Undergraduate Research Day, October 14, 2010

Welcome to our sixth annual Undergraduate Research Day. Today we invite you to consider how far we have comeand where we are headed. We are here to honor the 43 students who participated in the 2010 Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship program, as well as the many other undergraduate researchers who completed mentored research projects during the past year. Thanks to the efforts of our undergraduate researchers and their faculty mentors, the University of Houston is now home to a thriving undergraduate research culture - a culture that produces some impressive results. Just this past year, undergraduate researchers Matthew Reichl, Erica Fletcher, and Mariana Guerrero were awarded nationally competitive scholarships. These award winners got involved in research early on in their academic careers, and their research proved to be an integral component in enabling them to achieve their goals. One of the most exciting aspects of conducting research is finally seeing the results of your work and sharing those results with others. For instance, some of these results you surely noticed at today's event were products that resulted from the combination of our University's strengths in both technology and design. These ideas - including a smarter diaper and variable-tinted auto glass - are the results of the collaboration of undergraduate research groups led by Farrokh Attarzadeh in the College of Technology and EunSook Kwon in the Gerald D. Hines College of Architecture. You might also have smelled another research project by Toshia Miracle and Samantha Porter, who were mentored by Jay Neal in the Conrad N. Hilton College of Hotel and Restaurant Management. Their research into the culinary tastes of the varied ethnic groups at the University has yielded two dishes, and aims to please the palates of many Cougars. Stop by and give it a try! To the students presenting their research today: many congratulations. You have persevered through the setbacks, frustrations, and tedium of research; and we trust that today, you can see that those trials are a part of the production of new, exciting, shareable knowledge. Through your research experience, you have not only furthered the development of your discipline, you have come to know your faculty mentor and have witnessed firsthand your professor's excitement for teaching and learning. We also thank these students' faculty mentors. Through the time and energy that you give to these students, you are helping to produce the next generation of leaders. By guiding their work, you are providing an environment in which they can flourish and grow more confident of future successes. Thanks as well should go to the faculty who served as the speakers in our SURF Brown Bag Lecture Series. By sharing your own experiences and advice, you helped model the life of a researcher and the deep commitment to one's work, both of which our students will take with them, whether into graduate school or a professional career. The selection committee is another important element in the success of the Office of Undergraduate Research. This committee has the difficult task of selecting recipients for the PURS and SURF programs from an extremely competitive pool, and also provides us with feedback and advice on improving the Office's activities. Thanks to all for celebrating this exciting day with us, and for your support of our undergraduate researchers.