12th Annual LMU Undergraduate Research Symposium

The LMU Community is invited to virtually attend the 12th Annual LMU Undergraduate Research Symposium on Friday, April 17, and Saturday, April 18, 2020.  This year's symposium is a virtual celebration of student research and the fantastic faculty-student partnerships that define an LMU education. Friday will be a “Preview Day” where all presentations are available to view. Saturday will also include live Zoom Conversation Rooms moderated by faculty and staff, the Research & Creative Arts Instagram Direct Message for one-on-one conversation, and awards and prizes for most participation and most effective presentations.

All LMU students, faculty and staff will receive an invitation email on Friday from lmusymposiumsupport@hubb.me. To access the event, please click the provided link and sign in using your LMU credentials. Please check your Spam folder if your invitation does not appear in your Inbox.

This year, we are pleased to feature student work from all five undergraduate colleges and schools. The diverse presentations will be intellectually stimulating for all. Among these sessions, students wrestle with complex issues, including the effects of debate wordage on polling in the 2020 Democratic Presidential Primary race, autonomous pothole detection using deep learning, and building speech recognition for nutrition applications. They explore issues of domestic and foreign policy, theories on problem solving, communication and machine learning, opinions on climate change, and the development of artificial intelligence in relation to future social and economic impact. Among the sessions are discussions ranging from emissions from artificial turf into our land and water, the rates of home ownership in Los Angeles, possibilities for clean, renewable energy to a happiness index in Belfast, Northern Ireland, and a visual rendering of parental guilt in a “do it all” culture.

In the best of times, the Undergraduate Research Symposium provides an excellent opportunity for students, faculty, staff, parents, and members of the LMU community to actively engage with students who have been immersed in thought-provoking questions and global issues. Now, as we face unprecedented challenges, the Symposium is a testament not only to the commitment of faculty and students to learning and research, but also to their resilience and adaptability to new situations and requirements. Instead of traditional posters, oral sessions and panels, there are digital posters, recorded dances and presentations, PowerPoints and videos, all examples of the flexibility and ingenuity of our faculty and students in a time of social distancing and technological outreach. In an increasingly complex world, it is important for students to take learning to a deeper and more integrated level. The work showcased is evidence of this learning process.

For more information or the program of the event, please visit our website at https://lmu.edu/orca