More than 100 Alfred University students participated in the 2025 Undergraduate Research Forum, held Thursday, April 24, in the Joyce-Walton Center.
The students, representing each of the university’s academic units— the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, the College of Business, the Inamori School of Engineering and the School of Art & Design + Performing Arts Division—were on hand to present their research projects to faculty, staff, fellow students, and external audiences. More than 80 poster abstracts (multiple students shared some posters) were on display at this year’s Undergraduate Research Forum. This marks an increase of approximately 20 posters from last year’s event.
The Undergraduate Research Forum provides a unique educational opportunity for aspiring researchers to present their work, whether it be in preliminary stages or as a capstone project, and gain experience by presenting their research and answering questions about their work from visitors and guests. All currently-enrolled Alfred University undergraduate students who are engaged in original work are eligible to participate. Those who received an undergraduate degree in the December immediately prior to Undergraduate Research Forum are also eligible.
Projects presented Thursday included, among others, a study that explored the impact of human resource management practices on organizational management, by marketing student Alexandra Cuero; one that studied the conceptualization and development of an alternative design for a collapsible mountain bike, by mechanical engineering major Jason Crocker; one that examined the use of various sculptural materials to create conceptually driven artwork reflecting the presenter’s multicultural identity, by BFA student Emily Woo; and a study on passerine (songbird) diversity in the greater Alfred area, by Peter Colburn, environmental studies major.
On Friday morning, a group of four students, selected by the academic unit deans, presented their posters virtually to the Alfred University Board of Trustees. They were Alyssa DiMillo, senior business administration major, College of Business; Elijah Hammarlund, senior biomaterials and chemistry major, Inamori School of Engineering; Summer Aquino, senior BFA major, School of Art and Design; and Jacob Taylor, junior astrophysics major, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.
Alyssa presented two projects at the forum: “Strategies to Improve Attendance at Women’s Sports at Alfred University” and, with Sophia Symeslatini, “The Effects of Healthcare Quality on Performance: A Field Study in New York State.” Elijah, one of two Marlin Miller Outstanding Senior Award recipients, presented on “Mechanical and Chemical Characterization of Chitosan-Bis-Ema Composites.” Summer’s project is titled “Moon Dust: Rendering the Lunar Surface in Ceramic Glaze,” while Jacob’s presentation is on “Enhancing Our Ability to Measure Accretion Rates of Stars and Planets.”