Project mentor: Jay Martin

Project location: Southern Wake Campus

Requirements: Enrolled or completed Mat-171 or higher

Project description: The North Carolina Department of Transportation maintains the second-largest roadway system in the country, and the agency has many engineering units that work together. The Photogrammetry unit uses various technologies to get 3D data, and the Locations and Survey Unit acquires specific locations needed to begin a road design project. Then, the Roadway Design unit utilizes data to create the road layout, which also brings in the Hydraulics Unit to add to the design to disperse runoff and keep the road clear for safe travel.

Partner with one or more of the units to help in the design of a roadway project. A co-requisite of pre-calculus or higher math course is needed to be involved in this START project.

Project mentors: Carrie Hoffman and Wendy Johnson

Project location: Southern Wake Campus

Requirement: Have taken MAT-172 or higher

Project description: Students will explore calculus integrals by modeling their graphs in SolidWorks to create 3D printed models.

Project mentors: Dr. Luc A. Dunoyer and Melinda Gibbs 

Project location: Southern Wake Campus

Requirement: Availability for field work (up to a three-hour block of time)

Project description: Students help identify which fauna – invertebrates like crayfish and aquatic insects – and flora – trees, bushes, etc. – are populating streams in Wake County. This project will involve literature reviews, wading in streams to sample invertebrates and water quality and walking along the stream banks to sample the flora in riparian zones. Although waders and nets will be provided, this is field work, so students should expect to be outside for hours at a time wading in cold water or walking in the forest. This project is the perfect opportunity to learn some real field skills, as well as be exposed to what an environmental consultant job is all about. Finally, students learn how to identify invertebrates and plants, determine water quality and learn more about population ecology and the natural world by exploring it themselves.

Dr. Luc A. Dunoyer

Melinda Gibbs

Project mentor: Dr. Rachael Walsh

Project location: Virtual

Project description: Health is determined by a mix of things, including diet, exercise, environment and genetics. For some people, genetics plays a much stronger role in their health. For certain conditions, screening tests determine if someone has a strong genetic risk of contracting a disease in the future – even before he or she has signs or symptoms. The Precision Health Genetic Screen (PHGS) is a pilot program for genomic screening in otherwise healthy adults. PHGS looks for patients in primary care practices who are at increased risk of developing high cholesterol and certain types of cancer. Patients identified as being at high risk will work with their doctors to watch for early symptoms.

The student working on this project will work with PHGS scientists to plan and implement community outreach events, such as health fairs, to help recruit patients. If the student is a Spanish speaker, he or she could help with translation to create Spanish versions of PHGS educational materials. Work on this project can be conducted virtually.

Project mentor: Dr. Rachael Walsh

Project location: Southern Wake Campus

Requirement: For Associate in Science (AS) majors completing the Biology track, must have already completed BIO-112. No requirements for AS majors in Chemistry or Physics tracks or for non-AS students.

Project description: This project uses DNA barcoding techniques to answer an independent research question. Students will complete literary research about DNA barcoding and brainstorm their own research question. They will use DNA barcoding in the laboratory to help answer their research question. There is also opportunity for students to work on troubleshooting and fine-tuning the DNA barcoding protocol that we currently use. We are specifically looking at troubleshooting the protocol for insects and fungi.

Project mentor: Rachael Walsh

Project location: Southern Wake Campus

Project description: Students will look at the diversity of mosquito populations at three Wake Tech campuses. Throughout the semester, students will work on a literature review and collect and identify mosquitoes. The mosquitoes will be identified using morphology (physical traits) and DNA barcoding techniques. Students will have the opportunity to experience both field work and lab work.

Project mentor: Greg Johnson

Project location: Scott Northern Wake Campus

Project description: This project follows the protocol of the Small World Initiative, a global project developed by Yale University. This project addresses the issue of antibiotic resistance. We will be searching for potentially new antibiotics by screening organisms that live in the soil. The soil is a very competitive environment for bacteria, and some develop the ability to produce substances that impede the growth of other bacteria. Included in the scope of this project, we will search for these antibacterial-producing soil organisms and identify their species and even isolate the compound they make.

Project mentor: Mary Staton

Project location: RTP Campus

Project description: Students will test the efficacy of new primers for use in identifying aquatic invertebrates using DNA barcoding techniques. Students will have the opportunity to gain experience with field collection of invertebrates and using DNA technology techniques.  Students will help to fine tune and troubleshoot Barcoding techniques used to identify aquatic invertebrates.  

Project mentor: Jessica Reel and Eric Broadhead

Outside partner: North Carolina State University

Project location: Scott Northern Wake Campus and North Carolina State University (Travel compensation is available.)

Requirement: Completed General Chemistry 1 (CHM-151 or equivalent). Preference is given to students with in-person lab experience, but it is not a requirement.

Project description: The application of new organic electronic materials in state-of-the-art optoelectronic devices like light-emitting diode displays or solar cells relies on detailed quantification of the response of these materials to light absorption. This can be complicated by the vibrational motion of individual molecules and also by the response of molecular aggregates in solid-state environments. It is important to tease out these different contributions by complementary studies of isolated molecules in dilute solutions and of molecules in device-relevant solids, such as thin films or bulk crystals.

In this project, students will survey the single-molecule optical absorption properties of advanced organic semiconductors, such as nonfullerene acceptors and other important chromophores, primarily in solution to determine single-molecule electronic and vibrational coupling effects. They will complement these experiments in select cases by comparison with solution-deposited thin films and/or crystals and contribute to the research group's growing database of detailed electronic structure information.

Project mentor: Jessica Kelley

Project location: Southern Wake Campus

Project description: Human habitation of Mars would require shielding from the high levels of harmful solar radiation present at the surface. Caves would readily provide this protection. Students in this project will build upon the findings of an early 2000s NASA Institute for Advanced Concepts project, incorporating the findings of NASA's High Resolution Imaging Experiment (HiRISE), as well as the Opportunity, Curiosity and Perseverance rovers.

Students in this project will learn how to navigate online scientific databases, examine data and read and understand scientific reports and will work as a team to plan a manned Mars mission with the goal of establishing a long-term settlement.

Project mentors: Carrie Hoffman and Wendy Johnson

Project location: Southern Wake Campus

Requirement: Have taken MAT-172 or higher

Project description: Students will explore calculus integrals by modeling their graphs in SolidWorks to create 3D printed models.

Project mentor: Brooke Outlaw

Project location: Virtual or Scott Northern Wake Campus

Project description: Students will explore how qualitative data can be effective in answering certain types of research questions. Students will research how to write effective survey questions and will create a survey that is focused on understanding students' perspectives regarding various online homework systems in MAT-171.

Project mentor: Asli Mutlu

Project location: Virtual or Scott Northern Wake Campus

Requirement: Have taken MAT-152, MAT-171 or higher

Project description: 2020 Census results have been released and are accessible to everyone. The results of the census help determine how federal funding, including grants and support to states, counties and communities, are spent every year for the next decade. It helps communities get their fair share for schools, hospitals, roads and public works.

In this project, we explore 2020 Census data in a holistic way. First, we will ponder and form our question. Then, we will use R, an open-source language statistical program, which will enable us to answer questions of our own. As we are using R, we will clean, validate, analyze and visualize data. Ultimately, the project will be finalized reporting on the results and the implications of our findings.

Project mentor: Dr. Narasimhan Sujatha

Outside partner: Fayetteville State University

Project location: Southern Wake Campus and Fayetteville State University (Travel compensation is available.)

Requirement: Completed or currently enrolled in Physics

Project description: This project will engage students in research by providing multidisciplinary education that will address cutting-edge science and engineering challenges. Two-dimensional materials based on transition metal carbides have unique properties, including metallic conductivity, hydrophilicity and structural diversity, and have shown great potential in several applications, such as energy storage, sensing, spintronics and optoelectronics.

Dr. Sujatha will guide students by providing theoretical understanding of these structures, and Dr. Bhoj Gautam at Fayetteville State University will train students to investigate electrical, optical and magnetic properties of these materials. Emphasis will be given on optical spectroscopy and magnetic measurements, device fabrication, mathematical modeling and analysis of data, including graphical analysis. The proposed project will provide a platform for undergraduate students in research and education and promote their success in STEM discipline.

Project mentor: Jason Howard

Outside partner: North Carolina State University

Project location: Scott Northern Wake Campus and North Carolina State University (Travel compensation is available.)

Requirement: Completed or currently enrolled in Physics

Project description: In recent years, numerous new optoelectronic materials have been proposed, including 2D transition metal dichalcogenides, hybrid organo-lead halides and 2D transition metal trihalides. In each type of material, there is substantial interest in fine-tuning properties by elemental substitution and surface treatments. As a result, exploring the physical properties of new materials combinations can be a daunting task.

This research project focuses on addressing the photoconductivity of new materials using a recently developed robotic measurements platform. Students will be trained to operate the robotic system and process and analyze the resulting data. They will then use it to characterize photoconductive materials under current investigation in the organic and carbon electronics lab. Students will be encouraged to consider diverse materials targets available but may consider organic semiconducting films, intercalated mid-transition metal trihalides or new examples of organo-lead halides.

Project mentor: Asli Mutlu

Project location: Virtual or Scott Northern Wake Campus

Project description: This research project will be a bibliometric approach focused on unrecognized or negligently recognized female individuals who have courageously and successfully contributed to their respective STEM fields. The contributions of these scholars will have had a substantial impact on modern society, albeit being "hidden figures." Students investigate the careers of the scholar of their choosing and present their findings in the format of a poster or paper.