of SC to define, create, and test programs with a culinary and nutrition emphasis for adolescent children. Examples of previous programs have been cooking camps, Clemson Free Clinic, healthy lifestyle competitions and recipe set development.

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International Design Projects With Engineers Without Borders (EWB) In Central America

Students participating in this Creative Inquiry will help to lead the design and development of sustainable systems to provide drinking water and associated water treatment for the community of El Serrano, Nicaragua, as part of an official project with the Clemson University Student Chapter of Engineers Without Borders.

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Cyber Bullying

This project examines a variety of aversive interpersonal behaviors, most notably cyberbullying, hazing, and school shootings. People engage in a variety of aversive interpersonal behaviors. Some of these behaviors are more mundane, such as guilt-induction. Others, such as those that constitute the focus of this team, are more insidious in nature, and have potentially fatal consequences. One of the interesting things about these behaviors is that, as seemingly disparate as they appear, there is actually quite a bit of overlap between them. For example, our research suggests an overlap between bullying and hazing. Additionally, one of the key predictors of perpetrating a school shooting is a long-term history of rejection, manifested most often through a history of bullying. One focus of our team with all of these behaviors is not only understanding antecedents and consequences but also prevention and intervention strategies. 

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Investigations into Primate Personality

This Creative Inquiry project is centered around analysis of data that were collected on zoo-living monkeys. Behavioral experiments, in which golden lion tamarin monkeys were exposed to novel foods and objects, were conducted on 10 family groups in 4 different zoos. Students will examine whether the response to novelty differs in males and females. They also will explore the question of personality in golden lion tamarins. Students will computerize data from video recordings of the experiments, organize and analyze the data, and delve into relevant literature to inform themselves on the topics at hand. They will create posters and present oral presentations on the results.

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Disposable Point-of Care Home Testing Platform for Metabolic Disease

Nonketotic hyperglycinemia (NKH) is a rare, pediatric metabolic disease caused by mutations resulting in the deficiency of the enzyme complex that breaks down the amino acid glycine. The resulting abnormally high levels of glycine in the body leads to severe medical issues starting in infancy, including uncontrollable seizures and problems with breathing. There are currently no tools available to monitor levels of glycine in patients while at home, which is necessary for drug and diet-mediated regulation of glycine levels in the body and preventing seizures. The objective of this CI is to develop a low-cost, disposable, stand-alone point-of-care diagnostic and monitoring system to enable caregivers of NKH patients to monitor glycine levels at home, adjust the patient’s drug treatment schedule, and improve the patient’s quality of life as well as clinical outcomes.

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Brand Communications: Research, Strategy & Student Agency Planning

Students involved in this CI project will participate in cross-disciplinary work with multiple departments and partners to research various approaches for the formation of a student-run agency for various client-based projects on campus.

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DeepGreen: Modeling and Boosting Energy Efficiency on Liquid Immersion HPC Systems

This project aims to comprehensively understand the opportunities enabled by liquid immersion cooling, and explore its full potential to boost energy efficiency for high performance computing (HPC) under various thermal and power constraints. Improving energy efficiency, i.e., the ratio of performance to total power consumption, is crucial to sustain performance growth and realize exascale computing within 20 MW of power. HPC systems consume tremendous amounts of power for not only computing but also cooling to keep compute components within their thermal limits. In this project, we investigate liquid immersion HPC systems to optimize overall energy efficiency. we propose to develop machine learning models and system software to understand and optimize energy efficiency and reliability for workloads running on liquid immersion HPC systems. Our experimental platform is a Submer SmartPodX immersion cooling system.

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Testing Variables of Foods, Films, Antimicrobials and Surfaces Affecting Transfer and/or Survival of Bacteria

This team studies the transfer and survival of bacteria on various surfaces related to food. This team has tested numerous food-related surfaces and activities such as the 5-second rule, double-dipping and beer pong in the past. in the future we will investigate new topics related to food and bacteria such as transfer of bacteria by wiping table tops with cleaning  cloths, sanitation of bottles and cans and transfer of bacteria while sharing snacks.

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Using Creative Inquiry to Investigate Food Advertising Claims

This CI team evaluates various Food Advertising Claims including those claiming to taste "better", last longer and meet a specific specification. Last semester the team tested the Alkaline water claim, which included sampling different types of alkaline water and also temperature effects on the pH of the water.

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Changing Dynamics of China's Development

This Creative Inquiry project systematically examines some of the most important issues facing the world – such as China’s economic development and its impact on the world and the U.S., international trade and global supply chain.

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Nutraceutical and Functional Foods Research and Product Development

In this CI project,  students will learn to use modern state-of-art analytical instruments to analyze food components, such as vitamins, amino acids, flavors, nutraceuticals, etc, which are the major nutritional and functional chemicals in foods. At the end of the research projects, students are expected to be able to have critical thinking, know basic principles of experimental design,  master one or more modern analytical instruments, be able to perform basic statistical analyses and write a professional report.

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Green Energy and Biodiesel Project

From Fields to Fuel, team members will be researching all aspects of sustainable biofuels production and engineering while facilitating biodiesel and ethanol production to be utilized by University Facilities. Projects will focus on facility optimization through relief of production bottlenecks, and research increasing biodiesel feedstock acquisition through cultivation of energy crops and harvest of waste lipid streams.

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Relationship between Toxoplasma infection and immune responses in cancer development

Toxoplasmosis is a highly prevalent infectious disease among the human population. Approximately one third of the people on the earth carry such infections. The causing agent Toxoplasma gondii widely spreads in the environment. The primary Toxoplasma infections generally do not cause severe symptoms in healthy people owing to competent immunity; however, they can transit into latent infection and form the cysts within host’s brain by penetrating blood-brain barrier or muscle tissue. When the host experiences compromised immunity, such as cancer development, the cyst can be reactivated to cause severe even lethal situations. Moreover, a recent study has revealed that the infection of Toxoplasma can trigger a similar signaling pathway shared with cancer development. So far, many epidemiological studies have shown that the human population with cancer have higher Toxoplasma infection percentage than the healthy control group. These findings suggest a positive correlation between Toxoplasma infection with cancer occurrence, and the cancer patients are more vulnerable to primary toxoplasmosis than healthy individuals. It is obvious that the immune system plays a cretical role in the parasite infection and tumor development. However, the information about the immune regulation in Toxoplasma infection on tumor development is very limited. In this project, students will have the opportunities to investigate the relationship between Toxoplasma infection and the immune system on cancer development using most time in vitro assays.

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Orthopaedic Retrieval Program (CU- REPRO)

Medical implant devices have been used widely for more than 50 years, and it is estimated that 8 - 10 % of Americans (20-25 million people) currently have such a device. Orthopaedic implants are medical devices made of biomaterials used to treat musculoskeletal disorders inside the human body with an intended lifespan spanning years. Although implant devices have produced great benefits, it must be recognized that implants sometimes must be removed or replaced. Bioengineers contribute to their continual state of development to increase their performance and extend their useful lifespan. This cross-disciplinary project applies fundamental concepts in bioengineering, materials science, and biological sciences to investigate orthopaedic implants after they have functioned in patients. Long-term data on the behavior of implant devices and host response are essential inputs to the development process, yet there are few systematic programs for the retrieval and analysis of implants in the USA. Independent and international data banks do exist however. The contributions to implant design provided by retrieval and analysis will benefit patients through improvements in implant performance. We can consider implants to be defined as having a minimum lifespan of 3 months, as penetrating living tissue, as having a physiologic interaction and as being retrievable. A number of barriers exist to the establishment of an implant retrieval program. Major impediments are the costs associated with such a program and fear of litigation affecting manufacturers, hospitals, physicians, and investigators. The long term goal of this Creative Inquiry project is to establish and develop a viable Clemson University Implant Retrieval Program and pursue hypothesis-driven research related to orthopaedic implants. The aim of this program is to provide a working repository for retrieved orthopaedic implants, and to develop the tools and techniques for the systematic evaluation of implant designs, materials, surfaces and function.

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Perception & Action: Studies in Virtual Reality, Haptic Surgical Simulation, Robotics, and Affordances

Students will assist in conducting experimental research in one of a number of ongoing projects involving visual perception in virtual reality, touch and muscle perception in a laparoscopic surgery simulator, tele-operated robotics and/or the perception of “affordances.” Affordances are the things that can be done with the surfaces of the environment, such as whether an area on the floor is "step-over-able" or whether the width of a doorway is "pass-through-able." In a series of experiments we will investigate the accuracy of perceptual judgments pertaining to a variety of affordance behaviors, such stepping over, jumping over, passing through, whether or not an object is reachable, whether or not a short incline is stand-on-able, etc. 

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Microfluidics and Lab-on-a-Chip for Point of Care Technology

In this Creative Inquiry project, we explore the use of electric and magnetic fields for the transport and control of biological and synthetic particles in engineered microchannels with lab-on-a-chip applications to chemistry and biomedicine for point of care technology. 

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Tangibles and learning resources for STEAM

The purpose of this Creative Inquiry project is to develop tools and activities for STEAM. We will develop tools for groups with varying expertise ranging from Kindergarten to College. The students will work in small interdisciplinary teams. The team will utilize different technologies including video creation, 3D printing, virtual reality, and tangibles. Depending on the background and interest of the team, the development of problem-based learning modules and/or case studies will also be explored. The initial focus will be on tool development for genetics and molecular biology. Longer term we will explore domain-specific content development across STEAM. 

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Social Media Listening Center Digital Analytics

SMLC Digital Analytics CI: This CI will use the software associated with the Social Media Listening Center to monitor, listen and engage with social media for CU clients/partners, as well as complete weekly projects using social media analytics. Members of the CI, will have the opportunity to work collaboratively on assignments for companies, individually on personal assignments and gain a deeper understanding of leveraging analytics in the digital sphere. Members of the CI will refine their digital presence, contribute to collaborative projects, participate in webinars, and contribute to weekly analysis reports. 

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Interpreting Geologic Landforms

Interpreting the landforms around us lies at the heart of geologic exploration.  Through the use of low tech and high tech methods, we propose geologic processes that would explain the world around us.

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Bamboo Reinforced Concrete

This project was initially started following the 2010 Haiti Earthquake. Many concrete and masonry buildings collapsed during the 2010 Haiti Earthquake resulting in serious devastation and many casualties. One of the major cause of widespread building collapses was the lack of reinforcement (steel bars) in the buildings. Steel rebars are very expensive in Haiti. This project seeks to use bamboo as a replacement for steel to reinforce concrete and masonry structures. 

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Exploring microbial community in students' exercising environment

This CI project  enumerates, isolates and characterizes antimicrobial resistant bacteria from student exercise environments. 

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Meaningful work in medicine

This Creative Inquiry team will examine meaningful work as a buffer against the effects of stressors on emergency physicians, as well as determine interventions that should enhance meaningful work and therefore reduce stress and burnout. Students will gain experience in all phases of the research process.

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Design, Development and Creative Uses of a Combined Optical Tweezer and Fluorescent Microscope

The team works on designing new functionality into an optical tweezer instrument to support a new, creative set of experiments.

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Exploration of Weight Gain and Obesity in Adult Populations

This CI will introduce students to the need for programs addressing overweight and obesity in adult populations and how to create and implement effective interventions. A review of existing programs for diverse populations will be included in the literature review and hypothesis(es) generated to plan a intervention for a local population. Students will be trained in anthropometics and assessment measures such as blood pressure that often changes with weight gain. Students will plan and develop an educational intervention and learn/practice assessments Fall semester along with conducting a pilot assessment. The intervention component of the CI will occur Spring semester 2020 along with data collection, analysis, and write up plus presentation of the study results.

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A Nutrition Education & Life-Style Intervention for Type 2 Diabetes

This CI will introduce students to the incidence and prevalence of diabetes in SC, the US and worldwide as well as the resources available to individuals with diabetes locally. Existing programs addressing type 2 diabetes – prevention and treatment – will be researched and critiqued. An intervention specific for the population that we will work with will be created and implemented following a thorough literature review and hypothesis(es) generated which will facilitate development of an effective intervention for a local population. Students will be trained in anthropometrics and assessment measures such as finger sticks & glucometer use, physical assessments that are diabetes related such as skin changes, foot and eye changes. They will also learn how to assess HgA1C, breath and urine changes with uncontrolled diabetes in order to more effectively relate to and treat their clients. Blood pressure will also be monitored as cardiovascular changes occur with uncontrolled diabetes. Students will plan and develop an educational intervention and/or plan a media campaign and learn/practice assessments Fall semester along with conducting a pilot assessment. The intervention component of this CI will occur Spring semester 2020 along with data collection, analysis, and write up plus presentation of the study results.

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Tiger Tea Kombucha

Tiger Tea is a data-driven product development project where students develop beverage formulations, design labels, execute human subjects research, and analyze data to iteratively improve delicious and nutritious kombucha for the marketplace.

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Research Topics in Mineralogy

This CI project encompasses research related to mineralogy including crystallography, crystal chemistry, mineral occurrences, and mineralogical applications in petrology. Students will develop skills in hand sample identification, compositional and morphological characterization of minerals, as well as atomistic scale investigation of composition, structure, and mineral stability.

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Healthcare Logistics and Patient Flow: Observation and Analysis

Students involved in this Creative Inquiry project will be exposed to projects involving healthcare processes on the day of surgery or in emergency medicine. Students will get the opportunity to collect data at a hospital, analyze the data to provide meaningful results and recommendations, and present the project at conferences. Understanding how modeling tools are used to improve healthcare logistics will also be an underlying theme to this research.

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Molecular dissection of the spider silk self-assembly process

This Creative Inquiry group is studying the mechanism by which soluble spider silk proteins are assembled into a fiber. Understanding this process may provide insights that lead to the development of new biologically-inspired materials. 

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Engineering nanobiomaterials for delivery of cancer therapy

Advances in cancer research together with advances in biomaterials and nanotechnology, have enabled the development of micro- nano-scaled drug delivery systems for cancer treatment. The goals of delivery systems for cancer treatment are (1) delivering cancer therapeutics efficiently to the tumor site, (2) enhancing uptake of therapeutics by tumor cells, and (3) minimizing non-specific uptake of therapeutics by healthy cells. The design of effective delivery systems for cancer therapies will require optimization of micro- or nano-based delivery systems, cell-specific targeting, and mechanisms for effective drug release. Targeted delivery may be enhanced by both active and passive targeting mechanism. Targeting moieties that bind to overexpressed receptors on malignant cells can be conjugated to particles to increase cell-specific uptake, thus enhancing the efficacy of treatment. Additionally, environmentally responsive polymers can be used to achieve efficient and/or controlled release of therapeutics under physiologic conditions. The goal of this CI is to develop innovative drug delivery systems to advance cancer treatment.

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PackExpo Exhibit Design, Build, Research

One of the largest trade exhibitions in the country is PackExpo. Join us as we represent Clemson University in a large booth that involves human subjects research with eye tracking and facial coding. Participate in designing, building, and managing a large event. Participate in the experimental design, execution, and analysis of human subjects research.  

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Clemson ASCE Steel Bridge Team

This CI project prepares students to compete in the annual Student Steel Bridge Competition organized by the American Institute of Steel Construction. The student will design and fabricate a scaled steel bridge to be compete in the annual regional competition (Carolinas and Georgia). At the competition, the team will be judged for efficiency of assembling the bridge under timed construction. The bridge will then be load tested and weighted. The scale-bridge is about 20-ft long and is expected to carry at least 2,500 lbs. Top ranked teams in the regional competition will advance to the national competition.

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Developing Medical Devices for Intervertebral Disc Repair

The objective of this CI is to design and develop medical devices that can be used for repairing the herniated intervertebral disc.

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Robotics Automation and Machine Learning

Robotics and Artificial Intelligence have evolved significantly in the past decade. The advancement sin the research area such as computer vision, robotics and automation have enabled advanced manufacturing across the spectrum of various industries, especially in the State of South Carolina. This Creative Inquiry will provide students an opportunity to get hands-on experience with robotics, computer vision and flexible automation. Students will be challenged to come up with their own design of a Delta Robots with machine vision capability to solve a real-world engineering problem related to high-speed pick-and-place task. Students will learn inverse kinematics of parallel manipulators and use the theories to guide their design and prototyping. A successful solution will involve theoretical analysis, CAD design, rapid prototyping (3D printing, water jet), mechatronics (sensor fusion, motor and actuators, etc.), and computer vision for complex problem under high-speed processing requirement. The CI project will present the students with in-depth robotics knowledge, and also prepare students for joining exciting engineering positions in high-tech industries.

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Projects for Sustainable Development in Recovering and Developing Communities

 2020 Fall The Sustainable Designs CI project brings together students from a variety of majors in engineering and science to explore sustainable  options for fueling our world and restoring our natural resources and ecosystems- options that are particularly suited for developing communities and those that are recovering from natural disasters. In past semesters, solar water heaters, solar water distillation systems, and biological hydrogen production have been explored. The past two years, the team has focused on two projects: 1) the biological production of hydrogen gas (H2) for use as a biofuel from waste agricultural products; and 2) the restoration of oyster reefs for reducing sediment loss in wetlands and improving ecosystem function. In the fall of 2020 the hydrogen production will be temporarily discontinued due to restricted lab access because of cove it 19.The biological production of hydrogen gas using waste agricultural products is one way to produce biofuels in a sustainable manner. In this CI, students learned the lab-scale techniques (media preparation, inoculation and incubation) for the anaerobic bacterium Thermotoga neapolitana that is capable of converting sucrose, fructose and glucose contained in cull fruits to H2 gas, acetic acid, and CO2.   The team will investigate options for optimizing the rate of H2 production.Globally, 85% of the world's oyster reefs have been destroyed or harvested.  The CI team will investigate means to restore oyster reefs in the ACE basin in South Carolina, through the use of structures to provide suitable surface area for spat attachment.  The team will collaborate with SC-DNR personnel to design and install structures near Fenwick Island, SC in the ACE Basin.

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Physical Activity Promotion and Research

The goal of our CI project is to examine and promote healthy eating and physical activity practices among children and families participating in an afterschool program in a low-income, predominantly Hispanic community. This project is funded, in part, by a 21st Century community Learning Center grant awarded to the elementary school we serve in Greenville, SC.

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Metabolism in the human parasite Entamoeba histolytica

Entamoeba histolytica is a human pathogen that causes dysentery in ~90 million people each year. This disease is spread through ingestion of contaminated water or food, primarily in developing countries in areas that lack adequate sanitation and/or are overcrowded. Entamoeba is found in the environment as a resistant cyst that is shed by an infected person. Ingested cysts will survive the harsh stomach environment to become the motile amoeba form in the small intestine. These amoebas then move to large intestine to colonize and new cysts can form to be shed to the environment to allow the infection process to continue. Entamoeba infection can be treated; however, only ~10% of those infected develop symptomatic disease. Thus, there may be between 500 million and 1 billion people who are asymptomatic carriers of the disease who may not be receiving treatment, leading to Entamoeba’s persistence in the environment. Our research investigates how Entamoeba grows and thrives in the human body. Entamoeba colonizes the large intestine, which is a nutrient-poor environment since most of the nutrients from the food we eat has already been absorbed in the small intestine. We are examining what other nutrients Entamoeba can use for growth and how it interacts with the large intestine and the bacteria present there. This research is expected to help us understand how colonization in the large intestine occurs and helps this disease persist.

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Finding Your Voice Camp

This Creative Inquiry group will be responsible for planning, marketing, and evaluating an all-girls weekend camp at the Clemson University Outdoor Lab. The purpose of the camp is to introduce middle school girls to nontraditional physical activities as well as to offer educational sessions on topics such as self-esteem, body image, and college life.  Research focused on the camp will address the following research questions:Does participation in a girls only camp impact middle school girls' body image?Does participation in outdoor recreation activities impact middle school girls' sense of physical self-efficacy?What are additional outcomes of participation in a girls only camp for middle school girls beyond potential impacts on body image and self-effiacy?

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Gero App Development

This project will work with the Study of Health Aging & Applied Research Programs (SHAARP.org) lab to develop, test, and refine a smartphone application. This application will assess the cognitive, psychosocial and everyday functioning of older adults.

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Modeling Solid-Liquid Interface Properties in High-Entropy Alloys for Additive Manufacturing Processes

Advanced designs in many applications require the development of materials with improved properties to cope with the increasingly harsh environments that such applications pose. Advanced manufacturing processes, such as additive manufacturing (AM), can deliver parts with complex geometries, minimal waste material, and limited post-processing. However, AM microstructures can vary considerably from those produced by traditional metallurgy. It is essential to characterize and control the microstructure and properties of AM parts such that they may be qualified for use in critical applications. Furthermore, the combination of these advanced processing techniques with novel compositions, such as high-entropy alloys, can potentially generate invaluable knowledge to grow optimized materials. We will use atomistic modeling tools to analyze the solid-liquid interface properties that control the solidification process and dictate the morphology of the microstructure. We will combine molecular dynamics with Monte Carlo methods to sample the correct composition in the solid, liquid and interphase. We will compute the interphase stiffness relying on the capillary fluctuation method and the kinetic coefficient for different compositions and undercoolings.

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ClemsonLIFE: Nutrition and Healthy Cooking

ClemsonLIFE Postsecondary program currently has 15 students with disabilities on the Clemson campus. The ClemsonLIFE Nutrition and Healthy Eating Creative Inquiry group will assist the program by providing instruction, support, and accountability in the areas of Nutrition and Healthy Eating. People with disabilities typically have a high occurrence of obesity and diabetes due to a sedentary lifestyle and poor food choices. This group will help the students explore healthy eating and cooking options along with educating them on nutrition principles to support them in achieving their ultimate goal of successful independent living. 

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Investment Research Challenge

The CFA Research Challenge, organized by the CFA Institute and its member Societies, involves the valuation of a publicly traded company. Just like a Wall Street analyst would do for a research report, the team of students must come up with a one-year target price for the stock along with a Buy/Hold/Sell recommendation. The students must research the company, its industry, competitors, customers, and market trends to make assumptions that are used in a financial model projecting future performance. In this project, students develop teamwork, analytical, written and oral communication skills to write their report and present to a panel of investment professionals.

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Certified Financial Analyst Seminar

The CFA charter is the most prestigious certification available in Finance and Investments. Although students can’t completely earn the charter while they are still in school, they can begin the process with the Level I exam. The CI group helps students prepare for the exam by having the students develop written study materials (which are uploaded to Canvas) and present these topics to the rest of the group. 

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Experimental Cardiovascular System

In this project students will design and prototype a benchtop flow system which mimics realistic human cardiovascular physiology and anatomy. Such a system can be used for direct medical device testing and clinical training. The current phase of the project is designing a pressure-generating device for producing realistic blood pressure waveforms in an experimental system.

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Fostering Resilience Using Authentic Connections Groups(ACGs) Among Undergraduate Students in a Prelicensure Baccalaureate Nursing Program

Fostering Resilience Using Authentic Connections Groups(ACGs) Among Undergraduate Students in a Prelicensure Baccalaureate Nursing ProgramThe physical and psychological demands inherent in nursing education have been associated with vulnerability to burnout (a psychological syndrome that occurs in response to chronic emotional and interpersonal stressors) and can begin long before the student is a professional registered nurse. The levels of burnout are alarming and may adversely impact professional development, jeopardize patient safety and place undue strain on the physical and mental health of student nurses. Even before the COVID-19 outbreak, many already faced symptoms related to burnout syndrome as well as stress, anxiety, depression, substance abuse, and even suicidality. Now this global pandemic crisis is presenting even greater academic and personal hardships that are very likely to exacerbate existing levels of burnout syndrome and related mental health problems.

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Create Textbook for College and Career Professional Development Course

CCPD 1400 is a College and Career Professional Development course for Physics majors and transfer students. College and Career preparation is an iterative process. It is important to learn and develop new skills and participate in new experiences throughout college. By investing time in college and career preparation activities during their undergraduate experience, students will be successful, high achieving college students and they will also be ready to carry out an effective, thoughtful job search when the time comes. Currently, there is no textbook for this course.  The goal of this project is to develop and design a textbook for the course that the students will use for instructional purposes.

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SHAARP Lab Experience

The Study of Health Aging & Applied Research Programs (SHAARP.org) laboratory examines cognitive, sensory, lifestyle, and physical predictors of everyday functioning among older adults. We then examine how different interventions (such as brain training and exergaming) impact health (such as dementia and cognition) and everyday functioning (such as driving mobility, crashes, falls, and Complex Instrumental Activities of Daily Living). 

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Applications of Geographic and Soil Information Systems

Soil is a critical component of land use planning and the objective of this project is to study and understand the properties of soils in relation to current and future use.  Individual student projects focus on evaluating the soil resources using soil sampling and testing, Web Soil Survey databases, as well as GIS and statistical software in relation to current or future land use plans.  Students are able to select an area of interest and perform a comprehensive assessment of soil resources in relation to potential real estate, agricultural, or forestry application.

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Tackling Social Issues: Advanced Multidisciplinary Undergraduate Research in Applied Ethics And Ethical Debate

Critical examination of ethical cases largely taken from up-to-date newspaper and magazine publications.  Anticipation of critical questions that might be asked about the cases.  Research and development of responses to these questions and the best ethical resolution of the cases.  These responses are first developed in writing, and then are presented orally in a competitive debate-like format. Oral responses will be presented at the regional competition and, if chosen, at the national conference of the Association for Practical and Professional Ethics.

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Cultural Dimensions of GHS Academic Health Center

GHS has invited us to co-investigate the student culture of their Academic Health Center during spring semester 2019. Students will have an incredible opportunity to conduct ethnographic interviews and observations with students from several programs at GHS, analyze the resulting qualitative data, and contribute to a publishable report for Academic Medicine. (Note: the IRB number is from GHS IRB).

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Ice Cream Innovation

An exploration of new and novel techniques to advancing innovation in ice cream and frozen desserts.  Growth of the Ice Cream and Frozen Dessert industry is dependent on innovation.  This team of students is focused on exploring new flavorings and inclusions that could lead to a heightened eating experience for consumers that love Ice Cream and Frozen Desserts and expand the appeal of these products to individuals that rarely consumer Ice Cream or Frozen Desserts.

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Human Factors Safety Research

This project is a continuing series of studies involving the assessment of factors impacting safety and performance in real world situations.  Principles of perception, conspicuity, and hazard identification will be applied in experiments assessing, for example, trips, falls, and similar incidents in both real-world and laboratory environments.

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Sexuality Studies

In a recently published paper with another CI team, we found that many Clemson students use nonverbal behaviors in a dating situation as signals of sexual consent.  This study will examine how middle-school children (7th and 8th graders) interpret nonverbal behaviors in a dating situation as signals of sexual consent.  This will be the first study ever with children of that age.        Recruitment of middle-school children for the project has proven difficult.  We will be asking the IRB to extend approval for this project into the Spring 2021 semester and also the Fall 2021 semester.

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Host-Microbe Interactions in the Gastrointestinal Tract

This research project will focus on various aspects of interactions between the normal (non-pathogenic) bacterial members of the human gastrointestinal tract and their human hosts.  The overarching focus is to identify conserved functions within particular groups of microbes that can be targeted with small organic molecules.  The goal is to identify potential new therapeutics that could be used to modify the gastrointestinal microbiome in a targeted fashion.  The current research is focused on investigating the possible involvement of Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron (and related species) in the development and/or exacerbation of diabetes and obesity.

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Microbes All Around Us

Microbes are all around us. They are in the air we breathe, the water we drink, the soil we walk on, the food we eat; they are even in and on us. Although this fact is generally acknowledged, we don’t always have a great appreciation for the roles these microbes play in our health.  Antimicrobial resistance for pathogens is clearly becoming a bigger and bigger problem, but there is also the potential for some classically non-pathogenic organisms to cause issues. This Creative Inquiry project will focus on investigating a variety of bacteria with various impacts on humans. We will use hypotheses generated by the student investigators’ natural curiosity or recent news stories as the driving force behind our experiments. This CI has investigated topics such as microbial contamination of lab coats during General Microbiology teaching labs and the potential for magazines in physician's waiting rooms to serve as sources of infection.  We have also investigated the antimicrobial activity of various novel compounds with collaborators in the Department of Chemistry. 

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Building an Academic Dashboard

Many students don’t realize that there are multiple degree paths to most careers, especially in engineering.  As part of an NSF-funded project, students on this Creative Inquiry team will help design and develop a prototype “Academic Dashboard” to help put students in the driver’s seat of their education.  The dashboard will include information about major choice and activities to develop and track adaptive decision-making skills.  The project will focus on two main tasks: 1) designing the dashboard structure, and 2) modeling academic pathways in engineering.  The purpose of modeling academic pathways using longitudinal data is to identify indicators of “overpersistence” and alternative strategic pathways.  This information will be incorporated into the dashboard to help students make informed decisions about their path forward.  

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Serious games to enable STEM research and education

This CI group will contribute to the development, testing, and evaluation of serious games as a tool to enhance STEM education, understand factors influencing decision making, and assess efficacy of discipline-specific game-based learning. By integrating cyber-infrastructure, earth systems science, and social science with game play, modern serious games can become a particularly powerful tool for communicating interdisciplinary concepts, such as environmental sustainability. This CI group will research the breadth of game mechanics utilized in existing serious (e.g., River City) and non-serious (e.g., Farmville) games, test and evaluate what features of these games are attractive to players, and contribute to the development of new serious games that can be used at Clemson and beyond for STEM education and research. 

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Evaluation of forage production and quality for livestock production systems in the southeastern United States

A major challenge for producers in cool-season grass systems like tall fescue is the quantity and quality gap of forage production that usually occurs during mid through late summer. Warm season annuals can complement perennial cool-season systems and extend production during this critical summer months. High level of nitrogen fertilization are usually required to maximize summer annual grasses production, but  summer annual legumes have the potential to provide high forage quality and fix atmospheric N that will reduce fertilizer cost. In recent years, stored forage in the form of baleage has become more popular in the southeast. Legumes-grasses might present some challenges for a proper ensiling process due to the commonly lower sugar concentration in the resultant forage. Thus, evaluating the impact of the ensiling process of this forage mixes is warranted in order to generate producer’s adoption of these forage sources.Although alfalfa has been grown in the Southeastern USA since the late 1800’s, it has not attained the status in this region as in other parts of the nation mainly due to problems with alfalfa weevil and an abundant supply of inexpensive nitrogen fertilizer that reduced the need for leguminous crops to boost soil fertility. However, the cost of fertilizers has risen and modern well-adapted and pest-resistant alfalfa varieties are available in the market. Information about productivity and management of alfalfa, generated locally, is needed in order to demonstrate, educate, and ultimately re-introduce and advance the utilization of alfalfa as part of diverse forage systems and crop rotations for livestock farms in the Southeast USA. The goals of this project are to evaluate: 1. How summer annual grasses alone or in mixtures with annual legumes affects yield and nutritional value of fresh and ensiled forage. 2. The impact of growing new alfalfa varieties on plant persistency, forage yield and quality.

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Engineering Biopharmaceutical Production from Mammalian Cell Culture

Over 70% of all biopharmaceuticals are made with Chinese Hamster Ovary (CHO) cells. Cell lines that are stable, productive, and produce consistent quality products require significant time and investments. This CI aims to develops tools and technologies to better understand the molecular basis for cell line stability and alterations in product quality. This work is done in close partnership with a consortium of industrial mentors from the biopharma industry. 

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Qualitative Education Research in Math Anxiety

This Qualitative Education Research in Math Anxiety Creative Inquiry project investigates the relationships between math anxiety, working memory, and experiences. Students in the project will learn how to perform qualitative research and gain insight into the nature of math anxiety and what teachers can do about it. Students from all majors are invited to participate. The focus of the project is on math anxiety and qualitative research methods which may be of particular interest to secondary mathematics education majors or STEM majors in general. 

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Design and Development of Medical Devices: Covid-19 Response

This project will cover the design and development of medical devices capable of production by small industry. Design challenges including PPEs and a breathing apparatus for medical disasters. Building on work started in Spring 2020 in the School of Architecture we will extend the design, development, and testing of protective devices for medical personnel and first responders. We will seek to produce FDA approved designs and design improvements for existing devices and develop new designs. We will work with CURF to secure necessary forms to manage any technology transfer issues. 

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Developing a sustainable equine composting system

Animal waste has been successfully converted to compost for several decades in a way to efficiently dispose of and utilize as a resource. The Clemson University Equine Center houses anywhere from 60-70 horses in which each defecates an average of 30 lbs. daily with no ecological or economical disposal benefits. Our goal is to determine how to effectively convert horse manure into organic compost, sustainably package it through used feed sacks and market the product to the public.

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Introduction to Food Systems

This project will use the socioecological framework to provide an introduction to food systems at the local, national, and global levels. Students will critically examine issues concerning food production, processing, distribution, and consumption. We anticipate this project be a series of three, consecutive semesters and is expected to build students’ foundational knowledge about food before students work collaboratively with mentors to develop a research project to implement.

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A non viral episomal vector system for induced pluripotent stem cell (IPS) production

Embryonic stem cells hold great promise for the cures of a variety of human diseases, such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's etc.. However, ES cell research has been hampered due to the ethical concerns of the use of human embryos. Recently, scientists have developed a novel way to convert somatic cells into ES-like cells through forced expression of four transcription factors key to the ES cell pluripotency maintenance. These cells are called induced pluripotent stem cells (IPS). The initial method used for IPS induction is based on retrovirus due to its high transfection efficiency. However, the potential dangers of retrovirus induced insertional mutagenesis and transformation pose great concerns for the applications of theses IPS cells in human. Therefore a great deal of research efforts have been put in the search of alternative delivery systems to create safer IPS cells, such as protein, mRNA, plasmid, and non integrating viral system. My laboratory has working with a non viral episomal vector based on the sequence of mammalian scaffold/matrix attachment region (S/mar), which are sequences in the DNA of eukaryotic chromosomes where the nuclear matrix attaches. S/mar sequences function as architectural DNA components that organize the genome of eukaryotes into functional units within the cell nucleus. Plasmids incorporated with S/mar sequence can be maintained as replicative episomal units within mammalian nuclei. We plan to clone the four transcription factors into this vector for IPS induction. This episomal vector system will not only reduce or eliminate the potentials of insertional mutagenesis, but also solve the problems of gradual loss from transfected cells encountered by regular plasmids due to the episomal replicative capacity of this plasmid.

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Geologic Properties

The properties of geologic materials such as rocks, soil, and water highly influence the placement and design of human constructs such as roads, dams, and buildings. Understanding these properties help us design more sustainable structures with less environmental impact.

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Landscape Ecology and Conservation in the Appalachians

Students in this CI are working to understand the influence of landscapes and land uses on snake movement ,ecology, and disease susceptibility. 

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Effects of Alimend on digestibility of horses at risk of ulcers

The objective of this study is to examine the effects of a gastric health supplement, Alimend, on the digestibility of fescue hay and pasture on horses prone to gastric ulcers.

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Using sports science to increase interest in STEM among K-12 athletes

Outreach programs are an often used tool to “fix the leaking pipeline” by promoting interest in STEM in K-12 students. However, these programs predominately target students who already have an exposure to and interest in STEM. The goal of this CI is to develop and deliver a sports science outreach program to increase the size of the pool, by exposing the 56.6% of youth who participate in sports to STEM in way that’s relatable their athletic interests. Initially, we plan to focus on three sports: football, volleyball, and soccer (men and women’s). 

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3D Printing and Graphic Communications

This Creative Inquiry project introduces students to the core technologies, applications and production processes of three-dimensional printing. Students will learn 3D design, design for print production and apply their knowledge in hands-on project work that will allow them to produce 3D objects of their own. We intend to use Mimaki 3duj-553 color 3D printer to study print quality and to create special 3D effects.

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ENGAGE Dominica 4: Infrastructure

Ever notice how convenient it is to have Google Maps and Google Street View when you want to look at a location that you've never been to before?  In many small island developing states, this type of digital data does not exist.  This group will research what it would take to develop a digital data set for primary roads on the island of Dominica.  Over several trips, significant amounts of geolocated video has been obtained.  This, along with the linear road mapping currently available will provide the starting point for this development. 

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Microbial transfer in hospitals : Empirical research study of contact transfer via nursing personnel

Healthcare associated infections are deadly and costly in our medical practice. They negatively impact patient outcomes, while increasing length of patient stay and widespread antibiotic exposure, all of which in turn can increase chance for opportunistic infections, medical errors, deterioration and muscle wasting. Reducing bioburden by altering surface materials has been shown to significantly decrease HAIs. Current options for this are limited solely to copper bed linens. This research study is designed to identify and quantify contamination and spore transfer that occurs in daily nursing practice. This study will provide a basis for the development of new materials, fabrics, and linens in the form of copper and silver scrubs. 

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Design Justice in Architecture

This research focuses on architecture and space within marginalized communities. It will question rules implemented and institutionalized by entities in power.  Namely, sections of architectural history in which practices followed such directives without questioning the effects those actions had in our culture and society will be analyzed. Students will use architecture and urban design as lenses to highlight the truthful consequences of government sponsored displacement, exclusion, segregation, racial inequality, social injustice, redlining, as well as policies that have fortified racial discrimination. The research will provide students with sources to develop projects and initiatives through design to combat these injustices with an emphasis on the notions of city, architectural pedagogy, and architectural practice. 

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Biochromic Sensors for Food Safety Applications

Biosensors based on the thermochromic polymer polydiacetylene are being developed for the detection of food-borne pathogens, such as salmonella, lysteria and E. coli. The sensing agents are engaged as simple devices, such as dips, swabs, and aerosols, They are immobilized on cellulose-based substrates, like paper, cotton pads, or dispersed into water.

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Popular Science Journalism

The overall goal of this project is to produce a science column in the student body newspaper, The Tiger.  The name of the column is Tigra scientifica and is used to report on the hottest topics in scientific and academic research.

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Medical Textiles

This project is aimed at developing new smart materials for biomedical applications: with antibacterial and/or anti-inflammatory properties for tissue regeneration and healthcare products. The use of textile materials for medical and healthcare products ranges from simple gauze or bandage materials to scaffolds for tissue culturing and a large variety of prostheses for permanent body implants. 

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Designing Medical Technology for the Developing World

Developing countries face healthcare challenges every day, whether it is lack of supplies or a shortage of healthcare professionals. Medical devices and equipment that are considered standard in hospitals in the United States can be hard to find and very expensive in developing countries, such as Tanzania. Tanzania has recently made significant advances with the quality of their healthcare; however, there are still many hurdles that need to be overcome. The goal of this Creative Inquiry team is to design and develop medical instrumentation and monitors that are robust, user-friendly, and low-cost for developing countries. The students on this team will be expected to work on electronics and instrument design.  These types of projects not only have the ability to improve the lives of young infants and families, but they can also impact the medical field in developing nations worldwide. In addition to doing design, students are expected to learn about Tanzania. Students will learn about Tanzanian culture, government and healthcare structure. In addition, students will learn some basic conversational Swahili.

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Digital History and Introduction to Cyberinfrastructure in Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences

In this current global digital age, this humanities project fosters students to research and independently design their own digital history projects.  As an introduction to cyberinfrastructure, students learn the basics of digital history and humanities and participate in ongoing database and web projects.  More advanced students can do statistical analysis as well as use the Social Media Lab to analyze media in a historical context.

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Aspire: Developing Peer Delivered Initiatives to Foster the Promotion of a Healthy Campus

Aspire: Developing Peer Delivered Initiatives to Foster the Promotion of a Healthy Campus works with the Aspire to Be Well Program, which is a 90-minute peer-led health- and safety-focused dialogue and CU 1000 requirement. The dialogue covers key areas to maintaining a healthy and safe campus including overall wellness, alcohol and other drug misuse prevention, mental health and suicide prevention, and interpersonal violence prevention. Students will gain an understanding of campus resources and learn how to help others in need through risk-reduction strategies and bystander intervention. Students enrolled in this Creative Inquiry will explore topics related to Aspire, receive extensive training on delivering the content to new students and research trends related to health and wellness in higher education.

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Waikiki and the World: A Study of the Pacific Islands and Their Peoples

This Creative Inquiry project provides an opportunity for students to evaluate the impact of colonialism, contemporary capitalism and modern tourism on the physical integrity of the Hawaiian islands and their culture by exploring the history, art, and worship practices of the indigenous peoples. Hawaii and the rest of the Pacific Islands represent a special place in the cultural imagination of those who live outside of the region. Its image as a tropical paradise filled with exotic landscapes and peoples has been shaped through the lens of American pop culture from films, television shows, musical theater productions to party themed-sets and popular music, all which inform the development of Hawaiian tourism. 

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Maker Spaces and Modern Learning

What resources are essential when making to learn? This essential question will be explored in a transdisciplinary, one-semester Creative Inquiry collaboration with a school in Richmond, VA. In the project, we will use an inquiry-based approach to design and support implementation of maker-based learning. The learning will be organized around the following three areas:   exploring educational applications of augmented/virtual reality (at the high school level);motivating geometric reasoning through 3D printing (at the middle school level); and,developing computational thinking through coding tools (at the elementary level).The final goal is for the CI team to recommend a sustainable, practice-based framework to guide future equipment purchases and curriculum development relative to the educational needs of the teachers and students in the school.

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Computational Design Group

The Clemson School of Architecture Computational Design Group engages in a critical exploration of emergent technologies and material science in architectural design. The aim of this group is to house several, more specific, research agendas concerning applications of computing methods in architecture under one, more general, classification of ‘computational design’. We are currently research 'Design-to-fabrication workflows with Extended Reality'. In 2021 our team is continuing a project initiated in 2020 with industry partner Autodesk where we are developing algorithms for accurate holographic-assisted physical component assembly. 

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TAGA Journal

This project offers students the opportunity to design, edit and produce a technical journal showcasing student research in Graphic Communications as well as compete with schools internationally for recognition for the quality of their work. The team attends the international Technical Association for the Graphic Arts (TAGA) Annual Technical Conference to present their journals for the competition and to meet and learn from top researchers in the Graphic Communications industry.

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Fire ecology and invasive plants

This project will help student gain knowledge about wildfire in forests, and how fire acts as an agent of natural selection affecting the ecology and evolution of plants, especially woody plants and trees.

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Micro-Heart Tissue Pumps and Pipes

Heart disease is the #1 cause of death in the world every year, and finding new therapies to treat heart disease is very slow and very expensive. Fortunately, researchers are able to grow small pieces of heart tissue in the lab to test new therapies as quickly, cheaply, and safely as possible. Unfortunately, these heart cells in a dish do not behave the same as heart cells in our body because they are no longer subjected to the same mechanical environment of a beating heart under pressure. In this creative inquiry, we are developing new culture chambers for growing heart cells in mechanically-realistic conditions in order to improve future therapy screens. Students will work in teams to (1) build miniature pump and pipe chambers, (2) grow heart-like tissues within these chambers, and (3) test the effects of different therapies on these functional tissues under disease-like conditions.

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Synthesis and Modification of Metal and Metal Oxide Nanoparticles

Students will focus on understanding the structure-property relationships of magnetic nanoparticles. Specifically the team will investigate how size and composition change the magnetic properties of these systems. 

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Contemporary Art & Practice

Contemporary Art & Practice is a Departmental Creative Inquiry two-semester sequence consisting of ART 4730, and then ART 4750. Visual Arts Majors seeking the Bachelors of Fine Arts (BFA) Degree begin this Creative Inquiry two semesters from graduation such that their final exhibition in the Lee Gallery coincides with their enrollment in ART 4750. Contemporary Art & Practice CI students will explore historical and theoretical issues to gain critical perspectives on Art, visit and study current exhibitions in galleries in museums in New York City, gain professional experience, and share their studio research in an exhibition in the Lee Gallery. 

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Implementation of Public Art for the Clemson University Campus

Clemson University's Public Art Program features the works of nationally recognized artists. We are dedicated to exploring opportunities where public art becomes woven into the campus environment. All artwork selected for projects will be intellectually engaging while demonstrating qualities that elicit questions and prompt discourse. Artworks are site specific and are commissioned through a competitive process. 

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Student Directors of the Annual Clemson Literary Festival

The Clemson Literary Festival is a student run, student directed, annual event featuring three days of readings by national authors, literary panel discussions, book fairs, and open mic events that seeks to bring students, faculty, alumni, and the surrounding communities together through a mutual love and appreciation for the Arts and Humanities. 

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Humanitarian Aid to Support Ethnic Reconciliation

Students collect aid for young students (K 1-9) in Srebrenica and deliver it in May during the Study Abroad Balkans program. Their work during academic years starting in 2012 was always very successful. 

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AIChE ChemE Car Team

The ChemE Car team develops a car which runs on energy which is generated by the car itself.  At competition, the car carries a payload a certain distance and must then stop; the car which is closest to the target distance wins. 

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Signals, Sensors, and Machine Learning to Improve Psychotherapy Outcomes

This Creative Inquiry project is an interdisciplinary collaboration led by engineers, a computer scientist, and a social scientist. The team will work together to create training tools for therapists to improve session outcomes, especially using the Motivational Interviewing framework. The team will be assisted by clinical psychologists from the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) and Florida State University, who will provide content knowledge of the therapy setting. Engineering and computing students will develop instrumentation and data processing techniques that will allow the therapists to be physiologically monitored, adding important information to the session records, which can be improved for better patient outcomes.

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Topics in Industrial Mathematics: Artificial Intelligence

This project is part of the "Topics in Industrial Mathematics" Creative Inquiry series offered by the School of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences. Students in this project will study the mathematics perspective of artificial intelligence, specifically, on the theories and applications of machine learning, reinforcement learning, and artificial intelligence based mathematical problem solving.

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The Domestic Politics of US Treaties

The goal of this project is eventual publication of a book on the domestic politics of international agreements, primarily focused on the Obama administration and the Trump administration's response to Obama's agreements.  

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Digital Wellness Nurse - Applied Biomedical Sensing and Machine Learning in Nursing

The Digital Wellness Nurse (DWN) is an ongoing collaborative project aimed at developing an interactive, digital assistant for healthcare professionals engaging a diverse patient population. The project will feature the development of an artificially intelligent chat interface that collects patient data from multiple sources, including previous health data, wearable sensor data, and patient interviews. The combination of these data can be used to develop a patient wellness profile, which can be monitored overtime to assess progress toward a healthy lifestyle over time. The DWN will be designed to interact with electronic health record systems to access patient health and medication history. Students participating in this project will engage in human subjects research during the design and implementation of a DWN prototype. Research will include usability studies for an interactive patient software application, machine learning applications to develop autonomous patient interviewing and data management, and wearable sensor integration to enable continuous patient monitoring.

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Camera traps in animal ecology

This project is designed to train undergraduate students to design, carryout and report on investigations into animal ecology through the use of remote camera trapping technology.  Specifically, students will utilize camera traps to collect scientific data on the location of animal species, then work with the mentors to analyze the data and report findings.  Students will be expected to be involved with the entire scientific process from building hypotheses to writing and presenting findings at professional meetings.   

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Cyber Crime & Psych

This Creative Inquiry team will investigate the psychological correlates of vulnerability to cyber crimes (e.g., phishing emails).

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Ionospheric Radar Data Analysis and Instrument Development

In this CI, students work with data collected by high power- large aperature incoherent scatter radars in the polar region, specifically to address questions associated with high latitude ionosphere and thermospheric physics. We also develop low power ionospheric sounding radars using software defined radios within my lab and associated analysis software. 

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Carbon Stocks in South Carolina: An Analysis of the Social, Economic, and Biophysical Benefits of Forest Carbon Sequestration

This project will involve analyzing a variety of different datasets to better understand carbon sequestration in South Carolina forests. Carbon sequestration has implications for ecosystem service benefits, including biodiversity and carbon credits. This study will look at land availability for carbon sequestration and how land use change affects land availability for generating carbon offset credits. 

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Controlled Environment Agriculture: Innovation of distributing food to urban environments and food deserts

The project will provide an atmosphere for the design and evaluation of a moderate sized controlled environment container to yield animal protein, vegetables to supplement fresh food in an urban environment.  Urban areas, also called food deserts, have limitations to fresh food and previous research has proven that, if available, people would welcome the choice of fresh food to prepare in their household. People are also reassured that the products being produced are fresh and free from harmful chemicals. Transportation is limited for these people so getting to a grocery store is somewhat restricted, so the idea of bringing a food production unit to the area is widely accepted.  Presently these portable controlled environment units are available and expensive, however economics performed usually show limited to no revenue.  The CI will investigate what is needed for the unit to produce food but on a more economical scale.  This would also benefit school systems by providing fresh food to supplement the cafeteria needs for fresh food and at the same time becomes an effective teaching tool that can be positive reinforcement for understanding science, math and economics topics in an enjoyable and dynamic atmosphere.

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Unraveling the Mystery of the Rare Rocky Shoals Spider Lily

Rocky Shoals Spider Lilies are an important part of South Carolina’s natural heritage and probably existed along most Piedmont streams prior to hydropower development of shoals and sedimentation of creeks and streams due to agricultural practices. The watershed for Stevens Creek is forested and mostly undeveloped allowing us a glimpse of what plant, fish, and even mussel populations may have looked like prior to European influence. There is a population of Rocky Shoals Spider Lilies that runs approximately 150 yards along Steven Creek on the Naturaland Trust Property.As a part of this CI, students will research and characterize the Stevens creek run where the Rocky Shoals Spider Lily occurs and at least two additional sites where historic populations existed to determine why the Rocky Shoals Spider Lily has such a robust population along this stretch of stream. Students will collect water quality data using the SC adopt a stream protocol and characterize the sites. They will additionally put out game cameras as one hypothesis is that deer herbivory is impacting Rocky Shoals Spider Lilies. Students will also work to propagate Rocky Shoals Spider Lilies in greenhouses at Clemson so that we will have a population we can attempt to introduce to other suitable stream stretches. By using the SC adopt a stream protocol, students will be adding to a database of stream health for the state and they will be able to compare Stevens Creek to other SC streams to determine what is different about Stevens creek that allows the Rocky Shoals Spider Lily to persist.

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Small Satellite Educational Program

The goal of this CI is to develop outreach modules, including the associated lessons and hands-on activities, and present them to K-12 students and teachers. The program, Small Satellite Educational Program, is cross-disciplinary touching on all aspects of rocketry design: physics, electrical engineering, computer science, and mechanical engineering. Creativity of lessons and activity plans is encouraged.

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Recognizing Behaviors of Cognitive Impairment

Every 69 seconds, someone in the U.S. is newly diagnosed with Alzheimers. In this project, students will participate in educational sessions that will provide tips and tools for recognizing behaviors associated with  cognitive impairment and how to effectively communicate with individuals in public and in family contexts.

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Fish ecomorphology

Phenotypic plasticity can give rise to intra-specific phenotypic variation, which can lead to unique phenotypes between or within populations. Phenotypic plasticity provides an excellent opportunity for ecologists to study habitat induced phenotypic divergence as well as phenotypic disparity of ecologically different species. Body shape has been shown to be an excellent surrogate for the ecology of fish species and is known to be strongly influenced by water velocity. However, studies of intra-specific body shape divergence among habitat types have focused geographic separated habitats such as lakes and rivers. Only one study has been done looking at body shape differences between lotic and lentic habitats within a stream. By examining the variation in body shape, it may be possible to understand how some individuals are able to take advantage of different flow regimes and habitats. The objective of this study is to test for intra-specific body shape differences between high and low flow micro-habitats within streams. In this study we address three hypotheses: 1) individual fish occupying high water velocity habitats will have significantly different body shape from fishes in low water velocity habitats. 2) individual fish occupying high water velocity habitats will have more fusiform body shapes and deeper caudal peduncles fishes in low water velocity habitats. 3) All fish species will show similar responses to water velocity. 

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South Carolina Natural History Schools Outreach Project

Clemson students select projects that focus on environmental research in public parks or other venues accessible to K-12 students.  After completing their research goals, participants communicate their results by designing outdoor learning experiences for these students that incorporate their research findings and align with the science curriculum standards for that specific grade level.  Some examples of typical projects include constructing a nature trail in a woodland adjacent to a local elementary school; introducing K-12 students to an activity known as 'geocaching' in which students use GPS units to locate buried 'treasure' that others have left behind; and designing classroom activities based on topographic maps and aerial photographs of environmentally important sites.

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Determining a rotational grazing system for horses

Pasture is a common and efficient way to improve horses’ voluntary exercise and nutrient intake and to decrease behavioral and health problems (Bott et al., 2013). However, if pastures are not managed appropriately, horse health and pasture composition can both be at risk. Rotational grazing has been known to provide numerous animal and forage production, environmental and financial benefits (Henning et al., 200; Undersander et al., 2002). While limited, research on horse grazing systems has demonstrated the benefits of rotational grazing, but has not determined a specific rotational grazing protocol, particularly in the Southeast of the United States (Webb et al., 2009; Webb et al., 2011; Burk et al., 2011). Therefore, the objective of this research proposal is to determine the effects of two different time periods of rotational grazing has on horse health, grazing behavior and pasture condition in the Piedmont area of South Carolina. The two-year study will graze horses rotationally in a 2x2 Latin Square with pasture size and time as variables. The effect of grazing system on horse health will be measured weekly via body weight and body condition score. Forage preference and grazing behavior will be measured using GPS tracking devices. Pasture health will be measured via vegetative cover, composition and yield, or herbage mass. It is hypothesized that a shorter grazing period will show increased horse health, grazing behavior and pasture condition; longer grazing periods are expected to mirror continual grazing and yield minimal benefits to horse and pasture.

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ColorNet: Watson in the Watt

ColorNet uses Machine Learning (ML) which focuses on learning patterns from data. In this case, the “pattern” is the relationship between the color incorrect and color correct images and the “data” is a large set of manually produced, paired examples of the incorrect and correct images. By exposing an appropriate ML model to a sufficient number of such paired examples, the model learns to predict the correct from the incorrect.

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Experiencing Woody Plant Genomics and Biotechnology

The project aims to utilize genomics tools and advanced biotechnological approaches to improve plant health and enhance nutritional/medicinal values and production. Focuses are woody plants. Students are exposed to molecular techniques, bioinformatics, tissue culture, data recording and analysis, and greenhouse management. The project will cultivate students’ interests in plants and understanding of plants’ important roles plants in food supply, environment, and human well-being.

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Creative Medical Device Solutions for COVID Needs (CMeDS)

The emergence of COVID-19 has created unpresident demand of medical device solutions that can rapidly address clinical and patient needs during this pandemic and beyond. In bioengineering, the opportunity to collaborate with clinicians in the design of biomedical devices is challenging, and with COVID, these opportunities are both more in demand and more challenging than ever. But they are critically needed. Clinicians continue to be an essential contributor to the design process, in that they are both the users of biomedical devices, and often the first point of contact for problems that occur in their use. Typically, students explore design related issues, and recruit clinicians to support their work. In this new CI, clinical collaborators that have critical COVID-related needs will work with students to create the next generation of biomedical devices during this pandemic and beyond. This CI will be open to all undergraduates, and projects will be multi-semester, to support the development of long-term innovations to address COVID challenges.

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Soil Judging Project - Hands-On Experience in Soil Science

Soil characteristics are key to land productivity and the objective of this project is to learn hands-on techniques to be able to interpret soils based on physical soil properties.  Soil morphology and classification skills are critical to help understand the best and most productive uses of different land areas. These skills and knowledge are applied through a group project focused on real-life soils-based issues in the U.S and Internationally.    

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Renewable Spools

3D printing is one the fastest growing and most innovative of the manufacturing industries. However, a large portion of material used to 3D print invariably gets used as support material, failed prints, and other wastes. This unused plastic often gets discarded, with an average of 10%-20% of the total material used thrown away. The renewable spools CI will be heading industry grade recycling of filament to provide to campus resources and eventually the community with recycled spools of filament to reduce waste.

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Exploring Peptoid Proteins: Making and Structurally Characterizing Peptidomimetic Structures

Natural peptides and proteins are critically important in biology and medicine as well as increasingly in biotechnology and the chemical industry. Chemical structures mimicking the properties of natural peptides and proteins have been developed over the past three decades, with enormous potential for transformative impact in many fields. One handicap of these peptide-mimetic systems, however, is the lack of a broad scope of knowledge comparable to that available for natural proteins and peptides. Databases such as the Protein Data Bank contain structures for ~150,000 natural proteins, collected over the past ~50 years. These rich data sources enable whole fields of research, such as bioinformatics and protein engineering, that rely on having abundant data. Design of peptide mimics and hybrid peptide-peptidomimetic systems, therefore, relies on rational planning and design. This project involves both a structural component--synthesizing peptoids and other peptide mimics to study their structures and test predictions for novel secondary structures; as well as biomedical component--e.g., using the proven strategy of replacing proline residues in peptides with peptoid residues, as well as incorporating other peptidomimetic residues such as PEGylated amino acids into peptides of medical interest. 

Team Leaders

Comparative Vertebrate Musculoskeletal Biomechanics

Research in my lab examines the patterns and processes of functional evolution in vertebrates. To understand the factors that have contributed to evolutionary transitions in function, we test the functional consequences of variation in biological design, primarily through experimental studies of vertebrate musculoskeletal biomechanics. We have extended these studies to include selection experiments on functional performance, allowing us to evaluate the impact of functional tradeoffs on structural diversification. Our three primary study systems have been examinations of (1) the load bearing capacity of vertebrate limb bones (and fish fins) during terrestrial and aquatic locomotion; (2) the functional performance of waterfall climbing gobiid fishes in a variety of behaviors, including climbing, predator escape, and feeding; and (3) the effects of differences in body structure on the swimming performance of turtles and tadpoles. These systems have allowed a diverse range of comparative studies that have provided insight into broader issues in the diversity and evolution of vertebrate functional design. Studies of these systems are complemented by investigations of other systems as new questions and opportunities emerge.

Team Leaders

Creating A Smart Phone APP for the Clemson Extension Health Program's WalkSC Step Initiative

WalkSC is a 12-week program that encourages participants to walk the equivalent of the length of South Carolina without actually making the trip. Based on a step challenge, and developed by Clemson Extension, participants who sign up gain access to a private Facebook group and receive a two-to three-minute video each week about a diet or exercise topic and flier with nutrition, exercise and health tips. There have been four WalkSC cohorts and initial data is very encouraging that the program is having a positive impact on participants’ movement habits and health outcomes.This creative inquiry project willexamine the current data sets and future data sets with the goal of developinga smart phone application to facilitate and improve the WalkSC experience.CI students will conduct literaturereviews regarding the benefits of Step programs for health; Gamification ofhealth habits and Use of Smart Phone Technologies to improve human behaviorsand habits.The cross-disciplinary team willdevelop an APP to use on smart phones that leads participants through theWalkSC experience. This APP will be piloted with upcoming WalkSC groups anddata from these pilot groups will be compared with past WalkSC groups andfuture control WalkSC groups that do not utilize the new APP. Data will becollected and analyzed to determine the effectiveness of the APP to increaseadherence to the WalkSC program. Participant digital surveys will be conductedto gain insight into creating a final version of the WalkSC APP.The final goal will be to publishand consider the future use of the WalkSC APP for promotion, income generationfor the WalkSC program and development of future iterations of WalkSC typeinitiatives for Clemson Extension Health Program.

Team Leaders

Rising to the COVID-19 Challenge with Buoyant And Magnetic (BAM) Assays sensitive, rapid, on-site testing in saliva

This is a continuation of the COVID-19 Challenge which we started in June. Our team received first prize in the pitch competition (out of 86 teams). Rapid, accurate, and highly accessible COVID-19 diagnostics are critical for managing the pandemic and even in helping eliminate it. Since many people may have high viral loads before/without symptoms, inexpensive, rapid, on-site testing for the virus is key. We hope to develop the first test that meet the WHO's criteria for testing in resource-constrained settings: Affordable, Sensitive, Specific, User-friendly, Rapid and robust, Equipment-free and Deliverable to end-users (ASSURED). Resource constrained settings include developing world locations as well as businesses, schools/universities, and homes in the US. Our approach combines two separation technologies: antibody-functionalized buoyant microbeads capture SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid proteins in saliva and rise to the surface separating and concentrating the protein; next antibody-labelled magnetic microbeads attach to the nucleocaptured proteins on the buoyant microbeads forming a buoyant and magnetic (BAM) sandwich complex. The concentration of nucleocapsid proteins in saliva can be quantified by counting the number of BAM complexes, which can be completely separated from non-magnetic buoyant microballoons using a magnet and from non-buoyant magnetic microbeads by removing the magnet and observing floating behavior. The team will work on simulating reaction kinetics, measuring buoyancy and magnetic separation in simple simulated saliva systems (often at home during the pandemic), optimizing reaction and video capture conditions, and writing up results for publication as well as pitch competitions.Finally, while we are focusing on COVID-19 detection, the underlying technology could be used as a platform for multiple other diseases.

Team Leaders

Democracy Building in Post-Conflict Societies: The Cases of Serbia, Kosovo, BiH, Montenegro and Croatia

Students are engaged in research of the history and causes of the conflicts in former Yugoslavia working in 5 teams, one for each country to be visited in May/June. They present their findings and draft research papers which are then finished during Summer Study Abroad using primary sources. 

Team Leaders

Blockchains, Security and Privacy

Blockchains can be viewed as digital models of fiat money and business contracts in decentralized networks where distributed ledgers provide data integrity and smart contracts allow automatic execution of business logic.  The goals of project include: Learning the basic concepts and cryptographical tools used in blockchains and crypto-currencies, (b) Learning programming experience on smart contracts (in Ethereum), (c) Work as teams on projects in various business applications. Ideally each team consists of students from Math, CS, ECE and business school, a mixture of graduate and undergraduate students.

Team Leaders

The Call My Name Project

For the Call My Name Project, students will research and document the history of African Americans in Clemson history, including enslaved persons and sharecroppers who worked on the Fort Hill Plantation; convicted laborers who helped build the university; wage workers and cooperative extension agents employed to work for the college; musicians who performed at social events; students, faculty, and staff who came to Clemson after desegregation in 1963; and 21st century student-activists. Research may include travel to archives in South Carolina and for meetings with tour guide experts at other universities and historical sites. Projects will include a website, mobile app, play, exhibit, social media posts, and heritage tours. For more info about the project, see www.callmyname.org. 

Team Leaders

Virtual Reality and Global Learning

Students will build the prototype of a VR environment intended for implementation in a Clemson Virtual+ study abroad program. Information obtained from emerging research on education, global learning and virtual/augmented reality will be applied to the prototype design.

Team Leaders

Aquaponics: Maximizing use of a biological system for unique production of an aquatic and plant based crop

This project stimulates undergraduate students understanding of aquatic (fish, shrimp) production in recirculating systems and works to expand the unit for establishment of a dual or polyculture unit. The project will investigate methods for aquaponics and refine specific deficiencies of the system which include passive heating techniques to reduce costs, system design (airlift technology) considerations for efficiency and power dependency, automation for system productivity and bacterial control for food safety considerations.

Team Leaders

Green Building Materials: Magnesium Oxide Based Cements as a Sustainable Alternative

This CI is focused on fundamental research associated with sustainable building products.  Specifically, we are investigating the chemistry and material properties of magnesium oxide cement composites.  Companies we have interacted with include Jet Products, LP Corp., MiTek Ind., and Shaw corp.The goal of this work is to develop new technology and materials for residential and commercial construction that benefits human health and the environment.

Team Leaders

STRIDE in STEM

Exploration of STEM experience for URM students.  This project will serve to investigate the experiences of current URMs at the University in an effort to improve the experiences of URMs in COS, CECAS, and CAFLS. This proposal aims to investigate both the qualitative and quantitative aspects of interventional strategies, recruiting efforts, and/or retention strategies to encourage URM students in STEM fields, beginning with a small focus group to pilot the program. 

Team Leaders

Population genetic structure of glyphosate resistant and sensitive North Carolina Amaranthus palmeri and the association of genetic variations to resistance phenotype.

Amaranthus palmeri is one of the most pervasive and destructive weeds known to impact US agriculture. An Infestation of this weed can decrease field crop yield by 50% or more. While the plant’s prolific reproductive capacity, growth, and ability to outcompete neighboring plants under a wide range of environmental conditions gives it an ecological edge, the plant’s rapid evolution of resistance to multiple herbicides, including glyphosate (Round-up®), has further undermined strategies for mitigating spread and economic impacts. Glyphosate resistance in A. palmeri is achieved by amplification of a 399-kb extrachromosomal circular DNA called the EPSPS replicon. The replicon contains the gene encoding 5-enolpyruvylshikimate-3-phosphate synthase (EPSPS), the enzyme targeted by glyphosate. When amplified, the replicon produces increased EPSPS transcription and protein activity. This project aims to investigate the origin and spread of glyphosate resistance in North Carolina A. palmeri and to identify genetic variations that may underly fitness, adaptation, and phenotypic variation related to glyphosate resistance. Analyses include variant calling including single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), insertion and deletions (indels) and copy number variation (CNV), genetic relatedness and population structure analyses (e.g. Phylogenetic tree analysis and principal component analysis), and genome-wide association studies (GWAS) to assess the association of genetic variations with glyphosate sensitive (GS) and resistant (GR) phenotypes. It is anticipated that findings from this project will contribute to our understanding of the evolution and mechanism of glyphosate resistance in Amaranthus and will improve the theory and practice of weed resistance management.

Team Leaders

Deconvolving the southern South American dust production pathways

Glacial action in South America over the past ~1 million years created a tremendous amount of dust (airborne rock power). This South American dust influenced Earth's global climate over this time period, but our understanding of HOW Earth's atmosphere and hydrosphere were effected is hampered by a limited understanding of when and where deposits of glacial dust came from. In this project, students will use detrital mineral geochronologic methods to determine the bedrock sources of large dust deposits throughout South America.

Team Leaders

New Ideas of Making Driverless Vehicles Better

Driverless vehicles use advanced in-vehicle and transportation infrastructure sensors and electronic controllers, wired and wireless communication (vehicle-to-everything (V2X)), human-machine interfaces, data management infrastructure and advanced analytics tools to enable the safe and secure longitudinal and lateral movements of driverless vehicles. A substantially improved surface transportation system, in terms of both safety and efficiency, is the result. This course will provide students with a comprehensive overview of concepts and hands-on experience related to new ideas to make driverless vehicles and their surrounding environments much safer, more secure and more efficient than what is envisioned today.

Team Leaders

Stress, Health, & Well-Being

This CI team focuses on three common health behaviors: sleep, physical activity, and nutrition. Research projects can include objective and subjective measures such as performance, activity, exercise, sleep logs, affective/emotion, satisfaction with life, circadian rhythms, self-control, and other daily functioning tasks/scales. The broad goal of this research is to develop and document intervention strategies to improve performance, health, and well-being in college students and in workers.

Team Leaders

ACTIVA TU SPEAKING - Global Intercultural Challenge

SPANISH. SCIENCE. DEBATE. This program aims to nurture the scientific creativity and practice your communication skills in Spanish of students in an intercultural virtual environment.Students from Clemson are team up with students from the Universidad de Guadalajara school system and work on solving a global engineering challenge as a team. Virtual meetings are scheduled to debate every team’s approach and progress to the challenge. By the end of the semester a video is created by each team, showcasing their solution.

Team Leaders

Veteran's History Project Collection and Digitization

The Veterans History Project of the American Folklife Center collects, preserves, and makes accessible the personal accounts of American war veterans, as well as U.S. Citizens who were actively involved in supporting war efforts (war industry workers, USO medical personnel, flight instructors, etc.) so that future generations may hear directly from veterans and better understand the realities of war. In order to assist the Library of Congress with this arduous task, Clemson University students will conduct interviews and collect other materials accepted by the project then facilitate their digitization for Clemson University records before sending the original materials to the Library of Congress.  

Team Leaders

Community Supported Art

A Creative Inquiry Project by Ceramics Students in the Department of Art at Clemson UniversityClemson Community Supported Art is an initiative started by Clemson students and faculty to connect the community with local, emerging artists. Based on the Community Supported Agriculture model, our goal is to build relationships between local artists and art collectors, while creating a unique shopping experience. Our annual production of the CSArt share brings students from multiple majors together to research professional careers, entrepreneurship, and small business practices in Art. 

Team Leaders

Kinetic Sculpture

We create pieces of art which incorporate movement into them.  We display these at Artisphere, the art festival in Greenville held in May, and some are planned around Clemson campus and the RiSE Community.

Team Leaders

Organelle biogenesis in African trypanosomes

African trypanosomes cause a number of human and livestock diseases. My laboratory is focused on resolving the mechanisms that regulate the biogenesis of essential organelles called glycosomes in these organisms. These organelles are parasite specific and essential making them excellent drug targets.

Team Leaders

Robot networks

The technological development of the last decade in robots, computing and communications has led to envisage the design of robotic and automation systems consisting of networked vehicles, sensors, actuators and communication devices. These developments enable researchers and engineers to design new robotic systems that can interact with human beings and other robots in a cooperative way. Applications span surveillance/monitoring, manufacturing, intelligent vehicles, exploration, and many others. In this project, we will explore some basics of robot networks and build robotic cooperation using several intelligent ground robots available in the lab. No knowledge of distributed dynamical systems or robotics is needed.

Team Leaders

China's Foreign Policy

This Creative Inquiry project systematically examines some of the most important issues facing the world, by involving the students in on-going discussions and debates and engaging them in direct dialogues with diplomats and business leaders, both Chinese and American. 

Team Leaders

Entangled Learning: Deep Learning in Community

Making a difference in the world requires developing skills for lifelong independent learning, participating in meaningful work (a practice), and building community around that work.  Participants in this project will explore social learning theories, including communities of practice, as well as skills for deep learning while developing the idea of Entangled Learning.  Outcomes include defining characteristics that relate to practice-based and social learning and integrating them with habits of deep learning.  Some qualitative research will be involved.

Team Leaders

Economics of Crime and Punishment in South Carolina, 1900 - present

The project will investigate the operation of the chain gang in Greenville County, South Carolina in the early 20th century. We will investigate who was sentenced to the gang to serve at hard labor, for which offenses, and for how long.             

Team Leaders

Heat transfer along the human arm in electric arch phenomenon(Mathematical Modeling with Advanced Engineering apps)

Students enrolled in the CI will be utilizing what they learned in differential equations to model and explore the phenomena of electric arc through the human arm and it's effects.

Team Leaders

Geologic Indicators of Climate Change

The goal of this project is quantify the difference between natural fluxes of carbon dioxide and anthropogenic sources. This is accomplished with a mobile eddy covariance tower and soil chambers.  Understanding human contributions to the carbon cycle will enable us to devise more sustainable solutions for the future.

Team Leaders

Research in Digital Media & Learning

Research in Digital Media & Learning gives students the opportunity to work as individuals or part of interdisciplinary teams to enact research that focuses on the intersection between digital media and learning. This CI is interest-driven, meaning that students should come with their own ideas about what they would like to investigate. Ideal candidates would be from any field, as long as their interests involve digital media and learning in some way. Students will be encouraged to present their work at a research conference and the Clemson FoCI conference.

Team Leaders

Using Magnetic Nanoparticles to Prevent Restenosis

Aging, smoking, diet, and genetic factors cause the build up of plaque in the arteries that provide nutrients to the heart, which is a major cause of heart attacks. To solve this problem, stents are commonly used to open the artery back up. In some cases, when a stent is inserted, it injures the walls of the blood vessel causing it to swell and block the blood vessel back up. In recent years, medicated stents have been used to deliver medication that reduces that swelling by reducing the growth and spreading of the cells that cause the problem. In doing that, they also stop the healing process of the injury site, which causes delayed effects like blood clots that block the artery. We designed a magnetic nanoparticle coated with heparin. Heparin is a drug that is naturally found in the body. It is known to stop the swelling in the wall of the blood vessel and accelerate the healing process. We have tested these nanoparticles on cells and mice to show that they are not toxic. We have started to test their effect on the cell growth and spreading to show that they are effective as a treatment option. We plan to deliver that nanoparticles to the stent using a magnetic field similar to the ones used in MRI imaging. This project would advance the treatment of blocked arteries without causing new problems. In doing so, we would eliminate the need for multiple surgeries to treat the complications. This helps save patients from complications associated with stent implantation and help patients live healthier lives. 

Team Leaders

Media Forensic Hub CI

In Spring 2021, the Hub is offering two sections of Creative Inquiry that approach this mission in different ways. We are looking for interested students to particulate in these projects. ---- Section 1. Media Forensics and Health  In this CI, we will introduce media forensic techniques regularly. Students will use those techniques with increasing levels of expertise to analyze media artifacts from conversations around health, especially around the COVID vaccine, that we jointly identify as interesting and important. As a team, students will publicly report on their findings, in a weekly update to the Hub website, to be disseminated to the CU Hub community and media partners to deepen how the public interprets these media artifacts.   Section 2. Phishing for Trolls, Bots, and Hackers:  The Generalized Analysis of Online Inauthenticity  In this CI, we will explore what we know about what strategies inauthentic online actors use in various contexts and what countermeasures are effective, in order to derive a general theory of online inauthenticity. From that holistic perspective we will derive broad implications for our scientific understanding of inauthenticity and the derivation and testing of novel interventions that are more generally applicable than the present more piecemeal approach. 

Team Leaders

LGBTQ+ Learning Communities: Queering University Spaces

The purpose of this creative inquiry project is to provide students with an opportunity to answer the broad question: How are universities deployed (or not) as queer spaces? The project involves an initial sequence that provides an overview of lgbtq+ studies and reviews the literature related to queer(ing) space on campus. Then two semesters of research experiences will be dedicated to introducing, designing, and implementing a participatory action research project that describes queer space as it pertains to Clemson University. Students will have an opportunity to design a study and collect, analyze, and present data in a variety of formats, including scholarly presentations and community education exhibits.  

Team Leaders

ASME Student Design Competition Team

The ASME Student Design Competition provides a platform for ASME Student Members to present their solutions to a range of design problems - from everyday household tasks to groundbreaking space exploration. Each team is required to design, construct, and operate a prototype meeting the requirements of an annually determined problem statement.The 2021 problem statement was just announced: Harvesting the Sun and WindThis year’s competition requires teams to design and build a vehicle capable of collecting solar and wind energy to extend the duration of operation while of a remotely controlled vehicle that navigates a course and transports weights to earn points. The validation of your design is intended to take place at a face-to-face ASME E-Fest Student Design Competition and/or a virtual event to be held in Spring 2021.  

Team Leaders

Cryptocurrencies and Blockchain technology with Monero

The cross-disciplinary CI team will learn about ethics, privacy, open source software development, cryptography, decentralized protocols, and data analytics in collaboration with the Monero Project and the School of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences. Monero is a privacy-centric open-source cryptocurrency with a global market capitalization exceeding a billion dollars. The Monero Research Lab is a workgroup of the Monero Project studying advancements in cryptographic protocols, computer information systems, and privacy in 21st century financial technology. 

Team Leaders

Transgene containment and removal in important perennial grasses

Turfgrass and switchgrass are among the most important perennial grasses significantly impacting agriculture production, agriculture economy, sustainable energy and environment. Like in many row crops, genetic engineering of both switchgrass and turfgrasses using transgenic technologies offers the opportunity to incorporate many economic and agronomic benefits that are difficult or impossible to achieve through traditional breeding techniques. However, the risk of transgene escape and the unforeseen environmental consequence by the use of transgenic technology in perennial grasses require development of strategies for transgene containment. We propose to develop and evaluate an integrated approach that combines a dual site-specific recombination system and total sterility induction mechanisms for transgene containment and removal in switchgrass and turfgrass, producing transgenic products self-contained for desirable transgene, but free of undesirable foreign DNAs.

Team Leaders

Developing Project Based Learning Modules to Enhance Education Experiences

Project based learning (PBL) is known to be an effective method to learn. This engages students and get them excited about the knowledge. It also develops skills such as critical thinking, communication and "connecting-the-dots". These skills are the foundations to convert from knowledge listeners to knowledge application drivers. In this work, we will research school curriculum especially from public schools in various countries such as US and India. We will design project based learning activities and protocols for these curriculum. We will develop applications and documentations for the same to make them available to publicly. We hope that this will provide students from underprivileged backgrounds education experience beyond classrooms. Further, we will collaborate with local and other schools across the city, state and countries to help them incorporate these PBL based modules with ease into their curriculum.The undergraduates in this project will work with team of their peers to identify the curriculum, and develop and research various PBL possibilities. Our focus will be to make them accessible and easy-to-follow so any student and teacher interested in them can adapt them. We also will focus on making them adaptable to different cultures and curriculums.

Team Leaders

Imaginative Ligands and Unique Metal Complexes: A Marriage of Organic and Inorganic Chemistry

Organic chemists often are puzzled by metals, and inorganic chemists are often puzzled by organic chemistry, but there are great opportunities in uniting the ability of organic chemists to generate complex 3D molecules with the unique reactivities and properties of metals.  This project combines the expertise of an organic chemist and an inorganic chemist to design, synthesize, and examine the metal-coordination properties of ligands for commonly studied metal ions such as iron and copper, as well as more exotic metal ions such as lanthanides uranium, and plutonium (note: undergraduate students will not be working with uranium and plutonium!).  This project uses synthetically versatile new approaches in organic synthesis to generate ligands with applications in biological, catalytic, and nuclear applications.  Once made, a variety of techniques are used to examine the metal coordination abilities of these ligands, including electrochemistry, stability constant determinations, and DNA damage and cellular assays.

Team Leaders

Assessing Impact of miR-33a, ABCA1, and ABCG1 Expression on Cholesterol Efflux in VSMC

Atherosclerosis is driven by cholesterol accumulation in vessel wall cells, which primarily consist of endothelial cells, vascular smooth muscle cells, and macrophages. Vessel wall cells can remove excess cholesterol via cholesterol efflux. Three main genes which regulate cholesterol efflux are ABCA1, ABCG1, and miR-33. While these genes have been extensively studied in endothelial cells and macrophages, there is scarce data on the impact of these genes when expressed in vascular smooth muscle cells. Therefore, this CI will assess the impact of these three genes on cholesterol efflux in vascular smooth muscle cells.

Team Leaders

Biology of Lipids and Lipid Droplets in Trypanosomes

We are investigating how the lethal blood parasite Trypanosoma brucei acquires and stores lipids from its host. More specifically, we are investigating the mechanisms of uptake and storage in lipid droplets of fatty acids.

Team Leaders

Data Analysis, Decision Making and Healthcare Modeling in Hospital and Clinic Settings

Prisma Health continues to expand its academic research presence as its relationship with Clemson faculty and students matures. In particular, the departments of Emergency Medicine and Perioperative Services have worked on process improvement initiatives where Clemson students have been able to contribute. This Creative Inquiry will be instrumental in supporting research projects in these departments, as well as hands-on support of various applied projects. One main driver in this research is the measurement of human performance and decision making in healthcare delivery, To support this research, students might have the opportunity to work with physicians, residents, and patients at various levels from data collection to presenting results. Students will also engage in data analytics and some healthcare modeling, depending on the student's background.

Team Leaders

Human Energy Metabolism

This project studies a wide range of factors contributing to energy metabolism, such as body composition measurement via DXA scan, monitoring nutrient metabolism and resting energy expenditure via metabolic cart, and physical activity and sleep monitoring with a wearable activity monitor.

Team Leaders

Understanding Autophagic Processes in Parkinson's Disease - A Cellular Exploration

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disease that causes balance and coordination problems that eventually lead to death and affects nearly 10 million people worldwide. As of today, there is no definitive test to diagnose and track the progression of PD This increases the need for a reliable biomarker to diagnose, track, and ultimately, treat the disease. PD has been linked to lysosomal storage disease characteristics. A potential biomarker has been discovered in a lysosomal storage disease, GM1 Gangliosidosis. This biomarker connects lysosomal enzyme upregulation to impaired autophagy. Between the connection with PD and LSDs, it is hypothesized that a similar biomarker can be found in PD. There are many PD cellular models that are used in disease research. These models typically are not all inclusive of the disease, but model a specific aspect of the disease, such as degeneration of dopaminergic neurons, the aggregation of a-synuclein, and accumulation lewy bodies. This project will explore potential biomarkers of PD and if one or more aspect of the disease is directly related to enzyme upregulation. Team members in this creative inquiry will research different cellular models of Parkinson’s Disease in order to determine potential biomarkers that can help diagnose and track the disease.

Team Leaders

Assessment of College Student Health

This research team is focused on assessing and evaluating college student health. Our primary focus is the analysis of the National College Health Assessment with both Clemson specific and National data. Student have the opportunity to learn key data analysis skills while exploring various topics that impact college student health. Student will also work on the projects to reduce high-risk activities, promote positive health practices, and foster healthy campus environments at Clemson University.

Team Leaders

Molecular Modeling of Biological and Polymer Systems

The Creative Inquiry project introduces students to computational materials science. We specifically focus on the atomistic and molecular behavior of materials and model this on a computer. We solve Newtons laws of motion for atoms experiences intermolecular forces. Using this information we can help with creating designer materials!

Team Leaders

Cancer Systems Biology in the Birtwistle Lab

This is a creative inquiry that broadly catches research projects going on in the Birtwistle Lab. In general, we do both basic and applied research at the interface of engineering and cancer biology. We specifically focus on cancer systems biology from both experimental and computational / theoretical perspectives. 

Team Leaders

SAE Layout Design

Provide recommendations for the SAE Formulae 1 and Baja work areas that address issues/opportunities identified by last year's CI team.

Team Leaders

The development of critical thinking in undergraduates

We conduct a continuing series of experimental and non-experimental studies examining the assessment and development of of critical thinking skills in undergraduates.  Team members review relevant literature, design the studies, collect data, analyze the data, and present the results and conclusions at local, regional, and international research meetings.

Team Leaders

Geologic Field Trip Design and Implementation

It has been said that the best geologist is the one who has seen the most rocks.  The rocks in the southeast US contain only a small fraction of the overall geologic diversity and the wet climate encourages ample vegetation that obscures what is there.  The goal of this project is to engage students by researching locations to observe geologic features of interest, plan a trip, and go there.

Team Leaders

South Carolina - China Economic Relations

The U.S.-China relationship is the most important bilateral relationship in the 21st Century and China has become the top destination for South Caroline exports.  In recent years China has expanded its international economic presence and South Carolina provides an alternative for Chinese outflow foreign direct investment.  Overall in the United States, China has established 1,583 companies with $46 billion that directly employs more than 80,000 Americans.  This project aims at exploring what South Carolina can offer to such international investment as Chinese FDI, what kind of business South Carolina has been able to attract from China, and what contributions Chinese investments are making to South Carolina's economic development. 

Team Leaders

Beaches and Deserts: The microbial cycling of iron and other nutrients and their importance to healthy ecosystems.

Microbes are responsible for numerous ecosystem functions processes. These functions and processes include the reduction and oxidation of biogenic metals as well as changing the form of non-metallic nutrients such as nitrogen. We seek to understand the microbes and their communities involved in these processes in arid and coastal ecosystems.

Team Leaders

Anth CI: Arch Lab Analysis

This project gives students the opportunity to work with archaeological data from the Fort Hill Plantation, located at the core of Clemson’s campus. Students learn archaeological laboratory methods through working with the artifacts excavated by Clemson students during the Fort Hill Plantation Field School, analysis of materials related to the landscapes and people that worked on what would later become Clemson University. Students can be involved in original scholarship about enslavement and the history of the Upstate region. Project components involved analysis and curation of historic period artifacts, 3D virtual reconstructions of artifacts, and Portable X-ray Fluorescence (pXRF) componential analysis of coal and soil deposits.

Team Leaders

Novel Applications of Photovoltaics

The goal of this project is to demonstrate that 100 % electric and thermal power needs of Anderson Research Park can be provided by photovoltaics and batteries at a cost lower than what University will be paying to Utility. 

Team Leaders

Hands on Tissue Engineering:

Tissue engineering is an emerging field -- the fabrication on human tissues that can alleviate the shortage of tissue/organ donation. Our group works on the fabrication of brain-like training models and R&D (research and development) of novel devices to create composite materials with specialized properties for tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. 

Team Leaders

Engineering a Highly Sensitive and Modular Cascade Biosensor for the Detection of COVID-19

Engineering biosensors for the detection of infectious diseases has become increasingly critical as the world is increasingly connected through trade and travel.This has become even more evident in recent years with the Ebola outbreak, the Zika virus, and now the novel coronavirus, COVID-19. The goal of this project is to create biosensors that detect minute amounts of specific protein targets, with a focus on COVID-19 proteins. In the past, proteins called single-chain variable fragments, or scFvs, have been engineered to bind to specific analytes, however, the larger challenge and goal of this project is the production of quantifiable output signals. These scFvs can be fused to split enzymes, and allowing the stoichiometric signal to be amplified through a cascading reaction. These biosensors will be able to further our ability to detect infectious diseases, specifically COVID-19, in a timely manner and lessen their impact on daily lives.

Team Leaders

Marine Conservation and Genetics

Over-fishing, pollution, and habitat destruction are among the major issues affecting marine life and habitats. Marine ornamental crustaceans, i.e., wild caught species sought by aquarium hobbyists due to their aesthetic value (e.g., bright coloration) and/or ability to control/eliminate aquarium pests, are particularly impacted by over-fishing and habitat destruction and do require immediate attention.             The ornamental fishery, a well-established multi-million dollar industry, often operates unnoticed due to their niche market, the frequency of product export, and the diminutive size of the target organisms. Little attention has been paid to them and they have been managed based on little to no life history information. The marine aquarium trade relies predominantly on wild caught species with > 90% taken from coral reefs and associated habitats. The industry has increased dramatically in recent years with a distinct focus on crustaceans (and other invertebrates) that provide “ecosystem services” for aquaria (control of aquarium pests). As these organisms are harvested for the services they can provide in an aquarium, those services are potentially lost from the ecosystem.             Immediately after corals, crustaceans represent the most heavily traded ornamental marine invertebrate worldwide. Basic life history information critical to manage any fishery with the goal of sustainability is largely absent. Furthermore, the mislabeling of the species traded in the industry is rampant. The development of a genetic (COI and/or 16S) barcode for this economically and ecologically important group of shrimps is warranted for achieving the goal of fishery sustainability.             This Creative Inquiry project aims at generating basic life history information about the most intensively traded species in the western Atlantic (e.g., shrimps from the genera Thor, Lysmata and Periclimenes, and crabs from the species complex Mithrax-Mithraculus). Furthermore, this project will setup the bases for the development of a genetic barcode for the most heavily harvested ornamental crustaceans.

Team Leaders

Visual exploration of scientific data (SciVis contest)

This Creative Inquiry aims at exploring scientific data by means of interactive visualization techniques. The project is developed in conjunction with the SciVis contest, a visualization challenge hosted every year at the IEEEVIS conference (http://ieeevis.org/).Students should expect to enroll in the CI project for 2 semesters. During the Fall semester, students will learn the basics of scientific visualization by working with Paraview. During the Spring semester, students will develop a new project based on the dataset published in the SciVis contest. High-quality projects will be submitted to the SciVis contest and, if accepted, students will have the chance to attend the IEEE VIS conference for presenting their work.

Team Leaders

Invasion ecology of non-native ornamental trees

Virtually all non-native trees in the United States were originally introduced as ornamentals and landscape trees. Their escape into natural and managed areas has been associated with declines in native biodiversity and alterations in food webs. We will look at the most common non-native ornamentals (e.g. Callery pear, privet) and their impacts on various native species from plants to pollinators, leaf litter arthropods, and twig borers. Students will design experiments to test hypotheses related to these potential impacts, collect and analyze respective data, and present the results in presentations and publications.

Team Leaders

Public Space in the Age of COVID-19: CAAV5 Conference

This project will be the research and development engine for the CAAV5 Conference, Oct. 14-17, 2020. Working with the Watt Family Innovation Center, we will develop and deliver a fully online conference including a student organized Hack-a-thon. Learning will encompass how we move from in-person content delivery to online/digital and virtual public space. There is the potential for various social and behavioral research projects related to this project. We plan to work with an industry partner, Mozilla. 

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Biochemical analysis of homologous recombination and DNA repair

Our laboratory studies the mechanism behind the repair of DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs). If not repaired, a DSB can result in genome instability and potentially, cancer. DSBs are caused by exposure to chemicals, radiation, oxidative reactive species generated during normal metabolism and damaged replication forks. The repair of DSBs often involves the homologous recombination (HR) DNA repair pathway. The heart of HR is the RAD51 and DMC1 recombinase. These enzymes catalyze the search for homology between the damaged DNA and the sister chromatid. The activity of the recombinases is modulated by a number of accessory proteins. We utilize a combination of molecular biological and biochemical techniques to determine the role these accessory proteins have in the modulation of RAD51 and DMC1 recombinase activity. The results of our studies will provide insight into the mechanistic underpinnings of HR and genome maintenance.

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Exploring New Materials for Advanced Lithium Ion Battery Applications

New materials will be explored for longer life and greater capacity of the next generation batteries. Metal-organic framework (MOF) solids are known for its propensity in host-guest chemistry relevant to gas absorption, ion-exchange, catalysis and cathode applications, to just name a few. Participants of Creative Inquiry project will learn the fundamental electrochemical (e-chem) skills and, with my supervision, are encouraged to formulate their own work in the exploration of MOF solids. We will employ the water-soluble polyoxometalates along with organic amines to build new MOFs through the e-chem synthesis at room temperature. The resulting solids will be subject to ion-exchange reactions and surface area analysis. We anticipate that new solids featuring open-framework structures suitable for electrode applications will result.

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Exploring New Magnetic Solids for Quantum Computing and Information Storage

Exploring new magnetic materials revealing quantum tunneling phenomenon for the next generation quantum computing. A new class of inorganic solids will be synthesized by high-temperature (<500 oC) solid state methods. A typical example can be seen in one of our recent publications (Chem. Mater. 2014, 26, 1502-1504) where the synthesis of magnetic nanostructures in condensed matter is shown feasible for the formation of desired quantum tunneling phenomenon. The resulting new solids will be subject to single crystal X-ray diffraction studies, UV-vis spectroscopic analysis, and magnetic susceptibility measurements. We anticipate temperature-independent magnetic relaxation, a signature phenomenon for quantum tunneling, will be observed in these new magnetic insulators.

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Engineering the Intervertebral Disc

Herniation and degeneration of the intervertebral discs (IVDs) in our spine can cause significant pain, disability and economic burden on a global scale. Current surgical strategies to repair and restore function to the IVDs have limitations. Regenerative medicine-based approaches for IVD repair and regeneration using stem cells and scaffolds hold significant promise, however to date an ideal scaffold that mimics the complex micro-architecture, biochemistry and mechanical properties of the entire IVD has yet to be developed. Previously, our CI has created a composite scaffold derived from cow tail IVDs that have had all the cow cells removed. The scaffolds have demonstrated similar physico-chemical properties compared to human IVDs and they support stem cell viability in vitro. Thus, the continued focus of the CI is to develop approaches to efficiently repopulate the scaffold with stem cells and to assess tissue regeneration on the IVD scaffold.

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Health Literacy in the American Sign Language Community

This CI is designed to explore ways to alleviate the communication barriers between healthcare systems and the deaf people who use American Sign Language (ASL). Through conducting research in the community, the researchers analyze a variety of data and information that addresses the existing health literacy issues being provided in ASL for deaf people. The purpose of this is to ensure that these individuals have the access to information pertaining to awareness about health welfare. The goal of this research is to create a better understanding for delivering health and medical information via ASL for deaf people with different educational backgrounds and to ultimately break down the prevailing communication barriers that they face in today's society. 

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Brain Tips

Students in this project learn more about the human brain and behavior. We find popular press and scientific articles that we think would be of interest to and help college and high school students and develop short, memorable tips to share using social media (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter). Students learn about the brain and how it works by developing ideas that others can find useful and apply in their lives. https://www.facebook.com/clemsonbraintips/; https://www.instagram.com/clemsonsss/

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Turning Teams of Experts into Expert Teams: Team Development in High Risk, High Stress Organizations

How do we turn teams of experts into expert teams, especially when they are teams working in stressful and demanding environments like healthcare, spaceflight, or the military? We are currently investigating this question in the DIGITAL (Deriving Innovative & riGorous scIence for Teaming And Leading) Research Lab, as teams today face new challenges which may require different interventions and strategies than what seems to work in traditional teams. This CI team will involve conducting lab and field research with populations such as medical teams, military teams, and spaceflight crews to answer this question and expand our current knowledge of teamwork and leadership in culturally diverse, physically distributed, dynamic, and adaptive work environments.

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Engineering for Modern Healthcare

The goal of this CI is to develop a method to organize hospital stockrooms using a color-coding scheme that can be used universally throughout various hospitals and stockrooms.

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Generation and Characterization of Radiation for Biomedical Applications

In recent years there has been a strong growth in the number of medical devices that use different types of radiation for treatment and imaging applications. There is also a growing interest in different fields ( e.g. medicine, biology, space research, electronics) to understand and utilize the effects of different forms of radiation. The effectiveness of radiation technology depends on the understanding of the interaction with the materials in question ranging from surfaces of solids to biological soft tissues.   The present research project lies on the borderline of physics and biology. The elementary physical processes of the interaction are well known, but their expressions in biological samples depend on the complex response of the system and its environment. Students in this project will explore different techniques to generate, detect, and characterize electromagnetic radiation, their uses in specialized medical devices, and their applications in research.    

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Science and Values in Environmental and Radiological Health

The objective of this project is to develop effective tools within the context of environmental and radiological health for emphasizing the interwoven nature of science and values and making ethics accessible for everyday decision making. This project also provides an introduction to the responsible conduct of research.

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Lab-on-a-chip and Microfluidics to identify the cause of disease in clinical diagnostics

We investigate the use of electric fields to identify and separate different strains of Candida cells. This is very important in the context of healthcare diagnostics since Candida is the causative pathogen of candidiasis, a medical condition affecting 46,000 patients yearly in the US with a mortality rate up to 44%. Identifying the strain causing this condition is crucial since front line antibiotics are not necessarily effective on all strains. For example, front line antibiotics commonly used for Candida albicans, the most likely cause of candidiasis, are not effective to eradicate C. glabrata, an emerging pathogen. The technology we are developing is a microfluidic chipset that utilizes a phenomenon known as Dielectrophoresis to selectively trap and detect different strains of Candida. This is uncharted territory and we are generating excellent results in several fronts. Go to www.multiscalemanufacturing.net to see more information

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Origami for Carbon-based Multifunctional Materials

Carbonaceous materials such as glassy carbon and metal carbides are widely used as electrodes in many applications including sensors, batteries, and capacitors. The focus of this CI is to derive these materials from renewable resources and elucidate ways to control their structure at multiple length scales, from the nano to the centimeter scale, to tailor their mechanical and electrical performance. The aim is at deriving multifunctional architectures such as structural batteries, sensors and batteries. To this end, we emphasize the use of origami techniques to create complex architectures in pure or doped paper, which we then carbonize at very high temperatures without the presence of oxygen. In this way we can derive complex, porous, lightweight architectures of carbonaceous materials. This is a powerful concept since we can create 3D architectures of engineering value from flat paper films. More details can be found in www.multiscalemanufacturing.net  

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The DEN (Design Entrepreneurship Network)

This CI allows student teams to be mentored by leaders in device design, development, marketing, patenting and small business development to forward student-led technology and ideas. Initially, this CI will focus on mentoring technologies that are being generated by other CI groups, as well as from other Capstone Design programs, but other “independent” teams and technical areas will be sought after the CI structure is established. Teams can include undergraduates and graduates, and preference is given to groups that have already formed around a topic or technology of interest. Mentors and guest speakers from industry, patent law, marketing and start-up businesses will work with student teams to take technology beyond the university development level.  The format will be very student driven, with small student teams presenting each week on some aspect of their technology development and business plans. These presentations will be the focal point for discussions, mentoring and advice.      

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In Vitro Vascular Biology Techniques

This project will consist of learning in vitro techniques needed to work in the field of vascular biology.  The first semester will involve becoming familiar with the skills needed to work independently with primary cells and cell lines commonly used within the vascular biology field.  The second semester will focus on more independent work involving data generation for grants proposals and/or manuscript submissions.  Satisfactory completion of this project will result in the student being competent in directly setting-up well controlled in vitro experiments individually and independently conducting these experiments without any extra assistance from other laboratory personnel.  Specific research projects students would be conducting will be measuring gene expression, protein expression, and cholesterol efflux in untreated and treated endothelial cells and vascular smooth muscle cells.

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Software Engineering Bots for Newcomers Onboarding to Open Source Projects

Onboarding refers to the process of teaching newcomers (new workers) the knowledge and skills needed to succeed in their positions. It serves as a way to integrate new workers into the environment both so they can understand how to succeed in their position but also integrate with their coworkers so they can work effectively as a team. It is during this period that programmers become familiar with a new project, its source code, and its team. While it is considered a necessity, it is also very costly and error-prone. Open-source software (OSS) projects leverage the coordinated effort from globally distributed stakeholders who build high-quality software. To remain sustainable and to evolve, several projects rely on the onboarding and retention of newcomers. However, attracting newcomers and engaging them are not easy tasks. Previous work shows that the barriers posed during the joining process may lead newcomers to give up on contributing. Joining an OSS project is a complex, multi-stage process, and this complexity could push newcomers away from the project.We propose to create a conversational bot that could help newcomers with finding open source projects that they can contribute to and guide them throughout the process. Newcomers face difficulties when onboarding to new projects. We believe that a bot that guides the newcomer, offering help when there is no activity, provides resources and recommends experienced developers for assistance, the newcomer will feel more confident and will be poised to have a successful contribution.

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Plant biotechnology for use in crop genetic improvement

Abiotic stress, such as salinity, drought, heat, cold and nutritional stress, is the major factor significantly impacting crop production. Understanding molecular mechanisms underlying plant response to various stresses will facilitate development of molecular strategies in genetically engineering crop species with enhanced performance under adverse environmental conditions. In this proposed study, we use molecular genetics and genomics approaches to dissect molecular mechanisms determining plant salt stress response, and will develop molecular strategies using agricultural biotechnology approach to modify candidate genes in transgenic plants producing new cultivars with enhanced salt tolerance. This will lead to genetic improvement of important crop species with enhanced performance under adverse environmental conditions contributing to increasing agricultural productivity.

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Sustainable Landscape Demonstration Garden

   Design, installation, and maintenance are essential to creating a sustainable landscape that is a display or model for education. Sustainability is defined according to the Brundtland report (1987) as the integrated use of social, environmental, and economic approaches to effect positive developmental change. Sustainable Sites Initiative (2009) is a working model for the creation of sustainable landscapes. Sustainable Landscape Demonstration Garden is a project that intends to alter the physical environment and enhance the landscape using environmental and psychological measures through the design and installation of a native plant garden.  Visit Sustainable Landscape Demonstration Web site: http://www.clemson.edu/cafls/demo/  and select "Meet the Team" to view past student experiences.                                   

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Synthetic Biology

Synthetic Biology is a new engineering discipline studying principles and techniques for the design of devices made of biological materials (DNA, proteins, cells). Synthetic Biology uses microorganisms and molecular constituents as blocks (BioBricks) for the development of artificial (synthetic) biological system with novel functions. Students will use BioBricks from the Registry of Standard Biological Parts (http://partsregistry.org/Main_Page) as well as new parts of their own design to build biological systems and operate them in living cells to address important current global issues. This will be a year-long project driven by student participants.

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Clemson University Soil Judging Competition Team

 "The Muddy Tigers", Clemson University's Soils Team, "digs" in deep into how South Carolina soils. Soils play an important role in food, fiber, fun, and our future! The Muddy Tigers learn how to characterize soils, and evaluate the landscape, to make sound decisions on what a soil can be used for. 

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Research Using Museum Collections

The goal of this Creative Inquiry project is twofold: 1. Use museum collections, starting with our own Bob and Betsy Campbell Museum of Natural History on Clemson’s campus, to answer research questions that could lead to future publications and presentations at scientific conferences; 2. Serve the museum and others that would like to use the collection for research purposes in the future by databasing and digitizing collections that we access and use.

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Inter-kingdom communications - studies on C. elegans and bacteria interactions

Bacteria are known to have social behaviors just like the higher organisms. They use special "languages" to talk to each other and make group decisions. The "languages" (or signaling molecules) are small chemical compounds, such as auto-inducers and secondary metabolites, produced and secreted by the bacterial cells. Recent studies have revealed that functions of these signaling molecules are not restricted to communications between bacterial cells, but extend to cross kingdoms, i.e. communications between bacteria and their hosts. In this research, we will use the nematode, C. elegans, as a model to study the inter-kingdom communications. Specifically, we will investigate (1) interactions between bacterial pathogens and C. elegans, and (2) effects of probiotics on C. elegant healthspan.   

Team Leaders

Machine Learning and Big Data Research (ML/BD)

Machine Learning is a field which is becoming increasingly useful in a wide variety of domains due to the accumulation of large amounts of raw data (“big data”) and the availability of high-performance computing (HPC) systems which can process this data.  These domains include image processing, natural language processing, autonomous driving, gene set analysis, molecular structure classification, and many others. The goal of this Creative Inquiry is to equip students with the various skills required to apply machine learning techniques to real-world problems, which includes data-related issues such as how to select and load a dataset, software-related issues such as how to implement a machine learning pipeline from basic components, and hardware-related issues such as how to best take advantage of GPUs and other high-performance computing resources.  Students will gain hands-on experience with machine learning / big data by working on a real-world problem of their choice.

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Decision-Making and Risk-Taking

The purpose of this Creative Inquiry team is to conduct research on the (1) effect of emotion and reward motivation on goal-directed decision-making as well as (2) how individual differences, such as personality and susceptibility to performance pressure, affect risk-taking behaviors.  Decision-making is an inescapable, prevalent phenomenon that can have significant consequences.  This research aims to understand factors and cognitive mechanisms that affect decision-making and risk-taking. Students should expect to enroll in the CI project for at least 2 semesters. 

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Insect Viruses and Physiology

Insects provide excellent opportunities to perform basic and applied biological experiments at the molecular, physiological and organismal scales. They serve as model organisms for developmental and cellular biology, and are important vectors for human and agricultural pathogens. As a result, working with insects can expose students to numerous hard and soft skills useful in a range of life-sciences fields, from medical to agricultural biology, evolutionary and ecological to developmental and immunological. In this project, students will develop and work on projects examining the evolutionary physiology of an insect virus by looking at host-specific patterns and mechanistic basis of pathology, and molecular evolution, of different members of a virus gene family. To do this, students may participate in DNA barcoding of host insects, isolation of novel gene family members, and use of recombinant viruses and transgenic Drosophila melanogaster in organismal and cell culture bioassays. Techniques commonly used include fluorescent microscopy, immunological approaches, PCR and sequencing, and more. Students are required to participate in communicating data in weekly group meetings, and then via on-campus, state, regional, and national meetings. 

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Building Elder Care Services

Students work with the professor to assess caregivers attitudes, knowledge and benefits about the care of persons with cognitive impairment.  The students will do community based action research and consider policy changes that could improve the health of elders and those who care for them.

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Creative Play

Creative Play studies formalistic models for visual computation applied to creative disciplines, science engineering, humanities and art. This CI project will introduce the LEGO brick system as a catalyst for creativity in design and as an introduction to formal systems for visual computation. Topics include design creativity, formal composition, engineering problem solving, exploratory research, manufacturing and game theory.

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Design Morphology

Design Morphology studies form and structure of natural structures and processes to find applications in the build environment. The initial focus will be for structural applications using pre-cast concrete. Subjects of study include Geometry, Topology, Computational Design, Origami, Deployable Structures and Kinetic Design.

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Cities, Memories and Models

Cities, Memories and Models aims to create a collection of scale models to serve as visual catalog of significant architecture and urban environments in the most prominent cities in the US.

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Science education and outreach in middle schools

Help develop fun activities for K-12 science classrooms! Through this CI, small teams will generate lesson boxes (“kits”) and activities to help local teachers communicate concepts in genetics, evolution, and developmental biology for the 6th-8th grade classroom. The goals of this project are to promote understanding of concepts, science literacy, and excitement about STEM for middle school students. Over multiple semesters we will develop grade-appropriate inquiry-based activities, generate class resources for teachers, and implement these activities in local classrooms with the College of Science Outreach Center. Team members in marketing and graphic communication will create branding materials, assist in generation of classroom materials, and design and establish communication materials such as flyers, websites, and social media.

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Collaborative for Communication and Culture

This creative inquiry is designed to support Clemson’s land-grant mission and CBSHS’s goal to build people and communities by fostering collaboration between students and departments performing cutting-edge cultural criticism. Cultural criticism entails committed and rigorous analysis that draws on a variety of research traditions. This interdisciplinary work aims to assess, advocate, and advance positive change in the communities and cultures in which we live. 5C emphasizes student mentorship and training, and allows students to collaboratively develop projects that train them in critical communication approaches to problem solving, leading to meaningful interventions in South Carolina and the region.

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The use of medical-grade compression clothing in children with Autism

On this team, students will explore the effect of medical-grade compression vests on the behavioral responses of children with autism.  The use of compression clothing, widely employed in sensory integration therapy and marketed to parents of children with autism, is not supported (nor refuted) as a viable therapy option in any known published manuscripts.  In this study, the effectiveness of this therapy technique will be scientifically established.  Student researchers will video record the children with and without compression vests.  The video data will later be reviewed to determine the vests’ effectiveness. 

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RCA Product Development Competition

Student teams will develop a proposal for food products based on the criteria set by the Research Chefs Association (RCA). Teams will develop both a gold standard and the corresponding manufactured item formulations. If selected, teams will compete in the Student Culinology® Competition at the RCA's annual conference. 

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The Final Frontier: Preparing Astronauts for Teamwork and Leadership in Long Duration Space Missions

How do astronaut crews function effectively when their missions last not just weeks, but potentially years? How will they perform from a teamwork perspective when they are with their team members 24/7 for years at a time, with very little or even no contact with Earth? Who will take on leadership roles, and how will they dynamically interact to ensure mission success? How do we select the "right" team members to even start this journey? We are currently investigating these questions in the Developing and Improving Globally Integrated Teamwork and Leadership (DIGITAL) Lab. While astronaut crews have successfully conducted a range of missions over the past several decades, moving to long duration space exploration is a new and uncharted territory that has many unknown implications. Although much of the focus has been on how to physically get astronauts to destinations like Mars, we also need to understand how to prepare these crews to interact effectively as a team--that is, how do we take this team of experts and turn them into an expert team? In this Creative Inquiry project, we will use a range of methods, including getting access to NASA's simulated crew environments, in order to run studies that will help us answer all of these questions (and more!). 

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Montana Prairie Ecology

This Creative Inquiry is part of an undergraduate summer program that exposes Clemson students to the biodiversity and working landscape of the Great Plains through directed research experiences.  Students will spend the spring semester learning about the ecosystem, developing research questions and preparing for the summer when they will travel to Montana.  In the fall, the project will focus on analyzing resulting data.  More information on the project and how to apply can be found at:  http://prairieecology.blogspot.com/ 

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Single Molecule Biophysics

In this project, students get the opportunity to explore and learn about single molecule biophysics. What it takes to do studies at the single molecular level, the methodologies need to prepare the samples, at the interface of all basic sciences. Students select among various molecular systems that we currently work with in the lab, and learn how to prepare the samples, how to measure them and how to interpret the results.

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Smart and Healthy Buildings

Buildings are generally considered as static objects with limited capability to adapt to varying environmental and operational conditions. One important aspect is the flow of users, which can vary significantly during a typical day. This project consists of developing and testing the technology necessary to identify and quantify the flow of users in a building, and even track the location of each user in real time. It is anticipated that once users can be tracked, the building operating conditions, such as HVAC conditions and lighting, can be altered to create the necessary conditions for optimal comfort. Several technologies are under development including the analysis of signal strength of mobile devices from wireless access points. The students involved in this CI project will work with industrial partners to test various technologies in several buildings on campus, including the Watt Family Innovation Center.

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Mysteries of Water

We are surrounded (and made of!) water, yet many aspects of its behaviour are still poorly understood.  How does water make dry sand all of a sudden become so firm?  How does jello, made up of 99.95% water, hold its shape so well?  Why do water droplets in the sky congregate to form isolated clouds instead of dispersing according to normal process of diffusion?  How does the osmosis of water into wood produce enough force to crack rocks?  In this CI we will conduct experiments and analyses to try to better understand and explain these strange behaviours of water.

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Future Manufacturing: Nano 3D printing using bacteria

Imagine using bacteria as tiny 3D printers to weave a material from the bottom-up. We know that many bacteria can synthesize useful materials. In this project we use 1) a bacteria that transforms sugar in its environment to high purity cellulose nanofibers with excellent mechanical properties, and 2) electric fields  to manipulate the bacteria in time and space. The project focuses on the study of the effects of electric field on the synthesis of bacterial cellulose, and the development of optoelectronic tweezers to manipulate single bacterial cells in designed trajectories. Go to www.multiscalemanufacturing.net to see videos

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Redfern Sexual Health

Redfern is the student health facility at Clemson University and offers many services related to sexual health. The purpose of the study is to see how knowledgeable Clemson students are about these services.

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The Nanomaterials Studio: Modeling Materials at the Nanoscale

Nanomaterials are a class of materials with a feature size (e.g., crystal size, a dimension of an object) in the nano-metric (10^-9 m) regime. Many new phenomena and properties emerge in nanomaterials that enable a wide range of real-life applications, including miniaturized electronics, light-weight structures, and energy harvesting and conversion devices. In this CI project, students will perform research activities related to the field metallurgy and gain hands-on experience in performing simulations that explore the thermal and mechanical behavior of a wide range of nano-structured metals. The goal of such studies is to explore size effects in novel metallic systems and identify features at the nanoscale that optimize their properties. The research work is computational in nature and employs a wide range of simulation tools.

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Establishing a Clemson University-K-12 Research Collaboration/CU Investors

This Creative Inquiry group works with teachers from local middle schools, with an emphasis on under-resourced communities, to design and implement experiments that reinforce scientific theories and processes they learn in the classroom. 

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Research and Development for the National Dairy Council's Annual New Product Competition

Small teams of undergraduates create a new dairy product to enter into the annual National Dairy Council new product competition. Emphasis being placed on conducting sensory panels and understanding ingredient functions as is relates to dairy foods. 

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Prosthetics - Socket Fit Sensor

We have developed a sensor which will allow users and medical personnel to score a socket based on how well it fits a user.  We are currently working on an evaluation apparatus, which will allow us to test the sensor in a relevant way. 

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Assessing Reasoning

We are studying a number of aspects of reasoning and attention, including: 1. fault diagnosis (finding what caused a particular event to happen); 2. making decisions about your health; and 3. attention allocation during driving (how can drivers make wise decisions about where to attend to next?, eg, should i take that cell phone call?)

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Measuring Functional Brain Asymmetry in Realistic Settings

Short Public Project Description Functional Brain asymmetry (the fact that the hemispheres of the brain show consistent differences in the type of cognitive and motor functions they control) has been known for over a century and is generally considered as one of the fundamental aspects of brain organization. Nonetheless, the reason why the brain is functionally asymmetric remains unclear.  One of the leading theories proposes that a crucial advantage that brain asymmetry may offer is to increase neural capacity, because specializing one hemisphere for a particular function leaves the other hemisphere free to perform other (additional) functions. However, to date the type of evidence showing a relationship between behavioral performance and degree of functional hemispheric asymmetry is quite limited.  One of the main reasons for this is that most current imaging studies (i.e., fMRI studies) of functional hemispheric asymmetry are conducted in highly artificial settings which drastically limit the type of cognitive/behavioral tasks that the subjects can perform. As a solution to the above-mentioned limitations of current research, I am developing a research program in which 1) the subjects are engaged in cognitive and motor tasks performed in more realistic settings, and 2) measures of brain function are obtained using functional transcranial Doppler technology (fTDS), a portable and fully non-invasive imaging technology, based on the same principles and technology of ultrasound imaging.

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Martian and Lunar Soil Simulants - Characterizations and Feasibility as Building Blocks

Efficient in-situ resource utilization is a critical component of NASA’s current and future Mars and Lunar exploration missions. In this CI project, the team aims to explore innovative, energy efficient and sustainable processes to transform in situ Martian and Lunar resources into construction materials for functional building blocks.

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Video game development for fun learning of distributed dynamical systems

This project aims at the development of a car racing video game which can enhance the student learning experience of distributed dynamical  systems and intelligent transportation. The project will be built upon existing work which already realized a sophisticated vehicle simulator, a  game framework, and graphics engine. Students will be focused on developing an interface between existing work and intelligent transportation systems. The game development itself will be a fun learning process. Knowledge of Linux and C++/C is required. No knowledge of distributed dynamical systems is needed.

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Development of novel antifungals

A number of drugs are inhibitors of antimicrobial growth. We have identified medicinal leads that are active antifungals and also inhibit bacterial growth. Using chemical and biochemical techniques, this project will explore how we can tailor the chemical structures of these leads to develop better drugs. 

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Targeted gene editing in mammalian cells

Gene therapy has been proposed for inherited and acquired diseases yielding promising results in animal studies and human clinical trials. The advent of gene-editing tools, such as CRISPR/Cas9 nucleases have unleashed new possibilities for curing diseases at the genetic level. In this creative inquiry, we will investigate the application of genome editing tools for achieving precise gene modification in target cells for therapeutic applications.

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Dirty Pledges: Metapopulations, Microbiomes and the Secret Lives of Clemson Fraternity Cockroaches

How many cockroaches are there in a fraternity? And does this number vary from one fraternity to another? Do cockroaches born in one fraternity ever venture to another? Or do they spend their whole lives in a single location? And if there is movement of insects, how far do they go? Although we know a lot about cockroach life history, we don't know too much about their patterns of spatial use. What we do know - for instance the fact that they must go outside to breed - suggests that cockroaches may form metapopulations when distributed across buildings. That is, most insects spend the vast majority of their time in one building; however, there is occasional movement between the otherwise largely separate populations. If this is true, then cockroaches make an easily accessible (albeit a little gross) system for studying metapopulation models. Metapopulation dynamics have long been studied in other species, including other insects. However, what hasn't been studied is the effect that metapopulation dynamics have on host microbiomes. For this Creative Inquiry, we will first examine cockroach spatial dynamics. We will then examine cockroach microbiomes to determine whether these can be differentiated based on the fraternity/building from which a cockroach is collected. Beyond providing valuable insight into cockroach movement and the bacteria that they carry from house to house, this work will also help to define fundamental relationships between host spatial population dynamics and host microbiomes.

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Narratives of Incarceration: Upstate Critical Thinking Initiative

Mass incarceration and recidivism rates continue to grow in the U.S. This is a subject that U.S. citizens rarely think about but it directly affects them – 95% of prisoners are released and over 70% commit another crime within seven years that lands them right back in the prison they left – which directly affects public safety. Education is the only known method of reducing recidivism. However, prisons mostly punish rather than rehabilitate. The aim of this project is to research and create a critical thinking initiative that keeps possible societal reintegration and penal abolition in its sight. The program would focus on ways to evolve reading and writing (narratives, academic papers) skills as a means of empathetic rehabilitation and create artifacts that serve as portfolios for the incarcerated students.

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Athlete Performance Science

Athlete Performance Science gives the opportunity to students to collect and analyze data from Olympic Weightlifting assessment performance outcomes. The goals of the Olympic Weightlifting program include diagnostic testing, performance profiling, athlete readiness, load monitoring, and data integration. In order to accomplish these goals, the team uses numerous testing instrumentations to collect performance data. The CI will utilize student knowledge of athletics to assist in data collection with force plates, load monitoring, sprint training, fatigue tracking, and other measures. Students will be given the opportunity to master athlete monitoring systems used by the Olympic Weightlifting team. All of these measurements will give some insights to how the athlete is performing on a strength and conditioning level. Following data collection, students will analyze the data into performance evaluations. Students will compare the data internal to the athlete over time or between weight room and practice performance. Students will have the potential to show how an athlete’s strength, quickness, speed, risk to injury changes across seasons or across years in the sport. All of these findings could provide deeper insight to our Clemson athletes’ abilities and has the potential to improve their player performance and reduce risk to injury.

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Japanese stiltgrass invasion in a multi-use forest: patterns, mechanisms and perceptions

Introduction to invasion ecology research, with emphasis on Japanese stiltgrass (Microstegium vimineum) invasion in “multiple-use” forest landscapes. The Clemson Experimental Forest (CEF) will be used for field sites for a project that assesses if recreational trails and trailheads facilitate Japanese stiltgrass invasion.

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The Phoenix Challenge

The Phoenix Challenge Creative Inquiry gives students the chance to create packaging for several products during all stages of the development to final execution, while competing with peers from other schools.  This project serves as the structure in which students prepare for The Phoenix Challenge Competition, a competition held between more than dozen universities across North America. Educators from the different universities come together to choose a design brief posing a new problem within the field and students spend a year creating a product that meets the guidelines. Past examples include designing, prototyping and printing packaging for snack foods, golf products, hotel toiletries and coffee.    Each year the team creates packaging solutions for several products that will be used and distributed by a small business. This has posed an additional learning experience as the team meets expectations and deadlines from a customer and works in collaboration with industry professionals outside of Clemson. Students are fully self-directed in the process—they conduct background and market research, come up with the design, organize prepress and layout, print and perform finishing details, all while communicating with the company. All products are produced by the students enrolled in the CI within the GC labs on donated equipment with donated materials. The initial quantity of the products are small and are intended to allow the small business to use the packaging while waiting for a true production run with a commercial printing company. In past years, the quantities produced by the students were was sufficient because it was for an event such as Springfest, the Tigers-4-Tigers run and the Greenville Zoo Kids Day Out Event.

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Drinking Water Quality

Students work to evaluate drinking water quality in the state of South Carolina. They test private wells, municipal water systems, and ambient source water for contaminants like E-coli and nitrate. They also measure general water quality parameters like pH, conductivity, hardness, alkalinity, and temperature.

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Meiotic Homologous Recombination

Our laboratory studies the mechanism behind the repair of DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) by homologous recombination during meiosis.  We use both human and the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae to study meiotic recombination. The introduction of DNA double-strand breaks during meiosis is carefully controlled.  If not repaired, a DSB can result in genome instability and potentially, cancer. DSBs are caused by exposure to chemicals, radiation, oxidative reactive species generated during normal metabolism and damaged replication forks. The repair of DSBs often involves the homologous recombination (HR) DNA repair pathway. The heart of HR is the RAD51 and DMC1 recombinase. These enzymes catalyze the search for homology between the damaged DNA and the sister chromatid. The activity of the recombinases is modulated by a number of accessory proteins. We utilize a combination of molecular biological and biochemical techniques to determine the role these accessory proteins have in the modulation of RAD51 and DMC1 recombinase activity. The results of our studies will provide insight into the mechanistic underpinnings of HR and genome maintenance.

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Application of Machine Learning to Science and Engineering

In this project, students will learn and work on applying machine learning methods to science and engineering problems, including 1) understanding the factors in composite materials manufacture to enable industry 4.0, 2) Discovery of Twin-Phase Composite Oxides for Practical Solar Thermochemical Hydrogen Production, 3) Predicting methylation states in plants using Nanopore sequencing data.

Team Leaders

Physics of Sports Laboratory Development

In this Creative Inquiry project, we will be involved in the creation and development of the laboratory component of a new general education course focused on the physics of sports. We will collaboratively design and test new laboratory exercises and deploy these exercises into the new lecture course associated with this project. Potential topics  include Coefficient of Restitution, Deflategate and Materials Advantages in Sports. 

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Drones for Natural Resource Management

Drones or Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) have become a critical tool for natural resource management.  This CI will focus on teaching students the skills and laws associated with legal use of UAVs for natural resource management.  Topics covered include: the various sensors and types of UAVs, data collection planning and methods, processing data and accuracy evaluation, safe operations of UAVs, and the legal framework for using UAVs for commercial and research purposes (under FAA Part 107 rules).  Students will typically focus on one related research topic during the semester that leverages the high spatial and temporal resolution of UAV data to address a research topic in natural resources.

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Coupling Green Roofs, Rainwater Cisterns, and Urban Agriculture

This project is exploring the possible synergy between utilizing green roofs, rainwater cisterns, and roof top agriculture. Green roofs have many benefits, but their impact on reducing stormwater runoff quantity from larger design storms is limited. Including a cistern can be a way to improve this, a cistern by itself is not a reasonable approach if there is no use for the stored water. Urban agriculture is the link that we will use to couple these two BMPs as the stored water can be used to irrigate the plants in the green roof, which expands the types of plants which can be grown to crops which can be harvested and produce a source of revenue as well as a source of locally produced food.

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Using an Arduino for Tech Development

This project is teaching students to use Arduinos to allow students to develop their own prototypes. An Arduino microcontroller is an easy to learn interface between electrical hardware and programing. After students have learned the basic concepts, they will be allowed to brainstorm and create a device of their choosing and design which utilizes an Arduino to solve a problem.

Team Leaders

Diagnostic imaging in animal research

Formal laboratory, library, or field study of problems related to diagnostic imaging research in animals, emphasizing hypothesis development, testing, and reporting results. 

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Fish Biodiversity Challenge

This Creative Inquiry project focuses on conservation science of South Carolina's native fishes. Students learn sampling and lab techniques, as well as data management and analysis. Students have the opportunity to develop independent research projects and present findings at professional conferences, as well as author scientific publications.

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Injured Military Veteran Adaptive Sport Program Development

This is going into Year 5 of a grant where we work with Injured Military veterans and get them exposed to adaptive sport opportunities with a focus on soccer but many other sports as well. We host at least 8 camps per year at Clemson and then travel to a number of other cities or military bases to implement the program as well. Students will be involved with planning the camps, working directly with the injured military veterans and collecting data surrounding best practices, program evaluation and impact. In addition, we are beginning to be asked to deliver presentations about our programs nationally so students will have those opportunities as well. 

Team Leaders

Biomimicry and Biomimetics

Biomimicry is an approach to innovation that seeks sustainable solutions to human challenges by emulating nature's time-tested patterns and strategies. Biomimicry and Biomimetics aims to create products, processes, and policies—new ways of living—that are well-adapted to life on earth over the long haul using nature as a model. This project proposes to observe and investigate the diverse ecosystem of the greater Clemson area watershed.

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Activity in School-aged Children

This CI team investigates the effects of physical activity on performance and behavior in school-aged children. In general we are interested in how light activity while completing tasks may affect the students' ability to perform as well as their behavior in the classroom setting.

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Tiger Gardens: healthy home gardens to combat malnutrition and obesity in SC, USA

Research suggests that failure to link agricultural production with human nutrition and health has led to the development of unhealthy food systems. Malnutrition and high calorie linked chronic diseases are the result of unhealthy food systems. A sensible and quick approach to combat nutritional challenges would be to increase dietary diversity through vegetables that can provide a range of essential nutrients.  This proposed Creative Inquiry project provides an introduction to vegetable production, value addition, and nutrition.  Students are expected to develop a home garden model to provide year-round nutritious vegetables (especially micronutrients and vegetable proteins) to a small family. 

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Mind Controlled 3D Printing

In this project, we explore a conceptual Brain-Computer Interface (BCI) by controlling a 3D printer with Electroencephalogram (EEG) recordings. We currently have a lab-built printer and a lab-built a 2D that serves as a demo version, and a 3D printer that is the final goal. In addition, the team is exploring the usage of an open-source platform for EEG.

Team Leaders

Nutrient Acquisition and Utilization in Toxoplasma gondii

Infection with Toxoplasma gondiiin people with compromised immune systems can result in severe morbidity and even lethality. A detailed mechanistic understanding of how Toxoplasmaparasites metabolize nutrients will contribute to identifying new targets to impact disease.

Team Leaders

The role of acetate metabolism in fungal pathogenesis

Invasive fungal infections cause nearly one and a half million deaths annually, accounting for nearly 50% of all AIDS-related deaths. Cryptococcus neoformans, an invasive opportunistic pathogen of the central nervous system, is the most frequent cause of fungal meningitis. Exposure to C. neoformans is common, as it is an environmental fungus found in the soil that can enter the lungs through inhalation and disseminate to the central nervous system in susceptible individuals. An increased rate of infection occurs in individuals with impaired cell-mediated immunity, particularly those with AIDS and recipients of immunosuppressive therapy. The widespread availability of antiretroviral therapy in developed countries has helped improve the immune systems of many HIV patients to decrease their susceptibility to infection. However, cryptococcal meningitis is still a major problem in resource-limited regions of the world such as sub-Saharan Africa where HIV prevalence is high and access to healthcare is limited. The CDC estimates the yearly burden of cryptococcal meningitis to be nearly one million cases with more than 190,000 deaths. Despite the global significance of cryptococcal meningitis, current treatments are inadequate as the gold standard therapy is based on half century old drugs that have a wide range of liabilities and shortcomings. Metabolic adaptability and flexibility are important attributes for fungal pathogens to successfully infect and cause disease. Although carbon metabolism is critical for virulence in C. neoformans, very little is known about which carbon sources are utilized during infection. Our long-term goal is to provide a better understanding of how Cryptococcus can adapt its metabolism to survive in the changing environments encountered during infection. Developing a more in-depth understanding of the metabolism and physiology of this pathogen during infection may facilitate identification of suitable targets for new antifungal therapies.

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Object Use in Individuals with Autism

For this project, students will explore how individuals with autism interact with everyday objects.  

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Team Research in Computational Environments

This creative inquiry research project seeks to further our understanding of how humans work and interact with artificially intelligent agents in a team environment. The Team Research in Computational Environments lab group conducts and reports on multiple experiments supporting this field every semester and this creative inquiry allows Clemson students the opportunity to learn how to conduct such research and conduct their own study on human-autonomy teaming.

Team Leaders

An Examination of Death in Pickens County

In this project, students build a spatial database of coroner records from Pickens County, SC. Students develop skills in database management and GIS software to understand the patterns of death in the county over time. 

Team Leaders

Trulite Shipping and Next Generation Packaging

This Corporate CI project centers on designing two supply chains.  One is for hardware used in some of their products and the other is for producing low-demand products. This project is supported by Trulite Glass and Aluminum Solutions.

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3D printing Architected Electrodes

This CI focuses on the research of 3D printing of pastes, a.k.a. robocasting, to create complex architected WC structures with unprecedented versatility. The paste to print is a composite of biopolymers and oxide nanoparticles. Once printed, these biopolymer composite architectures are heat treated to high temperatures to yield tungsten carbide. The electrical properties of these architected carbide shapes are then measured under mechanical load. The goal is to elucidate the relation between processing, the microstructure of the material, and the electrical and mechanical performance of the structure. Understanding such relation will enable the fabrication of electrically-conductive structures with optimized properties towards achieving structural batteries, fuel cells and capacitors. More details are in www.multiscalemanufacturing.net 

Team Leaders

Innovations in Bioinstrumentation

Bioinstrumentation is an interdisciplinary subject of applying physical principles and mechanical, electronic and chemical engineering technologies to acquire, analysis and display information from cells, tissues, organs and entire organisms including the human body. This CI was created to allow students to design and build their own bioinstrumentation and/or wearable biomedical technology projects. (Instrumentation class/experience is a pre-requisite for this team)

Team Leaders

Marine Ecology

Marine ecology is an interdisciplinary field of study that integrates research efforts of marine science, conservation biology, evolutionary ecology, oceanography, and fisheries science.  The goal of marine ecology research is to understand the abiotic and biotic factors that influence the interactions of marine life with their environment.  Students in the Marine Ecology Creative Inquiry team will conduct research on the ecology of Caribbean spiny lobsters and coral reef fishes in response to changes in water quality and habitat quality in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary.  Due to COVID-19, students will participate in data analysis, presentation, and publication preparation and submission. We have one publication in review and two publications in preparation that students are getting experience with. Although we will not be able to travel to the field with out students this semester, the spring semester will also be used to determine which students we will bring to the field for our summer-long research trips (if permitted through the university). Students with SCUBA certification will be trained to conduct data collection as a scientific diver. Senior students with sufficient experience will have an opportunity to develop senior thesis research questions of their own design. 

Team Leaders

A.R.C.H.E.R. (Accessible Recreational Creations to Highlight Educational Reach) Design Works

Design targeted solutions with the ARCHER (Accessible Recreational Creations to Highlight Educational Reach) Design Works Creative Inquiry! Archery has been integrated into the physical education curriculum in K-12 schools across the state of South Carolina. However, students with disabilities can’t always participate fully. Through the ARCHER creative inquiry, Clemson students can design and develop engineering solutions to help these students experience the excitement that comes with hitting the bullseye. Clemson students will be paired with a K-12 student with a disability and will spend the semesters enrolled getting to know the K-12 student, learning about the PE archery program and current adaptive sports techniques, and designing and developing a prototype device to assist the K-12 student in archery competition.  

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Child Development

The goal of this CI team is to better understand parent-child interactions, taking special consideration to how the dynamics of the child’s personality and temperament impact the quality of these interactions. We currently have three ongoing projects 1) how parent-child attachment develops during the first year of infancy into toddlerhood and child as well as parental and child factors that impact attachment; 2) how parents and non-parents perceive and respond to infant crying and toddler temper tantrums; and 3) how parents and non-parents handle multitasking and/or focusing on specific tasks (like driving), when hearing negative emotions from their children, such as infant crying or toddler/child temper tantrums, particularly with how it impacts parents’ own emotion regulation, attention, and physiological reactions? 

Team Leaders

Education and Entitlement: Improving Learning Environments through Student Input

How does student feedback manifest in instructional change? Can student voices make a difference in their own education? What are the boundaries between student input and instruction design? These are the questions we seek to answer in this Creative Inquiry. With a focus on how and when student voices can impact design education, specifically in undergraduate education in general, we seek to understand how student feedback can inform and contribute actively to the learning environment. This is our opportunity to be proactive in the learning process and shape the course evaluation procedures in order to make our voices impactful.

Team Leaders

The History of the Clemson House

The Clemson House, built in 1950, was the center of campus and community life, its central importance indicated by its distinctive "modern" structure, its visible location on the hill overlooking Bowman Field, and its iconic neon sign.  The Clemson House project aims to record the memories of those who stayed at the Clemson House as a hotel, ate in its famous restaurant, worked there, held activities there, or lived there as a students.  Like people, buildings have "lives" and the purpose of this CI is to record and publish those memories as well as provide a history of the famous building. While this has been an ongoing project for the past two years, the plan is to complete the text of the history of the Clemson House, including people's recollections and memories of the building, this fall and hopefully publish the book in the spring (2020).  Students who have not been involved in the project previously will be given some training in historical methods and information on Clemson University's history.

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Investigation of carbon fiber composites strengthened with carbon nanotubes

The goal of this CI is to understand the effect of carbon nanotubes impregnated into carbon fiber prepreg. The presence of the nanotubes is supposed to increase the interlaminar strength by 10-15%. Aerospace grade carbon fiber prepreg, with and without carbon nanotubes, will be laid up to create specimens for testing and characterization. Students will learn about anisotropic material behavior, carbon fiber fabrication techniques, and how to perform experiments and analysis. Experiments include quasi-static behavior and impact testing.

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CEDC - Anderson - The Lot Project - Alphabet Street District - Land Use and Community Development

CEDC has engaged with an NGO in Anderson County called The Lot Project that is helping a community recover from the departure of the textile industry that left an entire sector of prior employees and families without transferable skills or hope. One of the major issues in the area is the threat of gentrification which will remove any affordable housing for the population living within the Alphabet Street District. The intent of the project will be to investigate what steps could be taken to improve the resilience and quality of life in the district by launching a land-use planning and community development project for the Alphabet Street District. The purpose of the project is to engage the community in the development of a new Master Plan for the area that will be coordinated with Anderson City and County.  CEDC will lead the effort with regard to gather information for the RFP documents and will be supported by the CRDC which will assist with the Design Charrettes with the community stakeholders and those products will feed into the RFP document. The completed RFP document will be used as the basis of the design for a Design Studio in the Spring which will focus on the creation of a land use plan and proposed community development project that will be presented to the Anderson County stakeholders for action.

Team Leaders

CU Food Forest

A food forest is intended to mimic the structure of a woodland ecosystem, with layers of trees, shrubs, and herbs, but in a food forest these are substituted with edible and medicinal plants and fungi. The goal of this project is to create small areas, called food forests, throughout campus for all to enjoy. With the permission from Landscape Services, fruit and nut trees, berry shrubs, and edible and medicinal perennials and annuals will be planted and maintained in selected areas on campus. Edible fungi, which are often overlooked as a means of food in the garden, will also be cultivated. Students will learn landscape planning and how to grow and maintain plants and fungi in a food forest environment. The produce from the food forests will be available for anyone to pick. The intent is to nourish, educate, and inspire passersby.

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Pre-service Teacher Instruction Using Mixed-Reality Simulators

Mixed-reality simulators provide opportunities for pre-service teachers to practice and reflect on the implementation of academic instruction and behavioral supports before entering the classroom. This Creative Inquiry will provide opportunities for project students to use, facilitate and research a mixed-reality simulator supporting the instruction of pre-service special education and general education teachers.  Participants will learn a variety of evidence based practices to support the behavior needs and academic growth of students in classrooms. Using the simulator, these instructional techniques can be personalized, practiced and retried in a realistic, non-threatening environment without risking harm to "real" students. In addition, this Creative Inquiry Project will support a research study evaluating the effectiveness of simulations in teacher education as well as the participant's views of the simulator.

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Engage Dominica 1 - Water and Sanitation

The mission of this project group is to improve the existing conditions of the grey water output to the environment by implementing preventative measures around the community of Soufriere, Dominica. Grey water contamination from some of the residential areas merges with the Alumn Stream and flows directly into the ocean causing a buildup harmful bacteria.  Significant levels of the E. Coli bacteria have been found in the water entering the bay from the Soufriere River.  The bacteria has degraded the coral reefs in close proximity and there are concerns for the public swimming area nearby.  This project will research sustainable methods for filtering water using mushroom root growth, or mycelium.  

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Engage Dominica 2 - Archbald Tropical Research Center Assessment and Program Development

The Archbold Tropical Research and Education Center (ATREC) is a 198-acre (79 ha) tract of rainforest and agricultural land managed by a Dominican not-for-profit organization in partnership with Clemson University and an international consortium of universities. The Center, located in the Commonwealth of Dominica, West Indies, was created in 1989 by a gift to Clemson from the late conservationist and philanthropist John D. Archbold.It was his vision that international students and researchers work with Dominican citizens to address pressing land use concerns. The Archbold Tropical Research and Education Center enables us to study the entire spectrum of ecological, economic, and social factors that influence human relationships with tropical ecosystems. For many years, researchers have traveled to Dominica and stayed at the property collecting specimens, cataloging them, and preserving them at the station.Since Hurricane Maria, the Clemson owned property in Dominica has been badly damaged and continues to sustain water and wind damage to buildings.  Most of the current structures are uninhabitable and the university awaits a settlement with the insurance company.  For this reason, we would like to seek support to digitally archive the works of many researchers before they are lost to degrading environmental conditions.  

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Engage Dominica 3 - Soufriere and Scotts Head Development

Over the last couple of years, this CI team has been engaged in collecting data for a public pier for Soufriere to support emergency evacuation as well as tourism development.  After Hurricane Maria, they also spearheaded the development of a tool lending center which has been quite beneficial in rebuilding much of the public space of the Soufriere community.  Now, the group will turn it's focus toward helping the small island town plan for future development to include fishing, farming, tourism, diving, among others.  The small coastal town has a wealth of natural elements including Sulphur Springs, oceanside hot springs, coral reefs, diving sites, mountains, trails, etc.  We will work with the community to inventory the current resources as well as plan for future development and resilient development.  The community was devastated after Tropical Storm Erika in 2015 and again by Hurricane Maria in 2017.  While development is important, resilient and sustainable development is even more so.  

Team Leaders

Career Pathways in Sociology: Exploring Professional Identity and Career Development

Sociology majors often face challenges when trying to explain “sociology” and “sociology jobs” to their parents, friends, and employers. This Creative Inquiry will provide students with hands-on qualitative (and some quantitative) research experience on a project about applied sociology, the application of sociology beyond academia and traditional practice settings. Together, we will engage in collaborative research that will make a direct contribution to several ongoing efforts related to the occupational pathways of sociology graduates.    Students will participate in data collection from sociology undergraduate and graduate students at several institutions, from sociologists working in non-academic settings, and from leaders in the field, thus presenting a great opportunity to network.  We will conduct in-depth interviews and surveys, based on our research.The results of our work will be used to develop a variety of publications, including marketing materials for the general sociology curriculum and general information about social science research careers. Students will have an opportunity to present the results at research conferences.  We also hope to feature our research in conference workshops for sociology majors and others interested in learning more about our methods and outcomes.  The findings will also be used to develop career resources and grant proposals.  Thus, the CI will provide students with valuable professional development opportunities that can help to advance their career goals in the field.

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Research into emotion and its expression

We study emotions, emotion expressions, and reactions to cute stimuli. All of these topics are examined through the lens of psychology and consumer behavior. 

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Football Facemask Performance Creative Inquiry

In this CI, we will be working with the local Daniel High School football team to study the effect of a season of head impacts has on the performance of football facemasks.  We will be studying the performance of facemasks with ages ranging from brand new to a year of use.

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Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (PBIS) Films

Positive behavior interventions and support (PBIS) is a proactive and respectful approach for supporting all students in a school or group. In 2010, the PBIS Film Festival premiered at the Association of Positive Behavior Support (APBS) conference.  Each year the PBIS Film Festival receives dozens of film submissions from all over the globe. During the PBIS Film Festival we screen about a dozen exemplar PBIS films. The purpose of this Creative Inquiry is to (a) provide students with a hands-on experience supporting a film festival while they learn about schools are using film to support K-12 and (b) conduct a study to better understand how schools are using film.   

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Taking Context Seriously: Collecting and analyzing location-based data

In this Creative Inquiry, students will explore the importance of context in social science research. After exploring the types of contextual data that are publicly available (such as data from the U.S. Census and Bureau of Labor Statistics), students will learn how to combine contextual data with individual-level data to more completely understand people’s attitudes and behaviors. Students will first develop these skills with existing data from the from the Creative Inquiry mentor, but after this initial application, they will then be encouraged to repeat the process with data that more align with their own interests. In the process, students will improve and expand their ability to use geographic software – ArcGIS – and statistical software – such as Stata or R. As such, this Creative Inquiry aims to help students develop data collection and analysis skills for both academic, industry, and applied settings.

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Designing Caring Environments for Mothers and Infants Affected by Addiction

The environment of caring surrounding mothers and infants affected by addiction includes consideration of physical space design as well as approaches to prevent stigma of families that can be marginalized by society. Perinatal substance exposure is the exposure of mothers and infants to legal and illicit substances during pregnancy, delivery, postpartum period that may have effects on the mother and/or infant from those exposures. The Creative Inquiry will include opportunities to research the healthcare environment both physical and experiential of mothers and their infants who have experienced perinatal substance exposure.  Students will be an integral part of study proposal, data collection, analysis and dissemination of research surrounding the area approaches to care, designing the optimal patient and family room, unit, and facility to meet nursing protocols and architectural guidelines.   

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CEDC - US EPA - Caribbean Resilience - US Virgin Island Assessment

CEDC has been engaged by the US EPA to assist with an assessment of Caribbean Islands where the USA has interest. This team will work with the US EPA and NERL to develop a plan as to how a group of student interns can be deployed to the US Virgin Islands to perform an assessment of the energy demands on the island and gather data that will help determine the vulnerability and/or the resilience of the current infrastructure. In addition the assessment will include the identification of potential energy resources on the island that are either not being leveraged or are inefficiently be used. The long range product will be a deliverable to the US EPA which will ascertain the state of the island and make recommendations to improve the resilience of the population.

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Carnivore Ecology

This project is intended to challenge students to address pertinent research questions related to the ecology of carnivores, particularly their inter- and intra-specific interactions.  The project will use a combination of collecting original and utilizing existing field data to address questions each semester that student develop with advisors.

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CEDC - US EPA CUPP - Summerton - Solar Energy for Town Center

Under the request of the USA EPA CUPP, CEDC has engaged with the Town of Summerton, SC that has requested to installed a solar array that will power the Town Center to offset energy cost and create level of resilience that currently does not exist. The project will include the gathering and review of the electrical energy usage of the facilities and then transition into an assessment of the facilities to understand the energy loads of the facilities. Based upon the assessment the team may consider making recommendations to upgrade the current electrical loads and thereby reducing the energy demand. The solar array should be considered as a ground mount that will act as a full-scale demonstration laboratory that will display the use of solar energy and coordinate with local schools to ensure that it can be incorporated within their curriculum.  The solar array will feed a battery bank (similar to the Tesla Powerwall) which will maintain two days of power supply and take into account battery degradation over a ten year period. In conjunction with the facility assessment to determine the current power demands, the project team will work with the Town to determine equipment that can / will be updated and the solar design will be sized based upon the revised energy load plus a 25% growth factor.

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Clemson Curates: Visual Arts & the Clemson Campus

Clemson Curates is a Creative Inquiry project focused on developing visual arts exhibits for the Clemson campus. Students from a variety of academic disciplines research, coordinate, and install artworks across campus.  Current exhibit locations include the ground floor of Sikes Hall and the CAAH Dean’s Gallery in Strode Tower and the Brooks Center for Performing Arts.    Clemson Curates presents visual arts exhibitions that explore ideas and issues reflective of and intersecting with Clemson University research.  Students gain experience by interpreting visual art, writing exhibit content, managing projects and presenting their research. Students explore various media platforms necessary for marketing and exhibition coordination, and conduct studio visits with artists to make final selection for artwork to be included in exhibits.

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Whats in Our Waters

The “What’s in Our Waters?” (WOW) educational outreach program, connects Clemson students with local high school classes to educate them about the human impact on local water systems, demonstrates techniques for water quality sampling, and communicates the results of a water quality studies at a local science conference. In this Creative Inquiry, the undergraduate students act as mentors in the WOW program, develop instructional videos of field sampling protocols for use by the mentors and other volunteers all across the southeast United States, and analyze the survey results from the high school students’ participation in the program. 

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CEDC - HERDS - Solar Energy Assessment - Net-Zero Conversion

CEDC's Humanitarian Engineering Research and Design Studio is moving into the WESL facility (located at 154 Hugo Drive, Seneca, SC 29678) and we want to convert the facility over to a Resilient Net-Zero facility. The initial step will be to gather the electric usage records and perform an energy assessment of the facility which will included the identification of the existing equipment that may require upgrading. The intent will be to construct a ground mounted solar array that will have a utility tie and battery systems to achieve a net-zero rating from an energy perspective, concurrent to this activity the students will work with facilities to upgrade the existing equipment in the facility to reduce the energy demand.

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Sorghum as a feedstuff for gamebirds and broilers in the Southeast

This project aims to evaluate grain sorghum as an alternative feedstuff for gamebirds and broilers in the Southeast by investigating if it is nutritionally equivalent to corn for use in poultry diets. Aside from determining the apparent metabolizable energy of each dietary treatment, students will learn the components of formulating a diet, which will be essential to evaluating the growth, health and product quality of the birds. In addition, students calculating and analyzing diet formulations will be able to make projections for expected growth rates and performance of the birds as well as the economic costs and benefits of an alternative feedstuff. Students should expect to enroll in the CI project for 2-4 semesters.      

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Researching the need for and development of an Undergraduate Network for Innovation and Marketable Skills (NIMS)

This project will collaborate with the Watt Center MakerSpace and associated student organizations to produce and evaluate a MakerDay each semester.  Activities will include contacting and coordinating with student organizations, classes, potential donors, faculty, and students to recruit MakerDay displays. Team members will develop and implement methods to assess the success of each MakerDay.

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Development of novel antibacterials

Summary as described in Medchemcomm, 2014 Jun 1;5(6):816-825. "Controlling DNA topoisomerase functions has been envisioned for developing new anticancer and antibacterial agents.   A number of small molecules have been tested for their ability as poisons of DNA topoisomerase functions.  The therapeutic interest in the development of small molecules as inhibitors of DNA topoisomerase lies in their ability to act as DNA cleavage complex stabilizing agents and to recognize ATP binding site. The emergence of resistance to anti-bacterials has necessitated the search of novel molecules that could help tackle these issues. Small molecules that are both DNA binders and non-binders will be discovered to poison the functions of DNA topoisomerases".  Team members will learn about the target enzyme and work towards investigating small molecules that can inhibit it.

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Human Factors Forensics

This project will explore the application of psychology and engineering principles to accident analysis.

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The genetic and developmental basis of evolution in cichlid fishes

Research in this CI aims to understand the genetic basis of changes in development, which can produce diseases in humans and the incredible variation of animals found in nature. This project works at the intersection of developmental biology, genetics, and evolutionary biology. We focus on cichlid fishes of the East African Rift Lakes, which have evolved an incredible range of diversity in short evolutionary time.

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A Cross-disciplinary Approach to Understanding Project Teams

As a research initiative of the DIGITAL lab, we are interested in better understanding not only the difficulties that cross-disciplinary teams face, but also how we can leverage individual differences to benefit team performance. This CI team’s primary goal is to develop best practices and interventions for cross-disciplinary project teams that are both practical and timely. To do this, CI team members can expect to conduct field research such as interviews and behavioral coding across a number of cross-disciplinary teams.

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Taxonomic, genetic and functional diversity in lucinid-bacteria chemosymbiosis

Lucinid clams are the most diverse and one of the oldest families of chemosymbiotic bivalves commonly found in shallow coastal biomes. These clams fulfill most of their nutritional needs through gill endosymbionts which oxidize sulfur and use this chemical energy to fix carbon for their hosts. This Creative Inquiry project aims to characterize taxonomic, genetic and functional diversity in the lucinid-bacteria symbiosis. Students will use laboratory techniques, such as nucleic acid extractions, PCR, qPCR, as well as next generation sequencing technology to explore various aspects of the lucinid-bacteria symbiosis. Results will relate to microbe-microbe interactions, microbe-host interactions and microbe-environment interactions.

Team Leaders

Conation and Creativity in Engineering

Have you heard of Disney Imagineers? Are you interested in how engineers apply creativity? Conation and Creativity in Engineering (CCE) is a variable credit Creative Inquiry project in which students from across campus research instinctive problem-solving (conation) and creativity that inspires innovation in engineering around the world. Want to get even more immersed in creativity in engineering? Students are invited to participate in Disney Imaginations design competition, created and sponsored by Walt Disney Imagineering which seeks and natures the next generation of diverse Imagineers, and/or newly-established Creativity in Engineering Club, action-research student group dedicated to supporting creativity across Clemson's campus. All majors welcome. 

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Exploring Balkan Politics

As part of the semester abroad program in Belgrade, students will investigate key political and social issues in Serbia (and the region), incorporating both American and Serbian perspectives in their review.  They will meet with Serbian students to discuss these issues and present their research to one another.

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ENGAGE Dominica 6: Primary School Initiatives

The Soufriere Primary School is located on the southwest tip of the island of Dominica.  Due to the damage caused by Hurricane Maria in 2017, the school has been displaced and operating only half day programs to be able to support all of the children in the community in a small temporary space. This Creative Inquiry team will support a significant outreach program with the school and the community.  Project components will include a school/community garden (with economic programming for children to sell excess goods to local businesses), a chicken coop, sports fields (basketball/soccer), and a STEM learning garden.  The mission of our team is to plan different projects throughout the year to help the Soufriere Primary school and implement the projects on our trips to Dominica. Our goal is to help with the learning experience for the local community. This semester, our focus is specifically working towards the development of a garden so that the students not only have access to food, but can also gain agricultural skills.

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International Collaborative Research with Tecnologico de Monterrey, Mexico

During Fall 2020, students will be introduced to various colleagues at Tec de Monterrey, Mexico. From their interactions, literature reading, discussion groups,  and guided mentorship, students will develop a research plan to execute at Clemson University, with the intention of visiting Monterrey sometime in the near future as the project reaches maturity.One or multiple projects will be identified that bring together interdisciplinary, multicultural and international interaction.

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Leidenfrost effect

A liquid drop brought into contact with a hot solid can levitate on a cushion of vapor. The absence of liquid/solid contact makes the liquid extremely mobile and susceptible to a number of hydrodynamic instabilities, such as shape oscillations, and directed self-propulsion. This CI project will focus on experimental studies of instabilities that result from the Leidenfrost effect; shape oscillation, self-propulsion, splashing, and bouncing. 

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Science and Pseudoscience in popular media

The combination of access to information and the decline in science education and critical thinking ability have given rise to a fear of science and mistrust of scientists.  Because of the lack of understanding of science, charlatans like Dr. Oz are able to exploit the public’s fears for their own financial gain.  A few examples of what this exploitation has led to:  cancer patients refusing chemo therapy treatments in favor of questionable “natural” therapies; a subset of people have tried to “cure” their autistic children by giving them bleach enemas; and an increase in the production and marketing of dietary supplements promising to cure everything from obesity to cancer.  Because of ignorance, people can be the victims of scams and in the case of fad diets and supplements, can be harmed. In addition to the decline of science education, critical thinking, and difficulty identifying reliable sources of information, public attitude towards science and scientists is negative.  Scientists are harassed on a regular basis and are accused of being paid to do the bidding of large companies like Monsanto.  Additionally, these celebrities and charlatans mislead the public by saying science is wrong and that they are the only ones that are trustworthy.  This leads to fearmongering and a belief in conspiracy theories.   The proposed project seeks to help students and the general public tell the difference between science and pseudoscience and be able to evaluate claims seen in popular media, correct misconceptions about science, and to help students develop critical thinking skills through presenting their findings to a general audience.  The CI will help students explain science to a general audience and show people that science is relevant to their lives, approachable, and nothing to be afraid of.

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Ecotoxicological effects in aquatic species

This project investigates the effects of pollution on fish species, specifically the effects of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. These toxic compounds are released during oil spills, and can enter waterways through road runoff. Effects we measure are upregulation of liver enzymes, excretion of metabolites in the bile, and cellular damage like membrane disintegration and DNA damage.

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Supporting Healthcare Superheroes: Application of Organizational Science to Improve Healthcare Effectiveness

Soaring healthcare costs, staffing shortages, and legislative changes have contributed to a surge of interest in the ways healthcare organizations manage their leaders and teams in order to better impact the bottom line. As a research initiative of the DIGITAL lab, we are interested in better understanding the impact of leadership development on multiple levels of analysis within the healthcare industry: this includes, but is not limited to, leader health and burnout, team effectiveness, employee engagement and health, patient safety and experiences, and business outcomes. The purpose of this CI team is to examine leadership structures within Prisma Health - Upstate (formerly Greenville Health System) and the impact of leadership on various outcomes. 

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Appalachian Fire Ecology

Wildfires in late 2016 burned tens of thousands of forested acres across the southern Appalachian region. These events, unprecedented in recent history, have created a unique opportunity to conduct important fire ecology research in affected areas. This Creative Inquiry project is a collaborative effort between Clemson, the US Forest Service, and other agencies to assess the impacts of these fires, with a primary focus on the Rock Mountain fire in north Georgia. .

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International Bridge Design Project With Engineers Without Borders (EWB) In Nicaragua

Students participating in this Creative Inquiry project will develop alternative pedestrian bridge designs and then implement the best design for the community of El Serrano, Nicaragua. The bridge project is one of the official projects for the Clemson University Student Chapter of Engineers Without Borders (CU-EWB) as recognized and approved by the EWB-USA national office.

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Tangible genomics

This Creative Inquiry project will center upon genomics. The focus will be on structural variations with emphasis on mobile elements. Mobile elements, discovered by Barbara McClintock, are also often referred to as jumping genes or transposable elements.They are abundant in many genomes --e.g. more than 50% of the human genome is comprised of mobile elements. Transposable elements are associated with certain genetic disorders not only through insertion but also via recombination between elements. As part of this project, we will investigate different aspects of mobile element biology and how genomes evolve with respect to transposable elements. This Creative Inquiry has computational including programming as well as some wet-bench aspects. Furthermore, we will explore new approaches on how to visualize genomes with regard to mobile elements. This includes the developments of tangibles for data interaction.

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Development and Assessment of Makerspace Standard Operating Procedures

The Clemson Makerspace provides students, faculty and staff the ability to collaborate and innovate using current technologies such as 3D-printers, laser cutters, a waterjet, 3D-scanners, textiles processing equipment, and electronics. The Makerspace educates and trains students of all majors on machines and processes. The objective of this project is to develop a safe set of Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for training students on Makerspace equipment within the culture and requirements of the university.  

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Native Bass Conservation

Bartram's Bass is native to the Savannah River basin of SC and GA; it occurs nowhere else in the world. Students learn field sampling and lab techniques to learn more about the basic ecology of this rare fish. Students also have the opportunity to develop independent research projects and present results at professional conferences and in scientific publications. 

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Assessing Public Opinion in the EU v. United States

This project seeks to isolate the political, economic, cultural, societal, international, and other factors that affect public opinion in two contexts: the European Union and the United States. As the EU currently faces a number of ongoing challenges (e.g., financial crisis, migration crisis, Brexit), what citizens think and why has important implications for the future of European integration efforts. Comparing public opinion in the EU to that in the United States allows us to better understand what causes people to believe and act a certain way.

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Engineering a High-throughput Method for Western Blotting

Genomic technologies, such as whole genome or mRNA sequencing, probe samples genome-wide at reasonable cost, but current technology to measure protein-level properties at a similar scale are lagging behind. Much biology occurs at the level of proteins and their modifications. This proposal focuses on further developing a technology called microwestern array to increase capacity and decrease cost of high-throughput protein-level measurements to complement genomic data.

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Automatic Live-Cell Tracking with Deep Learning

The amount of image-based data in the biological sciences is greatly increasing, but our ability to extract knowledge from this data is not keeping pace. Recent developments in the deep learning areas are starting to transform our ability to analyze such data, but there is much work yet to be done. This project focuses on using such cutting edge deep learning approaches to attempt to automate tracking mammalian cells in live-cell imaging experiments. Here, individual pictures of cells are taken at a regular frequency, but currently a human must analyze the series of images to link cells in one frame to the next. This greatly limits the amount of live-cell data that can be realistically analyzed, which is much less than that which can be generated using state of the art microscopes here at Clemson. This project attempts to address this bottleneck.

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Mitigating Cellular Toxicity Caused by Beta-Amyloid Proteins--the Alzheimer's Culprit

Aggregation of Beta-Amyloid proteins into plaques in neurons is thought to be the primary cause of Alzheimer's disease. This project focuses testing on novel hypotheses and compounds that may help to mitigate neuronal toxicity caused by reducing and even preventing aggregation and its toxicity. We do so by using computational molecular dynamics simulations to predict compounds that may have beneficial activity, and then test these hypotheses using high-throughput live-cell imaging.

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Ocean under the magnifying glass - using microscopy to understand the impacts of climate change

Oysters are important to our coastal ecosystem, providing food in the aquaculture industry, protecting coastal fisheries and alleviating storm damage to the coastal land. The changing climate is, however, posing an alarming threat to the marine ecosystem. The excessive release of carbon dioxide by human activities has caused an acidified ocean with greater pH fluctuations. The impact has been found to be regional, pH values are found to reduce faster in estuary regions than the open ocean. As a result, the coastal oyster communities are facing an unprecedented risk. Our research focus on assessing the health of the native oysters Crassostrea virginica. Microscopy techniques are sensitive to the physiological status, and therefore, oysters can be monitored for their success in terms of growth, development and calcification. The goals of this Creative Inquiry projects are (1) to develop students with the skillset for marine science and climate change research, (2) to raise appreciation and understanding of an oyster life cycle, (3) to promote image analysis skills for biology topics and (4) to enable student's experience for research planning, performing, writing and presenting.   Students will conduct ocean acidification study on oysters using confocal microcopy and image analysis tools such as ImageJ and MATLAB to measure the response and development of shell formation process.

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Elucidating Water Transport and Structure of Polymer Membranes for Energy Applications

The use of polymer membranes for energy storage and delivery applications is ubiquitous. The performance properties of these membranes is inherently tied to the nanostructure, making it important to elucidate the fundamental structure-property relationships of these materials.

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Building a Platform for Student Research and IP Communications

This project will evaluate student research and intellectual property policies from multiple universities and propose a potential policy or set of guidelines for Clemson University. The team will work to build appropriate platforms to communicate important information in regards to students research and IP to the campus audience.

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CEDC - Slow Sand Filter Research

CEDC Sand filter research- This project team is continuing its efforts to test the efficacy of the sand filter for use in developing countries.  Based upon prior semesters work, the team was about to substantiate the viability of the project by demonstrating the effectiveness of the sand filtration system.