Winner of the Best Poster by Popular Vote Award at the 13th Annual Focus on Creative Inquiry Poster Forum.
The Effect of Depressive Symptoms on Risky-Decision-Making.
Current Projects
| ID | Project Info | College |
|---|---|---|
| 1456 | 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. Team LeadersAmanda Moore Office of Undergrad Stud | |
| 1464 | German-English Translations�Strategies, Techniques, and Technologies This CI projects introduces students to translating documents from English to German and vice versa. Students will draft translations and discuss them in facilitated, German conversation; teams peer-review and improve translations; and various approaches and techniques for translating documents will be tested. Possible research questions include cost and speed of external translation services, current industry need, in-house versus outsourcing of translation services, size of translation teams, investigation of translation tools, and the effectiveness and feasibility of technology in German translation. Team LeadersJohannes Schmidt Languages | College of Architecture, Arts & Humanities |
| 1444 | 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). Team LeadersMelissa Vogel Sociology and Anthropology | College of Behavioral, Social & Health Sciences |
| 1476 | 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. Team LeadersMark Blenner Chemical & Biomolecular Eng | College of Engineering, Computing & Applied Sciences |
| 1383 | 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. Team LeadersLance Beecher Plant & Environmental Sciences | College of Agriculture, Forestry & Life Sciences |
| 1384 | 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. Team LeadersAlthea Hagan Forestry & Environment ConservWilliam C Stringer Entomology, Soils & Plant Sci Lisa Lord | College of Agriculture, Forestry & Life Sciences |
| 1283 | Human Performance Engineering In Health Care: Developing applications in emergency medicine The Greenville Health System (GHS) is growing to become an academic center in addition to its clinical care given service. The Emergency Medicine Department will open a new residency program in January 2017 which will include a clinical track as well as a research track. This Creative Inquiry will be instrumental in supporting this endeavor and provide theoretic assistance as well as practical engagement with various projects. This collaboration will require students to be able to engage with physicians, residents, and patients at various levels from data collection to present a progress report. The CI yearlong (Fall, Spring and possibly Summer) commitment will enrich the student’s hands-on research experience in healthcare and provide an in-depth knowledge of clinical procedures of emergency medicine. Team LeadersDotan Shvorin Industrial EngineeringMarissa Shuffler Psychology Sandra Eksioglu Industrial Engineering Kevin Taaffe Industrial Engineering | College of Engineering, Computing & Applied Sciences |
| 1267 | 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. Team LeadersKaileigh Byrne Psychology | College of Behavioral, Social & Health Sciences |
| 1442 | 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. Team LeadersKathleen Valentine School of NursingDiane Hannon School of Nursing | College of Behavioral, Social & Health Sciences |
| 1462 | Human Performance Engineering Research: Bio-sensing Application in Healthcare This project will focus on developing students’ knowledge and competencies when working with biosensors in a project based approach. The application will be created, tested, and validated within the healthcare environment. This will require students to first experience the complex environment of the healthcare delivery system and the human challenges that exists. The vision of this project is to provide smart information about the human physiology when facing with stressful situations in the clinical environment. Applications will be developed to promote functionality, efficiency, and quality of experiences for the physician and for the patient. Team LeadersDotan Shvorin Industrial Engineering | College of Engineering, Computing & Applied Sciences |
| 1429 | Chemotaxis "Black Hole" Hydrogel for Tumor Elimination Complete tumor elimination is essential in preventing recurrent tumors from appearing. Hydrogels are a cutting-edge, attractive option for cancer drug delivery. In most cases, hydrogels will release encapsulated anti-cancer drugs into the surrounding tumor tissue. We are interested in exploring a “black hole” hydrogel. In this case, the hydrogel would use motogenic signals, signals that cause cells to migrate, to “draw in” cancerous cells through a process called chemotaxis. Tumor cells that enter the hydrogel could then be eliminated using an embedded anti-cancer drug. We hypothesize that this treatment can work in conjunction with, or replace, traditional anti-cancer treatments like chemo- and radiotherapy for elimination of cancerous tumors. Success would not only improve patient survival rates, but potentially greatly increase patient quality of life. We are looking for a motivated group of individuals willing to work closely with our graduate students and faculty to explore innovative new oncological treatment options. Students will learn about polymer and biology fundamentals including polymeric drug delivery and cancer cell biology. They will have hands-on experience with mammalian cell culture and making hydrogels. Team LeadersMarc Birtwistle Chemical & Biomolecular EngJesse Westfall Chemical & Biomolecular Eng | College of Engineering, Computing & Applied Sciences |
| 1417 | 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. Team LeadersGregory Batt Food, Nutrition & Package SciAndrea Fisher Food, Nutrition & Package Sci | College of Agriculture, Forestry & Life Sciences |
| 1325 | 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. Team LeadersTiffany Wilmoth Animal & Veterinary Sciences | College of Agriculture, Forestry & Life Sciences |
| 1364 | Happiness and Values The purpose of this ongoing Creative Inquiry research team is to learn about and conduct research in the field of industrial-organizational psychology. We will explore how our values and their importance to us guide our judgment and decision-making on the pathways toward happiness, especially in circumstances where we must trade-off one option for another. The team will also examine whether or not the choices between two paths towards happiness are worthwhile or regrettable in the long-run. For example, person A works at an organization and they have decided to work more hours at the office instead of spending more time with their family. Depending on which pathways someone values, this decision could make person A seem either hardworking or uncaring to an observer. The students who participate on this research team will have the opportunity to see how work in empirical psychology is conducted. Our research is conducted with student samples and online samples, so team members will be exposed to various data collection techniques. In addition, students will gain experience in research design, data collection, and data analysis. Team LeadersCynthia Pury Psychology | College of Behavioral, Social & Health Sciences |
| 1270 | High-Throughput Quantitative Western Blotting with the Microwestern Array 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. Team LeadersMarc Birtwistle Chemical & Biomolecular EngOrrod Zadeh | College of Engineering, Computing & Applied Sciences |
| 1271 | 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. Team LeadersAndrew Mount Biological Sciences | College of Science |
| 1272 | 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. Team LeadersEric Davis Chemical & Biomolecular Eng | College of Engineering, Computing & Applied Sciences |
| 1282 | Development of a System to Incentivize Litter Storage/Collection in Developing Areas Widespread litter, comprised in large measure of plastic bags, plastic beverage containers, paper, and assorted refuse, vexes large parts of the world, particularly under-developed regions where there is no centralized trash and garbage collection. A practical means of involving the local population in collecting and transporting accumulated litter to central collection points and establishing incentives for participation is a potential solution. An important component of such an approach is thought to be the development of a practical process to enable single individuals to compact litter into small, manageable units, for which they could be compensated on a piece by piece basis, somewhat like collecting deposits on discarded beverage containers in some communities. Accordingly, the following effort is proposed: Develop a means of compacting litter into dense units that can be transported easily to central collection facilities by personal conveyances such as bicycles, motorcycles, push carts, bicycle rickshaws, and bullock carts Apparatus employed should be amenable to local fabrication from readily available materials, including recycled automobile and bicycle parts, scrap metal, and the like, using modest welding, blacksmithing, and fabrication methods commonly found in undeveloped regions. Any method or materials used to bind compacted litter into stable units should be derived from litter components. Team LeadersTodd Schweisinger Mechanical EngineeringCecil Huey Mechanical Engineering | College of Engineering, Computing & Applied Sciences |
| 1430 | Translation of signal transduction pathways into computational models Cells integrate signals from different external stimuli to decide their fate: to continue growing, to divide, or to die. They do so by using different signaling cascades and mathematical modeling of such systems can help us understand the cells’ behavior. This proposal aims to translate cellular signaling pathways into computational models. Writing out the exact reactions happening in the cells, we can create a network of interactions and thereof a model that can be simulated and studied. An already existing model will be used as a template to obtain the one of a kind whole cell model. Team LeadersCemal Erdem Chemical & Biomolecular EngMarc Birtwistle Chemical & Biomolecular Eng | College of Engineering, Computing & Applied Sciences |
| 1289 | CEDC Bio-Digester Development for Haiti CEDC Biodigesters Development for Haiti - Haiti does not have infrastructure to protect the population with systems that supply clean water and treat human waste. This Team will leverage the existing working prototypes in Cange and Corporant to create an execution plan for the Central Plateau of Haiti. Team LeadersDavid Vaughn Engineering,Computing,Appl SciIan Stewart Physics and Astronomy Natalie Osten Bioengineering Allison Mills Experiential Education | College of Engineering, Computing & Applied Sciences |
| 1291 | CEDC - Water Analysis for Haiti CEDC Water Analysis The water analysis program at Clemson uses remote sensing technology to provide automated reporting of water conditions across a wide area of parameters that indicate compliance or non-compliance with WHO standards. One of the issues that has been identified is that many of the world standard instruments are currently at a price point that is not economically feasible for most resource constrained environments. This Team will reverse engineer a cost effective solution that uses low cost sensors and will test them against the world standard instrumentation. The intent will be to create a deployable module that can report water quality remotely for a price point that is less than $350. Team LeadersDavid Vaughn Engineering,Computing,Appl SciJessica Dooley Environmental Engr & Earth Sci Natalie Osten Bioengineering Shannon Leonard | College of Engineering, Computing & Applied Sciences |
| 1293 | CEDC - Morne Michel Roadway CEDC - Morne Michel Water System – Phase 1 Morne Michel is a remote village in Haiti located in the mountains about a three hour hike away from Cange where Clemson Engineers for Developing Countries focuses most of their efforts. While interning in Haiti, Aaron Gordon worked in Morne Michel to make improvements on the school and church. He noticed that the village had no access to a clean water source and that people living there had to face dangerous conditions to climb down the mountain to collect water for use. The water tested positive for fecal coliforms over the limit of 200 colonies per 100 mL of water and so work began to find a way to provide a safer, cleaner water source for the village. Team LeadersDavid Vaughn Engineering,Computing,Appl SciJessica Dooley Environmental Engr & Earth Sci Lisa Uy General Engineering Natalie Osten Bioengineering | College of Engineering, Computing & Applied Sciences |
| 1295 | CEDC Marketing and Branding CEDC Marketing & Branding – This team will draft an overarching scope statement for the Marketing Team that defines all of the usual work efforts for the semester and integrate the two additional line items of scope into your overall mission. Team LeadersDavid Vaughn Engineering,Computing,Appl SciCharlotte Higgins Experiential Education Sarah Walker Experiential Education Autumn Brown Experiential Education | College of Engineering, Computing & Applied Sciences |
| 1296 | CEDC Directors CEDC operates as a mini global corporation with student leadership at all levels. Students self-govern and organize into functional groups and project related groups with an executive group of students providing oversight. Team LeadersDavid Vaughn Engineering,Computing,Appl SciIan Davis Experiential Education Sarah Walker Experiential Education Alexander Arzon Autumn Brown Experiential Education | College of Engineering, Computing & Applied Sciences |
| 1299 | CEDC - Waste Management Planning for Haiti CEDC - Waste Management System for Cange - 915 This Team will develop an economically feasible and environmentally sound waste management system for Cange that can be easily replicated in other communities across Haiti. Team LeadersDavid Vaughn Engineering,Computing,Appl SciDouglas Stewart General Engineering Jennifer Paloni Experiential Education Christian Jones Student Athletic Academic Svs | College of Engineering, Computing & Applied Sciences |
| 1300 | CEDC - Hydropower for Cange, Haiti CEDC Hydropower for Cange, Haiti Zanmi Lasante and the Episcopal Diocese of Haiti have a compound that they operate in Cange, Haiti that has numerous operations that run continuously through the year which are impaired due to inconsistent power and the high cost of electricity. Project Description - The project team will draft a scope document that will seek funding to create a solution to supply consistent power to the Zanmi Lasante Compound by using local natural resources, dramatically reducing the annual cost for electricity. Team LeadersDavid Vaughn Engineering,Computing,Appl SciNatalie Osten Bioengineering Shreya Shankar Allison Mills Experiential Education | College of Engineering, Computing & Applied Sciences |
| 1302 | CEDC - Ram Pump Manual Development CEDC - Ram Pump Typical Design Development A hydraulic ram pump is an efficient means of pumping water without the use of any external power source. The ram pump works using only the laws of the conservation of energy to move water to a higher vertical position than its initial source position. The project team will develop a DIY manual that will be made available globally to help others create their own Ram Pump. This manual will describe the attributes of the pump, field data requirements, simplistic calculations, material requirements, installations methods, start-up, and operations/ maintenance requirements. Team LeadersDavid Vaughn Engineering,Computing,Appl SciMax Pawlick | College of Engineering, Computing & Applied Sciences |
| 1303 | CEDC - Grand Savane Development in Cange Haiti CEDC Grand Savane Develpment Project in Cange, Haiti CEDC has been seeking resources in the Cange region that could be utilized boost the local economy by giving people jobs. The Grand Savane was identified as a potential resource, it is a square mile of fertile land with a nearly constant wind but there is no road there and they have little to no water. Based upon prior successes the Wind Power Group, was able to substantiate the purchase of an anemometer and have it installed on the Grand Savane. Team LeadersDavid Vaughn Engineering,Computing,Appl SciAllison Mills Experiential Education Natalie Osten Bioengineering Annie Barnett | College of Engineering, Computing & Applied Sciences |
| 1307 | CEDC - Center of Excellence in Cange Haiti CEDC Center of Excellence in Cange, Haiti - Clemson University is uniquely positioned to become the Nexus that will catalyze change by unifying governments, NGOs, financial institutions, the private sector, and other academic institutions while delivering sustainable solutions. As a public land-grant university, we are uniquely positioned to develop bold new ideas, foster international cooperation, and navigate the politics needed to brighten the future for everyone. We have performed extensive work in Haiti and Tanzania. Thus, to develop the most cost effective solution, we propose to export the best practices and institutional knowledge from Tanzania to Haiti. Our proposal is to launch a pilot in the Central Plateau of Haiti for five years and then expand the efforts in Haiti while launching to two new countries. Team LeadersDavid Vaughn Engineering,Computing,Appl SciJennifer Paloni Experiential Education Riley Garvey Student Services Christian Jones Student Athletic Academic Svs | College of Engineering, Computing & Applied Sciences |
| 1313 | Pathways to Engineering There are many pathways to an engineering degree, but all of them pass through calculus. Some students complete first semester calculus in high school and start their post-secondary studies ahead of the game, or at least not behind. Others complete calculus in high school, but nonetheless, place into courses below calculus at the start of college. Still others do not attempt calculus in high school. In South Carolina, there is a significant racial and socioeconomic disparity between engineering students who place below calculus and those who enter college calculus-ready. In this project, we analyze qualitative focus-group and interview data from first-year engineering students around the state to understand both academic and non-academic factors that affected their initial mathematics placement in college. Team LeadersEliza Gallagher Engineering & Science EducatioAubrie Pfirman Engineering & Science Educatio | College of Engineering, Computing & Applied Sciences |
| 1309 | FishShapes: exploring the evolution of body form diversity across fishes. Students will join a team of scientists from across the US that are working to investigate body shape evolution across teleost fishes. Teleosts account for 96% of all fish species, nearly half of extant vertebrate diversity, and exhibit a spectacular variety of body forms, including lineages that range from deep-bodied (e.g. moonfish, spadefish), elongate (e.g. eels, needlefish), laterally compressed (e.g. ribbonfish) to globular (e.g. pufferfish), plus the uniquely shaped seahorses, flatfishes and ocean sunfishes. The purpose of this research is to tease-apart the major interacting factors influencing the evolution of body form at the macroevolutionary scale, across teleost fishes, and to identify trends in shape diversity over their evolutionary history. As members of the ‘FishShapes’ team students will spend at least 3 semesters conducting research: collecting data and working together to develop and test a hypothesis concerning the evolution of body shape across fishes. The ultimate goal is to write and publish a scientific paper. This project is ideally suited to students who have no prior research experience, as we will cover everything from how to develop hypotheses through to giving scientific presentations. There is also the opportunity for paid research internships during the summer for a month at the Smithsonian museum in Washington DC (Summer 2018). Team LeadersSamantha Price Biological SciencesOlivier Larouche Biological Sciences | College of Science |
| 1314 | Collaborative biomedical engineering design between Clemson and Arusha Technical College 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. In addition there is a shortage of trained biomedical engineers. Therefore, 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 Tanzania in collaboration with engineering students and faculty at Arusha Technical College in Tanzania. The students on this team will be expected to work on electronics and instrument design. They are expected to do needs finding to find the issues facing biomedical engineers in rural SC and in Tanzania. The students will collaborate weekly with students from Arusha Technical College through message boards. In addition, the Clemson and ATC student teams will have joint videoconferenced update meetings once a month with faculty and staff from both institutions. In addition to doing design, Clemson 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. Team LeadersDelphine Dean BioengineeringJohn D DesJardins Bioengineering Melissa McCullough Bioengineering William Richardson Bioengineering | College of Engineering, Computing & Applied Sciences |
| 1316 | Hellbender Ecology Hellbenders (Cryptobranchus alleganiensis) are large, long-lived amphibians that live their entire lives in rivers and streams throughout the Appalachian mountains. As part of this project, students will assist graduate students with hellbender surveys and monitoring of artificial nest boxes that have been deployed in streams to provide suitable habitat. Additionally, students will work as a team to develop and implement a research project to compare water quality parameters inside and outside of nest boxes. Team LeadersLauren Diaz Forestry & Environment ConservCathy Jachowski Forestry & Environment Conserv | College of Agriculture, Forestry & Life Sciences |
| 1317 | Creating Simulation in Didactics to Promote Active Learning for Undergraduate Students The purpose of this Creative Inquiry is to create a community where undergraduate students can share their ideas, identify effective low-fidelity simulation strategies, and create engaging simulation pedagogies for didactic undergraduate nursing education. Team LeadersLena Burgess School of Nursing | College of Behavioral, Social & Health Sciences |
| 1319 | Calculus in Engineering: A Qualitative Analysis of Engineering Textbooks Engineering educators rank calculus as the most important mathematics course for engineering students, but there is a need to better understand how exactly calculus ideas are conceptualized and represented in engineering. Through a qualitative analysis of commonly and widely used engineering textbooks, this Creative Inquiry project aims at improving our understanding of what, when, and how concepts introduced in calculus (derivative, integral, sequences, series, and limits) appear in engineering courses. No prior research experience is needed. CI students will be mathematics and engineering majors and will work collaboratively on small interdisciplinary teams. They will learn about and apply qualitative research methods and various theoretical frameworks for understanding mathematical concepts. Students will present findings in research journals and at conferences. Students are expected to commit to at least two semesters to this project. The instructor may grant special permission for single-semester involvement to highly qualified graduating seniors. For more details or to join the project, contact the team leader, Tony, at ttn@g.clemson.edu Team LeadersTony Nguyen Mathematical SciencesEliza Gallagher Engineering & Science Educatio Marisa Orr Engineering & Science Educatio Meredith Burr Mathematical Sciences | College of Science |
| 1318 | NASA Micro-g NExT This Creative Inquiry is focused on applying to NASA's Micro-g NExT Program. Teams of undergraduate students from multiple majors will be challenged with creating a device to aid in space exploration missions defined by requirements outlined by NASA. Student teams, if selected, will have the opportunity to travel to Johnson Space Center in Houston, TX to test their devices in the Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory. Team LeadersJoshua Summers Mechanical EngineeringHallie Stidham Mechanical Engineering Nicholas Spivey Mechanical Engineering | College of Engineering, Computing & Applied Sciences |
| 1320 | Industrial Assessments: Energy and resource efficiency audits This project is dedicated to training students to help with Clemson's Industrial Assessment Center Students will learn how to conduct energy audits around campus and will analyze potential efficiency projects which may be implemented by Clemson's Sustainable Energy Fund. Students will work in teams to identify, plan, implement, and then monitor energy efficiency projects. They will then also track related sustainability metrics such as energy and greenhouse gas emission savings. Students should expect to enroll in this project for at least 2 semesters. Team LeadersMichael Dale Environmental Engr & Earth SciPhillip Litherland Environmental Engr & Earth Sci Chakara Rajan Madhusudanan Environmental Engr & Earth Sci Sandra Eksioglu Industrial Engineering Elizabeth R. Carraway Environmental Engr & Earth Sci David Ladner Environmental Engr & Earth Sci | College of Engineering, Computing & Applied Sciences |
| 1321 | Bioprinting When hosted in the proper fluid medium, cells can be loaded into ink jet printer heads and printed in three-dimensional structures. The ultimate goal of this technology, called “cell printing” is to print organs that can be used as replacements for diseased or damaged organs. While this goal is still far in the future, cell printing currently has several applications, including rapid drug testing, bioprinting of skin grafts for promoting wound healing, and bioprinting of bone and cartilage. One problem inhibiting further development of bioprinting concerns the control over droplet formation for existing printheads. Ideally one would like to have control over the drop diameter and number of cells per drop in a fixed printhead. However, any given printhead typically is capable of forming a narrow range of drop diameters. It is possible that, for viscoelastic fluids, there is a greater possibility to control the characteristics of drops than is the case for fluids that have little or no elasticity. This idea is the focus of this project. Team LeadersJoshua Bostwick Mechanical EngineeringJohn R Saylor Mechanical Engineering | College of Engineering, Computing & Applied Sciences |
| 1337 | Combining Big Data with Live-Cell Imaging for Automatic Image Analysis Humans can easily identify cellular features such as nucleus and cytoplasm from phase contrast images of cells, but computers still struggle. This project will combine computer vision algorithms based on deep learning with big data sets generated in the wet lab here using high-throughput live-cell imaging apparati. The goal is to make computers better at automatically identifying cell features from phase contrast images, or to identify cell types from such images. Team LeadersMarc Birtwistle Chemical & Biomolecular Eng | College of Engineering, Computing & Applied Sciences |
| 1322 | Aging and Decision-Making Decision-making is a prevalent part of everyday life, and the choices we make can have significant consequences across all stages of the lifespan. The purpose of this CI Team is to examine adaptive and maladaptive decision-making strategies that occur with healthy aging. This research seeks to assess how social, cognitive, emotional, and motivational factors influence decision-making. Understanding these factors may allow us to develop decision aids that can improve decision-making outcomes with age. Team LeadersKaileigh Byrne Psychology | College of Behavioral, Social & Health Sciences |
| 1331 | Horse Play Hippotherapy, also known as equine assisted therapy, is the use of a horse as a moving platform for rehabilitation treatment for a range of disabilities. Literature has shown positive improvements in patients with spinal cord injuries, cerebral palsy, multiple sclerosis, and many other disabilities when partaking in hippotherapy. This information will be used to create saddles for effective use in hippotherapy. Adaptive saddles will be created to provide assistance to those of specific disabilities whom normally cannot ride without assistance or minimal intervention. The saddle will be suited with pressure sensor feedback in order to obtain rider patterns within the saddle. Further modifications to gather rider actions while mounted on the horse can also be explored. Team LeadersAnne Marie Holter BioengineeringJohn D DesJardins Bioengineering Kristine Vernon Animal & Veterinary Sciences | College of Engineering, Computing & Applied Sciences |
| 1328 | Simplifying Virtual Environment Population through 3D Scan Implementation The Clemson Immersive Space aims to make virtual reality technology and virtual environments accessible to all students across Clemson’s campus. This project aims to reduce the need for students to be familiar with 3D modeling software in order to create models for use in VR. Students will assist in researching and implementing 3D scanning in the Immersive Space using the Intel Realsense cameras. Team LeadersOyewole Oyekoya CCIT CITIThomas Birdsong Electrical & Computer Engr | |
| 1330 | Designing With Docs In bioengineering, the opportunity to collaborate with clinicians in the design of biomedical devices is considered the highlight of any design experience, but usually these design experiences are limited to senior year, if at all. Clinicians are 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 the support of their clinical innovation departments will work with students to create the next generation of biomedical devices. This CI will be open to all undergraduates, and projects will be multi-semester, to support the development of long-term innovations in healthcare. Team LeadersJordon Gilmore BioengineeringJohn D DesJardins Bioengineering | College of Engineering, Computing & Applied Sciences |
| 1332 | Using STEAM to Connect Current Tigers with Future Tigers This project will explore the very real task of transferring college-level engineering projects into a level-appropriate conceptualization for the current state standards for a middle school class. Students from Engineering and Education majors will collaborate in the development of STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, Mathematics) projects and curriculum that use fun, hands-on approaches to demonstrate engineering related topics to 6th grade students. The projects they create will be used to help establish an off-campus STEAM Lab in Pickens County. Clemson students are expected showcase their projects at the end of the semester by working alongside and educating their younger peers on engineering topics utilizing the curriculum that they developed. This Creative Inquiry project will set precedent for a project of a much larger initiative supported by the CFO and Office of the Provost. The partnership between community and university as well as the off campus STEAM Lab that is developed by this creative inquiry will serve as model to be studied, analyzed, and eventually implemented in an area of South Carolina known as the Corridor of Shame, due to its underperforming and underfunded school districts. Team LeadersJeremy King Physics and AstronomyAbigail Holcombe Academic Success Center Devin Keck Mechanical Engineering | College of Science |
| 1333 | Aerodynamic Design and Wind Tunnel Testing of Formula SAE Prototype Cars Formula SAE Collegiate Design Series competition is organized by Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE International) and promotes engineering through design, development, and testing of small-scale Formula style race cars. Each team designs a prototype racing car within the same set of constrains, and is to be evaluated for its potential as a production item. The aerodynamics of the racing car plays a critical role during the performance testing on track. The objective of this research is to identify the potential improvement of aerodynamic performance on the components through computer-aided design and hands-on testing. Prototype designs will be evaluated inside a low-speed, low-turbulence, closed-loop wind tunnel at Department of Mechanical Engineering. During this process, students will be exposed to broad knowledge of vehicle aerodynamics, such as: automotive aero-thermal studies; fluid mechanics; jets and turbulence; scaling test in wind tunnel; aerodynamics under ground effect; wind/flap design, etc. The ultimate goal is to find the optimal aerodynamic configuration through both hands-on and theoretical analysis. Students should expect to enroll in this CI project for 2-4 semesters. The courses to be enrolled will be ME 2900/3900/4900, section number to be announced. Students are expected to meet weekly to report progress and plan for next steps. Students in their Junior and Senior years are encouraged to apply. Team LeadersYiqiang Han Mechanical Engineering | College of Engineering, Computing & Applied Sciences |
| 1335 | Autonomous Control Study for Micro Aerial Vehicle (MAV) Challenge Electric-powered Vertical Take-Off and Landing (VTOL) technologies are around the corner and ready to be applied to commercial applications, such as unmanned delivery, emergence response, survey and patrolling, etc. Autonomous control of a Micro Air Vehicle for a package delivery mission with a gross weight less than 500 grams is specifically considered in this project, which is adapted from the rules of the American Helicopter Society (AHS) Micro Aerial Vehicle (MAV) Student Challenge. Due to these special considerations, the students will have to carry out their unique design that achieve a balance between size and payload, while still capable of autonomous navigation without external interference. The objective of this project is to expose the students to the broad knowledge in the MAV design and control theories. Students will also gain insight of the vehicle autonomy through hands-on programming and testing practices that can be applied to other interdisciplinary projects. Students are expected to meet weekly to report progress and plan for next steps. Students should expect to enroll in the CI project for 2-4 semesters. Team LeadersYiqiang Han Mechanical Engineering | College of Engineering, Computing & Applied Sciences |
| 1336 | Psychology of Religion and Spirituality Team members have opportunities to work on several major projects related to religion and/or spirituality, under the supervision of Dr. Job Chen. In broad terms, we study attitudes and behaviors influenced by religious beliefs and/or spiritual experiences. We use a mixed methods including psychological measures (e.g., survey), experimental manipulation, and qualitative interviews. The CI team has several ongoing projects for students to conduct psychological research in topics related to religion and spirituality. Motivated students are also encouraged to explore their own interest and the CI team will support their endeavor. Through these researches, students will gain experience in empirical, social scientific research methods, and may have opportunity at conference presentation and authorship on peer-reviewed publications. Team LeadersZhuo Job Chen PsychologyRandle Aaron Villanueva | College of Behavioral, Social & Health Sciences |
| 1339 | Hands on Water for Agriculture Contamination of water resources is a growing concern. One of the leading contributors to this rising problem is the agriculture industry, that both needs the water for production but also frequently causes water quality impairments. This CI will focus on experimentally assessing options for physical, chemical, and biological remediation of agricultural runoff in an effort to treat water and promote water recycling programs. Students will be able to assess and use appropriate field and laboratory techniques to determine water quality and respond to water quality concerns using chemical, physical, and biological treatment options. Team LeadersLauren Garcia Chance Plant & Environmental SciencesNatasha Bell Plant & Environmental Sciences Sarah White Plant & Environmental Sciences | College of Agriculture, Forestry & Life Sciences |
| 1443 | Autonomous Vehicles and Users with Disabilities Persons with certain motor or cognitive disabilities like paralysis of the extremities or autism may face significant obstacles to gainful employment and social inclusion due to difficulties in operating conventional motor vehicles. Proponents of fully autonomous or “self-driving” vehicles argue that the emergence of this technology may address this issue. Advocates for disabled persons are concerned, however, that the needs of persons with disabilities are not being adequately considered in the design of this technology. As a result, it is argued, self-driving technologies are being developed that will ultimately prove inaccessible to persons with a range of disabilities, ultimately undermining the potential mobility benefits of the technology. There is, therefore, a critical need to determine a model of interaction that will support efficient use of this technology by persons with disabilities. The proposed research is being initiated to determine the needs, preferences, and concerns of persons with motor, cognitive and other disabilities in interacting with self-driving vehicles, a model of interaction incorporating context-specific methodologies and the development of tools to support accessible interaction. Team LeadersJulian Brinkley School of Computing | College of Engineering, Computing & Applied Sciences |
| 1340 | Studying Barred Owls in an Urban to Forest Landscape Gradient Although Barred Owls are widely described as forest interior dwelling species associated with old growth forest, some studies have also found that this species can inhabit urban settings provided some key habitat features remain. In these studies, owls readily bred and roosted in large, mature trees residual in older suburban neighborhoods. Aside from these studies, the ability of Barred Owls to reside and breed successfully in urban settings has not been well described. We plan to study how barred owls are using urban areas in the Piedmont region of South Carolina. Clemson University is an ideal region for this study because the university campus retains large mature trees, and the surrounding Clemson Experimental Forest offers the opportunity to study owl habitat and ecology on a continuous scale from urban to forest habitat. This study will describe the habitat thresholds associated with the occupancy of barred owls, and the differences between the home ranges and resource selections of owls residing in forests versus suburban habitats. Team LeadersMarion Clement Forestry & Environment ConservRussell Kyle Barrett Forestry & Environment Conserv | College of Agriculture, Forestry & Life Sciences |
| 1341 | Precise 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. Team LeadersRenee Cottle BioengineeringLawrence Fernando Bioengineering | College of Engineering, Computing & Applied Sciences |
| 1343 | Modulating Nanoparticle Shape to Enhance Blood-Brain Barrier Delivery The presence of the blood-brain barrier dramatically hinders neurologic treatments, with >98% of small molecule drugs unable to enter the brain. Modern medical attempts to deliver drugs into the brain have involved disruption of the barrier, exploitation of different routes of administration, and attachment of ligands on nanoparticle surfaces that are specific to cellular receptors at the blood-brain barrier. These methods have had limited success in translation to clinical applications. The modulation of nanoparticle shape has been shown to have a large impact on nanoparticle transport, thermodynamic stability, and cellular internalization. However, the effect of different nanoparticle shapes on brain uptake has not been extensively explored. Team members in the Modulating Nanoparticle Shape to Enhance Blood-Brain Barrier Delivery creative inquiry will engage in the creation of polymer-based nanoparticles of various shapes to improve blood-brain barrier delivery. CI students will have the opportunity to work in an interdisciplinary research environment, using engineering, biology, and nanotechnology related concepts towards solving a major medical problem. Team LeadersJessica Kelly Chemical & Biomolecular Eng | College of Engineering, Computing & Applied Sciences |
| 1344 | Image-Guided Drug Delivery To the Brain Advances in nanotechnology have led to the development of nanoparticles that can deliver therapeutics into specific cells for the treatment of many cancers, including gliomas. Clinical translation of these therapies to patients has been limited due to inefficient efficacy in vivo. Image-guided drug delivery may help overcome barriers to translation providing quantitative analysis of biodistribution and pharmacokinetics through real-time visual monitoring of the therapeutic within the body,. Computed tomography (CT) is a desirable imaging method for brain disease diagnosis, as it can provide information on the location of bones, muscles, fat, and organs. However, CT can require long-term exposure to radiative contrast agents in order to obtain high quality image information. The high doses required are not currently approved by the FDA. Because of this, we are proposing the creation of a nanoparticle system capable of delivering FDA approved contrast agents directly to the site of interest, limiting toxicity associated with whole body exposure and off-targeting. Due to their small size, nanoparticles have the ability to load a high concentration of drug while simultaneously being targeted to specific areas of the brain, which would provide a dramatic improvement to current CT capabilities. Team LeadersAngela Alexander BioengineeringJessica Kelly Chemical & Biomolecular Eng | College of Engineering, Computing & Applied Sciences |
| 1445 | Clemson Football Recruiting Mailer Design We have partnered with the Clemson Football Recruiting Office to help design a mailer to send to potential Clemson Football recruits. This multidisciplinary team will meet to brainstorm, design and prototype a personalized 3D mailer that the recruiting office can send to high school football players in the recruiting process. The mailer is intended to promote Clemson Football and get the student excited about the possibility of being on the team. This is an incredible opportunity for students to have a direct impact on Clemson Football and potential incoming players. Team LeadersHaley Ellis Food, Nutrition & Package Sci | College of Agriculture, Forestry & Life Sciences |
| 1345 | Renaissance MAN: Men of Color and Social Action Renaissance Male Achievement Network (Renaissance MAN) is an initiative that provides academic enrichment, social engagement, personal development and professional preparation to men of color. Participants of Renaissance MAN will engage in this Creative Inquiry beginning the spring semester of their second year. This CI focuses on exploring the role of racial identity, masculinity and leadership philosophy in addressing social issues. Participants will ultimately develop and implement a plan to address a social issue. Team LeadersDeOnte Brown New Student & Family ProgramsElmer Orellana Campus Activities and Events | |
| 1349 | IBM Watson in the Watt We are recruiting the brightest and most creative and ambitious students from all disciplines into the world of artificial intelligence (AI). The IBM Watson in the Watt team, sponsored by IBM, brings the world renown AI technology "Watson" to Clemson, with a mission to broadly explore AI's use in broad disciplines. We welcome creative students from any disciplines that are interested in "answering questions" with the power of a wealth of data. The team will learn about:* What is Watson* How to use Watson to answer questions* How to train Watson to be expert of your discipline, by feeding it the right data - lots of itWe emphasize that students from all disciplines are welcome - but we anticipate the brightest to make it to this highly selective team. We are NOT ONLY looking for computing disciplines - rather, we HIGHLY WELCOME students from non-computing disciplines but have a creative mind and a keen sense of data (any kind). Once selected, students on the team will become Clemson's Watson pioneers. We will go out to work with a number of potential professors who have "cool" questions hoping to use Watson to help answer.Currently, we have professors offering Watson challenges in digital humanities, digital history, healthcare, precision agriculture, and Internet of Things. The list of challenges keeps growing.Being on the team means you are among the selected few at Clemson that will be pioneering the Watson technology. You may interact with IBM experts on Watson. The team will be on IBM's radar for bright students for potential internships. Team LeadersDane Smith Watt Family Innovation CenterKuang-Ching Wang Electrical & Computer Engr | |
| 1418 | Vehicle Dynamics Characterization This team will study vehicle dynamics of a trailer traveling over the road and how these characteristics will alter a packaged unitized load. In addition, the team will alter aspects of the trailer such as wheel imbalance, vehicle loading and vehicle speeds have on the packaged product. To study this, a multi-axis vibration data acquisition system will be used to record the tri-axial accelerations as well as the rotational axis Team LeadersGregory Batt Food, Nutrition & Package SciGregory Cocchiola Food, Nutrition & Package Sci | College of Agriculture, Forestry & Life Sciences |
| 1351 | Rocket Club Leadership Clemson University Rocket Engineering (CURE) is a team who's main objective is to design and fabricate a high powered rocket to enter into the annual Spaceport America Cup, an international intercollegiate experimental sounding rocket competition. Throughout the year, members of the team will separate into various flight critical teams including flight dynamics, structural design, payload and recovery, avionics, and manufacturing. The rocket will be designed with various height, weight, and apogee constraints based on the competition category rules. Team LeadersPhanindra Tallapragada Mechanical EngineeringDaniel B Fant Mechanical Engineering Garrett Pataky Mechanical Engineering | College of Engineering, Computing & Applied Sciences |
| 1428 | Something Very Fishy Something Very Fishy is a musical theater production paired with a hands-on marine science exhibit for elementary school children. This collaboration between Kathy Prosser (Educational Entertainment LLC) and Michael Childress (Biological Sciences) will bring to together local elementary school classes with Clemson student volunteers in a unique arts and sciences (STEAM) outreach program with a focus on marine conservation and our changing climate. Members of this creative inquiry team will develop and present hands-on marine science exhibits to enhance the experience of children attending this musical theater adventure following lives of a young marine biologist and a local fisherman who must set aside their differences to work together to save their local marine animals. Members of this creative inquiry team will develop hands-on exhibits, demonstrations, grade-specific experiments, class resources for teachers, and activities in support of the general theme of marine conservation. Team members will also care for and exhibit live marine animals in portable touch tanks, demonstrate the use of cameras and diving gear used by marine scientists, and lead students through basic experiments demonstrating the importance of water quality. Photo backdrops, reusable bag coloring stations, and continuous videos of underwater exploration will give the participating children an immersion experience like no other. CI team members will also have an opportunity to learn about ongoing marine science research through their partnership with the Conservation of Marine Resources and Marine Ecology creative inquiry teams. This will include reading and discussing the current marine conservation literature and assisting in the analysis of field data. Team members will also be expected to create a digital poster and promotional video about the Something Very Fishy production for use in advertising and promotion of future productions. By bringing together education, biology and environmental science majors with local artists and performers, this promises to be an enriching experience for everyone. Team LeadersMichael Childress Biological SciencesKylie Smith Biological Sciences Kara Noonan Biological Sciences | College of Science |
| 1490 | Disaster Relief Supply Chain One of the immediate needs following a disaster such as a devastating hurricane is housing. This proposed research project aims to examine the effectiveness of novel modular housing design solutions that utilize sustainable and renewable material such as wood by integrating them into a reliable and flexible logistics system for disaster relief operations. The other two major construction materials, namely, concrete and steel are approximately 5 and 12 times heavier than wood. Also, we often do not have access to heavy machinery immediately after a disaster. Thus, the light weight nature of wood is more suited for disaster housing. We will investigate practical logistics issues for utilizing modular housing in the event of a disaster. Specifically, we will investigate (i) how to pre-position recovery assets and housing construction materials ahead of a disaster, (ii) how to deliver, assemble and deploy these assets in a variety of likely disaster scenarios – possibly leveraging limited manufacturing and infrastructure capacities, and (iii) how to transition the temporary structures into long-term residence after the disaster. The goal is to establish and implement a mathematical model that optimizes strategic (here and now) decisions, while planning for potential tactical decisions during the preparation stage for an upcoming disaster based on short-term forecasts as well as operational decisions that will need to be executed during and immediately after a disaster. Team LeadersBurak Eksioglu Industrial EngineeringYongjia Song | College of Engineering, Computing & Applied Sciences |
| 1432 | Human Artificial Chromosomes as a Platform for Multiplexed Expression of CRISPR-Based Genetic Recording System Synthetic biology is moving towards the engineering of entire genetic circuits, but, at present, delivering and hosting the large number of genes necessary for such engineering is difficult, and current methods of doing so have severe limitations. This project aims to develop human artificial chromosomes (HACs) as a technology for hosting and expressing multiple genes episomally in order to learn more about biological systems. On this project, students will work closely with a graduate student and, once trained, assist directly with running experiments. Team LeadersMarc Birtwistle Chemical & Biomolecular EngMark Blenner Chemical & Biomolecular Eng Charles Wang | College of Engineering, Computing & Applied Sciences |
| 1356 | Analysis of Packaging used for Home Delivery Meals Analysis, Food Safety and Sustainability Literature research performed in Fall 2017 indicated that Home Delivered Meal Kits such as Hello Fresh and Blue Apron may have food safety issues. Meal kits that may sit at a home owners door for 2 or more hours can be at risk for temperature abuse which can lead to microbial growth at levels that can cause food safety concerns. In addition, vague cooking instructions may lead to undercooked food that can cause additional problems. Other concerns are that amount of packaging used in Meal Kits could be excessive and without proper instruction regarding how to dispose of the waste material, could lead to increased solid waste problems. The main objectives are 1-Evaluate the temperature profile of different home delivered packaged meal kits for perishable products; 2 - Examine overall microbial population of selected food components within the packaged meal kits. · Measure selected physical properties of primary and secondary packaging materials used in home delivered meal kits. 3 - Audit the type of packaging and amount of packaging to provide a sustainability score for each meal kit. 4-Use information gathered to determine if packaging used by packaged home delivered meal kits are packaged for optimal shelf life and make recommendations to improve packaging where appropriate. Team LeadersKay Cooksey Food, Nutrition & Package Sci | College of Agriculture, Forestry & Life Sciences |
| 1363 | Culture and Interpersonal Relations This project investigates the influence of cultural background and values on interpersonal relations. In particular, it examines how targets with different cultural backgrounds respond to a potentially offensive situation (e.g., mistreatment, incivility), how the offender behaves afterwards (e.g., apology), and how this process influences the relationship. Team LeadersCeren Gunsoy Psychology | College of Behavioral, Social & Health Sciences |
| 1371 | High-performance Cluster Computing Parallel computing is often a topic covered until the senior year for undergrads. Moreover, large-scale computing is becoming fundamental tool to researchers in many fields of science and engineering (e.g., business, chemistry, physics, biology). This CI is dedicated to opening up parallel computing to all levels of undergrads in relevant fields of computational science and engineering. Through this CI, we explore how high-performance computing (HPC) systems impact various disciplines, how HPC systems are constructed, what it takes to program parallel applications, how to run parallel applications on a HPC system, and how to optimize applications.This CI is intended to introduce undergraduate students from various STEM disciplines to parallel computing early in their undergraduate experience. Skills and knowledge gained though hands on activities, research, and trainings will prepare students for undergraduate research, provide skills to help students stand out and succeed in graduate school, and provide students an opportunity to test their skills against teams from all over the world at the annual Supercomputing Conference's Student Cluster Competition.Each year the annual competition's scientific domain changes (e.g, geophysics, bioinformatics, molecular dynamics, hydrology, climate); therefore, this CI is open to STEM majors who can serve as domain scientists to help interpret scientific results produced by the HPC applications. Team LeadersJon Calhoun Electrical & Computer Engr | College of Engineering, Computing & Applied Sciences |
| 1369 | Statistical and mathematical models in weather forecast This is an interdisciplinary project in which students will gain access to both statistics and mathematics. The students will record temperatures in certain regions and try to use statistical models to find seasonal patterns in the recorded numbers. The patterns and numbers are used to forecast weather in the future. Students will then use computer software to analyze the prediction errors. Students will also perform similar activities in the context of number theory. Team LeadersJun Luo Mathematical SciencesHui Xue Mathematical Sciences | College of Science |
| 1370 | LEAD Forward The purpose of LEAD Forward is to prepare CECAS undergraduates to be principled leaders of excellence in their professional and personal endeavors. Team LeadersSteve Sanders Civil Engineering | College of Engineering, Computing & Applied Sciences |
| 1372 | Entrepreneurship in Behavioral, Social and Health Sciences Entrepreneurship in Behavioral, Social and Health Sciences will focus on introducing students to the foundations of entrepreneurship. In addition, students will have the opportunity to be a part of a small group mentored by faculty on an entrepreneur-focused project of their choosing allowing them to apply foundational knowledge of entrepreneurship. Team LeadersJanie JohnsonDenise Anderson Parks Recreation & Tourism Mgt | |
| 1376 | Visual STEM Communication This CI will create a student-driven collaborative community bringing together students from across the university to create engaging and effective STEM communication projects. Learn to make videos, animations, illustrations, infographics, and presentation decks that are scientifically accurate, grounded in effective design, and leverage proven STEM communication strategies. Our team leaders represent three different colleges at Clemson (Business, CBSHS, and CECAS), and we encourage all students to join us in a truly interdisciplinary experience! Team LeadersErica Black Graphic CommunicationsKelly Lazar Environmental Engr & Earth Sci Meghnaa Tallapragada Communications Studies | College of Business |
| 1380 | Ground-based Support for the NASA Juno Mission The NASA mission to study Jupiter is supported by telescope observations on Earth that put the scientific return of each Jupiter flyby into broader context. For example, the NASA IRTF telescope is regularly used to record high resolution spectra of the planet. Data analysis can be a time-consuming process that is limited by current software. This project is to work as team to develop, test, and automate software that will process spectra of the atmosphere of Jupiter. Members of the team will include students that are interested in optics and instrumentation, astrophysical data analysis, software development, and planetary atmospheres. Team LeadersMate Adamkovics Physics and Astronomy | College of Science |
| 1378 | Efficacy of Virtual Reality for Operative Pain and Anxiety Management Research demonstrates that ten percent of the population becomes addicted to opioids from exposure to narcotics in the operative setting. The abuse and addiction from these drugs have now placed the US in the center of an “opioid epidemic”. As a result, a variety of programs and interventions are being explored to treat the pain associated with surgery while minimizing or eliminating the need for opioids. One such “alternative” treatment for pain involves the use of virtual reality (VR) as a primary or adjunct technique. We will achieve this goal by RELIEVE (viRtual rEaLity IntErVEntion), a virtual reality pain management intervention scheme. Team LeadersLaura Stanley Industrial Engineering | College of Engineering, Computing & Applied Sciences |
| 1379 | Dinosaurs to Birds: Ontogeny and morphogenesis The long- to short-tailed avian dinosaurs transition occurred 125 Mya. The tail underwent considerable morphological change, from the long, reptilian-like ancestral condition to the short, distally fused tail of Pygostylian birds. We are interested in the developmental and genetic changes that occurred to bring about this morphological adaptation in the tail and the fusion of the synsacral vertebrae. Understanding these processes will provide insight into vertebrate morphogenesis and the basis of morphological adaptation. Team LeadersSusan Chapman Biological Sciences | College of Science |
| 1381 | Sugar High? How do different sugars and sugar substitutes in soft drinks impact the oral microbiome? Dental cavities are a major health problem worldwide. To better understand what causes tooth decay, we need to examine the microbes living on our teeth. This community of microbes are known as the oral microbiome. The bacteria that live on our teeth form a biofilm commonly known as dental plaque. The microbes in the tooth biofilm survive by feeding on sugars and starches consumed in our diets. After feeding on these sugars many of the waste products expelled by bacteria are acidic, causing tooth enamel erosion, and eventually, tooth decay. The goal of our research will be to compare how different soda types influence the oral microbiota. Students involved in this CI will conduct genomic and microbiological research on the oral microbiome. Student’s will complete DNA/RNA extractions of plaque biofilms, complete PCR amplifications, prepare samples for DNA/RNA sequencing, and will learn how to use Next Generation DNA sequencing technology. Student’s should expect to enroll for at least 2-4 semesters. Team LeadersVincent Richards Biological SciencesLauren O'Connell Biological Sciences | College of Science |
| 1406 | Design for All Abilities There are many individuals with physical and/or cognitive disabilities in the world, but their needs are often overlooked in the design of everyday things. This project will guide students through research on principles of universal design, identification of a project with a local impact, and development of prototype solutions to improve the accessibility and utility of the Clemson campus. Students will participate in activities that allow them to gain first-hand experience with some of the challenges individuals with disabilities face on a daily basis. This experience will enable students to empathize with people different from themselves, providing a unique design perspective and ability to think outside the box when developing solutions to meet the needs of a wide range of stakeholders. Team LeadersMatt Miller General Engineering | College of Engineering, Computing & Applied Sciences |
| 1387 | WOOD DUCK AND OTHER AVIAN USE AND PRODUCTION FROM ARTIFICIAL NEST BOXES IN THE CLEMSON EXPERIEMENTAL FOREST Wood ducks are arguably the most important waterfowl species in South Carolina because it is consistently the most harvested. Artificial nest boxes (i.e., wood duck boxes) have shown to boost local populations and thus, many states have a wood duck box program, including South Carolina. A research goal of South Carolina Department of Natural Resources is to expand their wood duck box program. In response we will begin a creative inquiry undergraduate project to monitor existing and erect new wood duck boxes in Clemson's Experimental Forest. Students will be involved in all aspects of research including installation and monitoring of boxes, data collection and analysis, and drafting manuscripts and oral presentations. These data will be melded into an ongoing artificial nest study by M.S. student, Gillie Croft, and will provide premiere data on the status of wood duck box use in the Upstate in and around Clemson University. Team LeadersNicholas Masto Forestry & Environment ConservRichard Kaminski Forestry & Environment Conserv | College of Agriculture, Forestry & Life Sciences |
| 1388 | Bioinformatics for Cancer Genomics This Creative Inquiry project investigates the cellular events that occur in breast cancer. Specifically we are focused on what directs a healthy cell to become a cancer cell. Research suggests the early developmental pathways in the mammary gland are reactivated in some types of breast cancers. In order to understand these developmental signals, we are comparing mammary gland gene expression in the pre-pubertal swine to the genes expressed in human breast cancer profiles. Global collaborative collections of human tumor samples with matched normals are available in databases for research analysis, however this approach requires tools capable of analyzing extremely large data sets. We will utilize a bioinformatics approach to investigate our research-based questions. The field of bioinformatics is the intersection of biology, statistics, and computer science. We will build networks to indicate similar gene expression patterns comparing our swine samples to the human database. In addition to breast cancer, we will investigate other diseases including but not limited to colon, pancreas, prostate, and uterine cancer. We will use open source software for the analysis of genes and intersecting networks. Visual graphics will be created in order to illustrate gene expression patterns between the human cancers and swine mammary models. The ideal students for this Creative Inquiry project are those interesting in combining animal science and human medicine fields. Students will disseminate data at the university, state, regional, and national level. Team LeadersHeather Dunn Animal & Veterinary Sciences | College of Agriculture, Forestry & Life Sciences |
| 1390 | History of the Clemson Child Development Center This Creative Inquiry will research the history of the Clemson Child Development Center and create a multimodal presentation of findings for the 50th anniversary celebration of the center in the fall of 2019. Research will be conducted through interviews with founders, past and present board members, past and present teachers and directors, and former students. Team LeadersJacquelynn Associate Malloy Teacher Education | College of Education |
| 1393 | Survey of Clemson Infrastructure "Restore and Improve Urban Infrastructure" is one of the 14 Engineering Grand Challenges and this CI will explore what infrastructure is and it's role in our lives. Initial semesters will focus on stormwater infrastructure and use Clemson's campus as a case study beginning with mapping the system with GPS equipment, analyzing it using GIS software, and eventually building a model of the system. Students will identify infrastructure issues and propose and design new solutions. Team LeadersWilliam Martin General Engineering | College of Engineering, Computing & Applied Sciences |
| 1392 | From Drones to 3D Printing Terrain Models Students will investigate and explore novel workflows for processing imagery from drones into tangible 3D printed products which can be used for communication and visualization purposes. Students will exercise research and problem-solving skills as they identify the proper tools, software, processing methods, and workflows and communicate their results. The students will acquire in-demand, high-tech skills, and apply them directly to engineering, planning, or architectural projects and/or other applications of interest. Students will also acquire leadership skills as they help to grow a community of drone users across the campus who can guide, support, and advise their safe and legal operation through this project. Team LeadersBlake Lytle CCIT CITIMichael Dale Environmental Engr & Earth Sci Patricia Carbajales-Dale CCIT CITI Xiang Li Student Services | |
| 1395 | Informing Medical Device Design and Reprocessing through Human Factors Engineering and User Validation Human factors engineering focuses on understanding how people interact with technology and studying how user interface design affects the interactions people have with technology. U.S. Food and Drug Administration guidelines identify human factors engineering as essential for maximizing the likelihood that new medical devices will be safe and effective for the intended users, uses and use environments. Therefore, incorporating human factors engineering into medical device design and product development can be a key factor for meeting regulatory standards and launching a successful product. The long-term goal of this Creative Inquiry is to introduce the tools and techniques used in human factors engineering and to apply those skills to medical device design. Students enrolled in this CI will interact with industry professionals and student team members to use human factors and usability testing to inform medical design decisions with a focus on how devices are used in their clinical settings and during their reprocessing. Students will conduct the testing on commonly used medical devices and medical device prototypes and use hypothesis-driven research for improving upon medical device designs. Undergraduate students looking to join this team should expect to be involved for 2-4 semesters. Team LeadersZachary Hargett BioengineeringMelinda Harman Bioengineering John D DesJardins Bioengineering David Neyens Industrial Engineering Delphine Dean Bioengineering | College of Engineering, Computing & Applied Sciences |
| 1394 | Estuarine Fish Ecology I As transitional zones between freshwater and marine environments, estuaries contain a diversity of habitat types and experience highly variable abiotic conditions. Variation in salinity has long been recognized as a factor controlling estuarine fish distributions, through its effect on behavior and physiological processes. Despite this, the ecological consequences of habitat-specific residency patterns on foraging and growth of freshwater, estuarine, and marine fish species is still not well understood. As estuaries serve as essential habitats for many recreationally and commercially important fishes, a more complete understanding of how habitat-specific estuarine conditions affect growth and survival of fishes is needed to provide managers with better information for habitat-specific management actions (e.g., protection, restoration efforts). This CI aims to explore relationships between habitat-specific residency patterns, foraging, and growth in estuarine fish populations. Students will work on team-based projects that require critical thinking, data collection, quantitative analyses, and presentation and publication of results. Students will gain essential knowledge and skills for processing samples in the lab including otolith aging, diet analysis, stable isotope analysis, preparation of gonadal tissues for histological analysis, and identification of estuarine fish and invertebrates. Team LeadersTroy Farmer Forestry & Environment ConservMeghan Angelina Forestry & Environment Conserv Jared Chrisp Forestry & Environment Conserv | College of Agriculture, Forestry & Life Sciences |
| 1401 | Creating a Health Hub for SC Rural Communities: The Living Waters Foundation Project - Prosperity, SC This Creative Inquiry Project will facilitate the creation/expansion of a Health Hub that includes a community garden, greenhouse, and health education center on Hwy 76 in Prosperity, South Carolina. This initiative will be associated with a well established medical practice in the community. Team LeadersW Kirby Player CAFLS Dean's Office | College of Agriculture, Forestry & Life Sciences |
| 1397 | Insect Bioelectricity 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 examine patterns, mechanisms, and function associated with bioelectricity in insects, including relationship to regeneration, immunity, and pathology. Techniques used include tissue culture, fluorescence microscopy, standard virological techniques (such as plaque assays), and more. Students are required to participate in communicating data in weekly group meetings, and then via on-campus, state, regional, and national meetings. Team LeadersMatthew Turnbull Biological SciencesPeng Zhang Biological Sciences Richard Melton Biological Sciences | College of Science |
| 1400 | Longleaf Pine Groundcover Restoration in the Wiregrass Gap: Seed Source, Is local best? Students in the CI will work to create a native groundcover garden at the Camden Battlefield and Longleaf Preserve. The historic Camden Foundation recently acquired 476 acres and wished to convert the property back to longleaf as it would have been when the historic 1780 battle occurred. This property occurs in the wiregrass gap, an area in South Carolina where there is no wiregrass leading to different and diverse groundcover. In addition to the garden students will research whether seed from commerically available sources preforms as well as seed collected from local remnants. Students will grow plants in the greenhouse and learn about seed viability and germination. We will hold a workshop on our findings at the end of spring semester for area landowners who may benefit from the findings. Team LeadersAlthea Hagan Forestry & Environment ConservJoan L Walker Plant & Environmental Sciences | College of Agriculture, Forestry & Life Sciences |
| 1403 | Climate change effects on Carolina fishes South Carolina contains some of the southernmost populations of yellow perch in North America. Yellow perch is a cool water species that tends to prefer longer, cooler winters before spawning in the spring. It has been hypothesized that cooler winters allow yellow perch to allocate more energy towards egg development, resulting in higher quality eggs and, potentially, stronger year classes of juvenile following cooler winters. During a short, warm winter yellow perch may be unable to allocate the necessary amount of energy to egg production resulting in lower quality eggs and lower survival of the larval yellow perch. Lower egg quality after a short winter has been documented in the northern populations, but little is known about how southern populations are acclimated to short winters. By conducting controlled laboratory experiments, this project will explore the thermal requirements of southern yellow perch populations. Specifically, this project will explore how yellow perch from southern populations will do when exposed to shorter warmer winters. Will they show the same trends as the northern populations or will they produce high quality eggs regardless of winter conditions? Conversely, this project will also explore how southern yellow perch respond when they are exposed to a long cold winter, more typical of the northern aspect of their habitat range. Team LeadersTroy Farmer Forestry & Environment ConservJohn Cannaday Forestry & Environment Conserv | College of Agriculture, Forestry & Life Sciences |
| 1440 | Sullivan Center: Programs Evaluation In this creative inquiry, students will gain hands on clinical experience working with the Joseph F. Sullivan Center (JFSC) while assisting with the development and evaluation of lifestyle medicine projects. The JFSC is an academic, clinical learning facility that operates on Clemson's campus, and has many satellite locations throughout the upstate. Additionally, the JFSC operates a mobile health clinic statewide to transform SC's rural and under served populations. The JFSC addresses root causes of disease by whole person clinical interventions, recognizing the spectrum of genetic, environmental and lifestyle factors, supporting individual, family and community vitality. Students will be responsible for collecting data from patients directly, including vital signs like height, weight and blood pressure, during the patient visits. Program evaluation will be performed at various levels, from patient to population. Students may be responsible for analyzing data on single patients or analyzing larger data sets to ensure efficiency in case management services, depending on the student’s interests and current programs running at JFSC. Past research projects that students have assisted with include lifestyle medicine individual case studies, quality assurance, quality control and quality assessment measures for Best Chance Network patient’s lab results, and cohort studies on a population enrolled in FirstLine Therapy for 12 months or more. Team LeadersCaitlin Moore Clinical Ed/Pract&Med Surv Pro | College of Behavioral, Social & Health Sciences |
| 1404 | Stream fish mercury dynamics in managed forests Southeastern forests contain large pools of mercury in the terrestrial leaf litter and understory vegetation. The majority of the mercury in southeaster forests is from atmospheric deposition, meaning that even remote forests far from industrial activities may have elevated levels of mercury stored in the soil, leaf litter, and living plant biomass. Common forest management practices intended to reduce fuel loads (e.g., controlled burning, mechanical thinning) may also release mercury from soils, leaf litter, and living plant biomass into downstream aquatic environments. Mercury bioaccumulation in aquatic ecosystems, particularly in fish at the top of aquatic food chains, has been well documented in a variety of systems. However, we know very little about how fish and invertebrate mercury burdens are affected by fuel reduction practices. For example, does the amount and type of mercury (methyl versus inorganic) released into downstream aquatic systems differ between controlled burns and thinning? Additionally, how do nutrients, which are also released during forest management activities, affect stream food webs and, subsequently, mercury bioaccumulation? Students in this project will participate in collection of fish and invertebrates from forest streams in the Clemson Experimental Forest and the Santee Experimental Forest (part of the Francis Marion National Forest near Charleston, SC). Students will learn techniques for backpack electrofishing, invertebrate collections, diet analysis, and age and growth techniques using otoliths and scales. Students will also be encouraged to develop specific research questions and to develop hypotheses that could be tested with real-world data collecting during the course of this project. Team LeadersTroy Farmer Forestry & Environment ConservBrandon Peoples Forestry & Environment Conserv Jeremy Pike Plant & Environmental Sciences Alex Chow Forestry & Environment Conserv Donald Hagan Forestry & Environment Conserv | College of Agriculture, Forestry & Life Sciences |
| 1405 | Reproductive performance of sows receiving vasodilators during gestation Blood flow and nutrient partitioning during gestation has a tremendous effect on fetal growth, placental growth and function, and postnatal performance of the pig. These effects are sustained throughout life ultimately affecting carcass and meat qualities and consumer perception of the product. Vasodilators will be used during gestation to determine the appropriate dosage and timing of treatment, the effects of treatment on reproductive and physiological performance, and the effects of treatment on postnatal growth performance, carcass quality, meat quality, and consumer perception of the product. Team LeadersTiffany Wilmoth Animal & Veterinary Sciences | College of Agriculture, Forestry & Life Sciences |
| 1408 | Words Become Worlds: Using the LIT KIT to Design Multisensory Environments for Interactive Picturebook Read-Alouds Interdisciplinary teams (literacy and architecture) in this CI project will engage in design-based research. Teams will collaborate to design technology-enhanced interactive picturebook read-alouds for children using the LIT KIT, a programmable and portable multimedia and robotics system, to better understand how multisensory effects such as lighting, sound and moving robotics components may be leveraged to augment children’s comprehension of texts. Teams will collaborate on the selection of picturebooks and will use the LIT KIT to design multisensory read-alouds for children. Later steps in this project will engage K-5 students, both as co-designers for and as participants in multisensory read-alouds. Team LeadersGeorge Schafer Dean of Arch,Arts&HumanitiesSusan Fullerton Education & Human Dev | College of Architecture, Arts & Humanities |
| 1411 | Biophysics of parasitic kinetoplastid motility Motility is critical to the life cycle and pathogenicity of many parasites. While targeting motility has been successful in the treatment of multiple bacterial diseases, the motility and motile structures of eukaryotic pathogens remain understudied and under exploited as a treatment targets. A bending wave that primarily propagates from the tip to the base of their flagella drives the motility of pathogenic kinetoplastids, which are eukaryotic parasites that cause multiple neglected tropical diseases. This is unlike nearly all other eukaryotes, which beat from the base to the tip. For a variety of experimental and theoretical reasons, it is likely that unique biophysical mechanisms innate to axonemal dyneins, the molecular motors that drive flagellar motility, dictates tip-to-base motility. The broad goal of this Creative Inquiry is to identify the mechanism of tip-to-base motility of kinetoplastid flagella using Trypanosoma brucei as a model. Specifically, we will biophysically and biochemically characterize axonemal dynein that we purify from trypanosome flagella, and to identify trypanosome axonemal dynein regulation mechanisms that could yield tip-to-base motility. We will also take genetic approaches to understanding the effects of motors on cell motility. This interdisciplinary project will take molecular biological (RNAi, cloning, protein tagging), biochemical (ion exchange chromatography, in vitro reconstitutions, ATPase assays), and biophysical (ultrafast dual-trap optical tweezers, total internal reflectance fluorescence microscopy) experimental approaches. The expected outcome will a quantitative framework from which to develop pan-kinetoplastid drugs that target parasite motility. Successful completion of the project will ultimately lead to a greater understanding of the fundamental mechanisms of pathogenic parasite motility and could lead to novel treatments for African sleeping sickness, Chagas disease, and leishmaniasis. Team LeadersJoshua Alper Physics and AstronomySubash Godar Physics and Astronomy | College of Science |
| 1409 | Infant Cranial Remodeling Infant cranial helmets are used when children, under the age of 1, are diagnosed with a cranial deformity. The helmets help to direct the growth of the infant’s head, in order to restore proper head shape. Students involved with the Head Start! project will work to improve the current helmet designs by using pressure mapping technology to identify proper pressure values within the helmet. All testing will be done on head molds, so no human subjects will be used. Team LeadersKyle Walker BioengineeringJohn D DesJardins Bioengineering | College of Engineering, Computing & Applied Sciences |
| 1427 | Real-Time Data Visualization for Manufacturing Decision Support The CI team will engage in a project that explores real-time visualization of manufacturing sensor data to support real-time decision making on the factory floor. Ulbrich Stainless Steels & Special Metals, Inc. (Ulbrich) is a “focus factory” (factory within a factory) that equips managers and engineers with manufacturing systems to produce high precision wire for industry specific product lines. Ulbrich is seeking to develop a decision support system that will aggregate data from production milling systems and create real-time dashboards to support improved decision making. This investigation will center around the following key research questions: 1. Decision making: In a manufacturing context, such as found at Ulbrich, what are the distinct workflows within the production process (e.g. running a machine, fixing a machine, changing a process, etc.); what are the key performance metrics associated with these processes, who are the decision makers associated with these processes (e.g. technicians, project managers, etc.); and what information do these decision makers draw upon during the decision making process?2. Pain points: Within the decision making processes identified above, what are the pain points associated with inadequate access to the necessary information in a timely, digestible format?3. Visualization: How can visualizations be designed in order to support the specific processes and to ameliorate the specific pain points identified above; how should visualizations be specialized for the different processes; and what role should interactivity play within the visualization framework?4. Implementation: In a modern manufacturing context, what are the best practices for implementation of such a visualization framework; what are the obstacles to successful adoption; and how might these obstacles be overcome? Team LeadersDavid White Watt Family Innovation CenterDane Smith Watt Family Innovation Center | |
| 1414 | Building and probing simple neuronal circuits with combined optical tweezer and microelectrode array experiment The human brain is perhaps the most complicated system in the known universe. It is comprised of 100 billion individual neurons with about 80% of the brain mass in the cerebral cortex, which is the site of human cognition. There are massive efforts underway to understand how the brain works. What is memory, attention, perception, thought, language self-awareness, consciousness, etc.? To even begin to answer these questions, much fundamental science must be done. In this creative inquiry, we intend to build and study simple neuronal circuits, in vitro. We will use a combined optical tweezer and microelectrode array system to manipulate simple neuronal circuits, to electrically excite the circuits, and to probe the response of these circuits. We will build and study simple model logic gates out of rat or mouse neurons. Team LeadersJoshua Alper Physics and AstronomyMarshall Trout Electrical & Computer Engr | College of Science |
| 1426 | Using Virtual Reality with the Campus Visit Experience This projects seeks to create a virtual reality experience of Clemson's campus that can be provided to admitted and prospective students, as well as their families. The result of this project will allow visitors who would like a second look at campus, cannot visit campus or cannot walk the campus tour to still experience all that Clemson has to offer. Team LeadersNate Newsome Sonoco Inst Pkg Design & GraphAllison Griffin Promotions and Marketing Tracey D O'Kelley University Admissions | College of Business |
| 1419 | Multiplexing using Spectral Imaging and Combinatorics (MuSIC) Cancer. This word alone is enough to scare many people. Imagine a doctor notices an abnormal growth and takes a biopsy. Results from that biopsy may take anywhere from 2-3 days to 7-10 days using traditional methods and the cost for running these tests is often high. Multiplexing using Spectral Imaging and Combinatorics (MuSIC), our proposed method, will reduce cost, time, and give more qualitative results about the tumors in situ information (grading, staging, prognosis, and treatment options). This system uses individual fluorescent proteins or a fusion of different fluorescent proteins as probes to attach to different cellular targets. While there are other systems that have tried to use combinational imaging, MuSIC is the only one that allows signals to be spatially overlapping. Impressively, an estimated 175 probes can be used in a mixture simultaneously, increasing the abilities of quantitative fluorescent imaging capabilities ~6 fold. Other advantages to this system are the use of standard laboratory equipment, straightforward analysis of results, and requires significantly less sample. MuSIC’s potential impact on the future of cancer treatment is tremendous. Team LeadersMarc Birtwistle Chemical & Biomolecular EngCaitlin Anglin Chemical & Biomolecular Eng | College of Engineering, Computing & Applied Sciences |
| 1425 | Saving Lives takes a Team: Investigating Team and Process Management in Cancer Care Coordination Understanding how to effectively coordinate patient care has been a long-standing issue within the healthcare context. In fact, in 2016 at least 30 percent of all malpractice claims estimated that communication failures were to blame, resulting 1,744 deaths and $1.7 billion in malpractice costs over five years. The goal of this project is to help reduce these communication failures in cancer care by better understanding the care coordination process and how different healthcare teams must work together to provide effective cancer care. This project is a unique interdisciplinary effort, bringing together organizational science and industrial engineering researchers at Clemson and Greenville Health System. CI members on this team will be involved in field research including interviews, focus groups, simulations, and observations; training development and evaluation; data organization and analysis; formal presentation of findings at conferences and to GHS leadership; and other qualitative and quantitative research efforts. Team LeadersDana Verhoeven PsychologyMarissa Shuffler Psychology Kevin Taaffe Industrial Engineering | College of Behavioral, Social & Health Sciences |
| 1424 | Real-Time Visualization and Modeling for Smart Building Management Smart building technologies are viewed as a primary solution to realize increased building efficiencies, performance and maximize occupant comfort. The Watt Family Innovation Center is focused on increasing energy and water efficiencies and improved responsiveness of building systems to variable occupant loads during operational hours. We are seeking a CI team to develop a visualization and modeling system that will function in real-time. The primary development framework will use SAS Cloud technologies that are hosted at the Watt Center. We are seeking a team to work on Modeling, Visualization and Big Data processing. Team LeadersDavid White Watt Family Innovation Center | |
| 1431 | Knockdown and study of proteins in glioblastomas Glioblastoma is the most common and the most malignant of all primary brain tumors. Prescription of drugs for such tumors would require an intricate understanding of the targets the drug would act upon and how it would affect other proteins in the cell and overall cell behavior. Our research goal would construct a network of proteins in the cell which are important in glioblastoma and help prescribe a suitable drug combination for such tumors. Team LeadersMarc Birtwistle Chemical & Biomolecular EngDeepraj Sarmah Chemical & Biomolecular Eng | College of Engineering, Computing & Applied Sciences |
| 1435 | Clemson Sports Signal The Robert H. Brooks Sports Science Institute brings you the Clemson Sports Signal: a Creative Inquiry used to mine social media data and track and analyze trends in the sports world. Team LeadersKatie McElveen Communications Studies | College of Behavioral, Social & Health Sciences |
| 1439 | Advancement of Assisted Reproductive Technologies for Cattle and Other Species Assisted reproductive technologies (ART) are utilized for both humans and cattle; however, ART has been and will continue to be used to save species from extinction. Most advances used in ART currently used in all mammalian species were developed at least partially using cattle as a model. Assisted reproductive technologies commonly used in bovine reproduction are artificial insemination, in vitro fertilization and embryo transfer. This project will focus on methods to increase bovine semen motility post-thaw after freezing and examine the putative microRNA markers associated with early pregnancy and early pregnancy loss in pregnancies produced by in vitro fertilization. The team will meet weekly to coordinate and plan activities for the week which would include electro-ejaculation of bulls for semen collection, semen processing and freezing in the presence or absence of specific chemical compounds, and semen analysis pre-and post-thaw, estrous synchronization of cattle, estrous detection, embryo transfer, blood collection and processing, ultrasonography, ELISA, RNA isolation and qRT-PCR. Team LeadersScott Pratt Animal & Veterinary Sciences | College of Agriculture, Forestry & Life Sciences |
| 1455 | Marketing Creative Music Career Paths to Recruits Team will develop a strategic and innovative branding and marketing plan for the Production Studies in Performing Arts degree with a music concentration. Who are the stakeholders and what do they value? Identification of target audiences for degree enrollment with an emphasis in music is a priority goal. Project is a student-driven, hands-on application of teamwork with a diverse group of majors and critical thinking that will require students to put to use skills they have learned in regular courses to improve an existing area of concern in a specific department within the university. Students will accomplish tasks that will enhance any resume. Team LeadersLinda Dzuris Performing Arts | College of Architecture, Arts & Humanities |
| 1450 | Embodiment and Race Conference Organization The conference on Embodiment and Race (April 12-13, 2019) is a two-day interdisciplinary conference that will explore the issues of race and embodiment from the perspectives of critical-race theory and phenomenology. The aim of the conference is to open a space for Clemson University and the local community where we can extend and deepen our understanding of recent debates on race, racialization, and being an embodied agent of a minority group. This conference will bring together academics who work on race and embodiment to share their studies and discuss different approaches to these issues. In my teaching I explore the issues of philosophy of racism and racial embodiment focusing on questions: What role does embodiment play in the experience of racism and/or racial harm? How do various social policies benefit or burden people classified as being a given race? Does racism harm the racist as well as the victim? Team LeadersEdyta Kuzian Philosophy and Religion | College of Architecture, Arts & Humanities |
| 1449 | Workplace Identity Disclosure This CI team’s focus will be to better understand the factors that influence an individual’s decision to share their concealable identities (e.g. sexual orientation, criminal history, learning disability, mental disorders, etc.) to their employer or co-workers. A large portion of this research is also to develop a better understanding of the similarities and differences between specific concealable identity groups with regards to variables such as self-acceptance, positive/negative identity perceptions, identity salience, identity centrality, and need for social support. We will also explore other positive psychology variables impacting workers such as courage and life satisfaction. The main component of this team will involve reviewing articles, verbal presentations/ leading discussion, coding data, generating research questions and ultimately developing a model to better understand identity disclosure. The purpose of this field of research is to improve the professional and personal lives of workers with concealable stigmatized identities. This may be accomplished through the development of progressive and effective organizational interventions and policies regarding diversity and inclusion. Team LeadersCynthia Pury Psychology | College of Behavioral, Social & Health Sciences |
| 1446 | Pathways to Graduate Education Pathways to Graduate Education is a program to engage underrepresented undergraduate students in robust research and exploration of graduate education opportunities. The students in the CI will understand the graduate education process while participating in the development and implementation of a research project. This CI will encourage students to be active participants in developing a research project, around social justice, applicable to their respective fields. Team LeadersCherese Fine Charles H. Houston CenterDeOnte Brown New Student & Family Programs Jerad Green Gantt Multicultural Center Sara Hanks | College of Education |
| 1453 | Investigating Peer Relationships on Clemson's Campus This research project will explore peer relationships, specifically among PAL leaders or tutors and their participants, and their influence on student perceptions of belonging and/or learning. This topic will be investigated using a qualitative research approach including interviews with both students and peer leaders. The specific research questions and details of the study will be developed by the student research team over the course of this CI. This project will inform the peer leader training approaches used at the Academic Success Center and will expand the current understanding of the influence peer leaders can have on student success at their institutions. Team LeadersRachel Anderson Academic Success CenterJenai Kelley Academic Success Center Laurel Ann Whisler Academic Success Center | |
| 1457 | Frontline Service Robots and AI This Creative Inquiry is designed to provide business, psychology, and engineering students with an opportunity to empirically explore issues related to “frontline service” robots and artificial intelligence entities. In other words, robots and AI’s designed to assist customers rather assist with the manufacture of products. Relevant topics include services marketing, social psychology, human-computer interaction, and strategic HR. Team LeadersMichael Giebelhausen Marketing | College of Business |
| 1458 | Statismic - Statistical Education Website Collaboration between Computer Science, Statistics, and Education to develop an interactive website. The website will help teach concepts of an Introductory Statistics course (undergraduate or high school). Students will use visual representations, web graphical techniques, and innovation pedagogy to develop a cutting edge website/applet page. Continued research will be done to test the usefulness of the web site. Team LeadersEllen Breazel Mathematical Sciences | College of Science |
| 1459 | American Alligator Ecology As part of this project, students will assist with a broader study aimed at understanding alligator ecology in urbanized landscapes (i.e., golf course communities) in order to provide communities with information to reduce the risk of human-alligator interactions. Students will assist current graduate students with visual surveys to detect alligators, develop a standard protocol for conducting visual surveys across a set of residential communities in South Carolina, and train community biologists how to implement the protocol. In addition, students will work to develop and publish a website for education and outreach. Team LeadersCathy Jachowski Forestry & Environment ConservAnje Kidd-Weaver Forestry & Environment Conserv | College of Agriculture, Forestry & Life Sciences |
| 1460 | The McLaren Project The McLaren Project is a creative research project conducted through the Erwin Center for Brand Communications. Students will work collaboratively with the Marketing and Communications team at McLaren Automotive, as well as industry and intellectual leaders to develop a marketing campaign geared toward the luxury/supercar buyer and pitch their campaign to McLaren Automotive at the conclusion of the course. Team LeadersLori Pindar Communications StudiesKatelyn Mooney Communications Studies | College of Behavioral, Social & Health Sciences |
| 1468 | Gender Reveal: Determining fetal sex in dairy cows via maternal hormone concentration Bulls are often a drain on the resources of a dairy; therefore, dairy herds could be managed more effectively if farm managers were able to know the sex of each fetus as early as possible. Fetal sex determination may be possible prior to day 60 by measuring the concentration of the hormone Insulin-like Factor 3 (INSL3). INSL3 is a hormone of the relaxin family which has been previously characterized as a male reproductive hormone primarily involved in the development and migration of the testes. More recent research has uncovered its additional roles in the female reproductive system, particularly related to ovulation and the estrous cycle. Previous research also indicates that circulating INSL3 levels of mammalian mothers are elevated when they are carrying a male fetus; therefore, the aim of this study is to determine the earliest point at which the sex of the fetus can be predicted in dairy cows via measurment of maternal serum levels of INSL3. Team LeadersTiffany Wilmoth Animal & Veterinary SciencesJenny Presgraves Animal & Veterinary Sciences | College of Agriculture, Forestry & Life Sciences |
| 1469 | The Rivalry Lab This is a cross-disciplinary, cross-cultural effort to understand the nature and outcomes of rivalry phenomena in sports and in the marketplace. Participants will have the opportunity to conduct primary research (rivalry experiments for theory-testing), secondary research (e.g., rivalry-related social media analytics), and curation (develop rivalry databases). This CI will be open indefinitely. Team LeadersScott Swain MarketingOswald King Languages | College of Business |
| 1470 | Environmental effects of co-contaminant exposure Ecotoxicological studies traditionally determine or model effects resulting from single pollutants, yet no environmental contaminant is ever truly the sole toxicant in a contamination scenario. This project seeks to characterize the uptake, distribution, and/or effects of multiple environmental contaminants at different levels of biological organization. Students will study stress markers such as reactive oxygen species (ROS), gene expression, DNA methylation, and visual changes to determine if traditional ecotoxicological models sufficiently predict the effect of combined exposures. Team LeadersNicole Martinez Environmental Engr & Earth SciLisa Manglass | College of Engineering, Computing & Applied Sciences |
| 1471 | Machine Learning in Finance and Real Estate This project will bring students across disciplines together to develop the most wanted applications of machine learning in finance and real estate investments. Students will collaborate and learn to use big data and Machine Learning tools to solve questions in the business world. This project will help students across different departments, creating the environment of a startup company. Together we will network, learn, explore, and succeed. Team LeadersYannan Shen Finance | College of Business |
| 1473 | Technology commercialization: from lab bench to business Building a successful business around a new technology takes more than just a research discovery. Commercialization requires creating a customer base, determining value proposition and building a business model. Every new commercial product, besides being great, requires someone who buys it. Therefore, the road towards commercialization starts with customer interviews. Over the years successful entrepreneurs developed a uniformed approach to generate robust, repeatable, scalable business model. It is called business canvas. In this project the PIs, who are successful entrepreneurs themselves, will guide you through the process of generation and completion of business canvas. Team LeadersAlexey Vertegel BioengineeringVladimir Reukov Bioengineering | College of Engineering, Computing & Applied Sciences |
| 1472 | Artificial Intelligence, Architectural Aesthetics, and House Price This project provides a novel perspective on using artificial intelligence to study how architecture value affects real estate prices. Students will be guided to create a database based on the building aesthetic values that could be used for modeling house values using machine learning tools. It is an exciting opportunity for students to apply their knowledge from finance and engineering backgrounds to study real-world problems. Team LeadersYannan Shen Finance | College of Business |
| 1474 | Design and Implementation of the Human Machine Interface for the 2030 Autonomous Vehicle This project is designed to engage undergraduate Clemson students using an innovative educational method that allows Engineering and Psychology majors to apply academic knowledge and skills to the area of autonomous vehicles. During the semester students will focus on the design and implementation of the human machine interface for the 2030 self-driving car which will provide user experiences related to personalization, digital trust and usability. Team LeadersPierluigi Pisu Campbell Grad Engr ProgramJerome McClendon School of Computing | College of Engineering, Computing & Applied Sciences |
| 1475 | Implementing Open Educational Resources into the Undergraduate Curricula in the College of Engineering, Computing and Applied Sciences Open educational resources (OER) are freely available resources that supplement or can be used in a course in lieu of the textbook. The goal of using OER is to decrease the cost of education. For example, when OER is used in a class, students may be able to purchase an older version of the textbook, or they may be able to avoid purchasing the textbook altogether. Classes that use OER give students access to the class materials on the first day of class. Studies have shown that student learning and grades are higher when this is possible. In this Creative Inquiry, students will work with Primary Team Leader, Dr. Rachel Getman, who is an Associate Professor in the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, to increase the use of OER in the Clemson University College of Engineering, Computing and Applied Sciences. Team LeadersRachel Getman Chemical & Biomolecular Eng | College of Engineering, Computing & Applied Sciences |
| 1479 | Breaking the Resolution Biophotonics is a multidisciplinary field which combines biology, photonics, and electronics to further our understanding of cellular biological processes within functional and dysfunctional tissues using optical microscopy techniques. This CI was created to allow students to design and build an optical system which pushes the limits in optical microscopy resolution to observe cellular events that would be undetectable using current techniques. Team LeadersZhi Gao BioengineeringLucas Schmidt Bioengineering | College of Engineering, Computing & Applied Sciences |
| 1478 | Connected Care- Healthcare Networking Application Development This creative inquiry project will focus on developing a dynamic innovative mobile platform focused on advancing indiviualized home healthcare services. The purpose of this Creative Inquiry project is to:Evaluate existing healthcare systemsExamine regulatory/healthcare policies Explore the applicability of developing a social networking site to establish patient-provider relationships in a mobile, hybrid application Team LeadersJanice Lanham School of Nursing | College of Behavioral, Social & Health Sciences |
| 1480 | Advanced manufacturing by ultrafast lasers This project includes hands-on participation to learn the state-of-the-art ultrafast laser and use it for micro-manufacturing and shock peening. Team LeadersXin Zhao Mechanical Engineering | College of Engineering, Computing & Applied Sciences |
