Clemson Creative Inquiry forum to showcase student research

Published: April 6, 2011

CLEMSON — A Creative Inquiry team at Clemson University has started a statewide program aimed at learning why hip and knee joint replacements fail and how to make implants last longer — by retrieving and studying implants that have been removed.

Another team of students is collecting waste cooking oil on campus for converting to biodiesel as part of the university’s Sustainable Biofuels Initiative.

The projects are among 180 that will be showcased at the Focus on Creative Inquiry poster forum Wednesday, April 13, at Clemson’s Hendrix Student Center. Students will display their posters from 10 a.m. to noon and from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m.

Psychology Professor June Pilcher, who engages Creative Inquiry teams in her research on the effects of stress and fatigue on performance and health, will be the featured speaker for a plenary session at 1 p.m.

Clemson’s Creative Inquiry program establishes small teams of undergraduate students who work with faculty mentors on research projects that span disciplines and multiple semesters.

“Creative Inquiry challenges students and faculty to find solutions to real problems in our state and world,” said Barbara Speziale, associate dean of undergraduate studies. “Students hone their critical-thinking and problem-solving skills, and they learn to work as a team. Many of them present their work at national and international conferences, and this poster session is an opportunity for them to share their accomplishments on campus.”

More than 400 research projects have been initiated by Creative Inquiry teams, Speziale said. The sixth annual Focus on Creative Inquiry poster forum will feature almost half of them.

A team of students mentored by bioengineering professor John Desjardins is examining issues related to orthopedic implants that have been removed, or "explanted,” because of infection, loosening, damage or wear. Rather than discard the used devices, the students began a statewide program called CU-REPO (Clemson University Retrieval of Explants Program in Orthopedics) to learn more about why implants fail and how they might be made to last longer. The team collaborates with hospitals and surgeons to collect, clean, catalog and study explanted total joint replacements.

The biofuels project, led by biosystems engineers Terry Walker and David Thornton, is part of a campuswide effort to reduce fuel consumption and use sustainable, renewable fuel sources. The experience the students gain by collecting waste cooking oil and converting it to biodiesel will serve as a foundation for new research on biofuels such as algae oils, cellulosic ethanol and other technologies.

Other Creative Inquiry projects that will be on display include:

• A study, led by environmental engineer Lawrence Murdoch, of sediment transport in the Twelve Mile River near Liberty, where dams are being removed as part of a PCB remediation project.
• A project led by Todd Schweisinger of mechanical engineering and Arlene Johnson of nursing to design a pediatric arm restraint for use in hospital treatments.
• A study, led by biologist Michael Childress, of the effects of salinity variations on juvenile blue crab growth and survival on the South Carolina coast.
• A project led by Marge Condrasky of food science and human nutrition in which students are developing a healthy snack food using underutilized ingredients that offer the nutritional advantages of complementary amino acids, crude fiber and an optimal ratio of omega 3 and 6 fatty acids.

END