The research projects of 131 undergraduate and high school students were featured at the 19th Annual Summer Undergraduate Research Fest (SURF), which was held on Wednesday, August 10, 2016, at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC). The student-focused conference, hosted by the College of Natural and Mathematical Sciences (CNMS), featured oral presentations, two poster sessions, and a closing ceremony. Forty-two faculty mentors from UMBC and neighboring institutions supported the student investigations.
After the welcome by CNMS Dean William R. LaCourse, an interdisciplinary plenary session featured oral presentations on six projects by thirteen students. Two poster sessions followed the plenary session featuring 84 posters presented and co-presented by student researchers. A traditional closing ceremony recognized the student researchers, their mentors, and their projects. A comprehensive list of the SURF oral and poster presenters, their faculty mentors, and their research project titles and abstracts, is available in the 19th Annual Summer Undergraduate Research Fest book.
The annual SURF serves as a culminating event for many undergraduate research programs at UMBC and provides a professional setting for students to present their research; some for the first time. More than 300 persons, including faculty, staff, lab group members and other guests, attended the event, which was made possible by the support of UMBC, CNMS and numerous sponsoring agencies and institutions, including:
- BTP– BUILD Training Program- NIH/National Institute of General Medical Sciences
- HHMI Scholars Program – Howard Hughes Medical Institute
- HPC REU – Interdisciplinary Program in High-Performance Computing – A National Science Foundation’s Research Experiences for Undergraduates Site
- JCET – Joint Center for Earth Systems Technology
- MARC U*STAR (Maximizing Access to Research Careers) U*STAR (Undergraduate Student Training in Academic Research) Program – NIH/National Institute of General Medical Sciences
- NSF REM – National Science Foundation Research and Mentoring in Biological Sciences
- NSF REU – National Science Foundation Research Experience for Undergraduates Program in Chemical Sensing and Imaging at UMBC
- SBTP – The Summer Biomedical Research Training Program – CNMS and the UMBC Graduate School
- SCI ART– Interface between Science and Art in the research laboratories of leading scientists, engineers and art conservators at UMBC, Johns Hopkins University, and the Walters Art Museum in Baltimore.
- UBM –Interdisciplinary Training for Undergraduates in Biological and Mathematical Sciences – National Science Foundation
